ProgPower USA III -- Friday

Oh, well.... By the time we were ready to head over to the venue, the rain had started, so I just decided to drive over there and pay the parking (I hate paying for parking, though, on principle). I got this pic of the line waiting to get in, and this pic of the marquee. Looks like an otherwie-thin November for Earthlink Live.... I collected my All Access badge from Glenn and the other Gold Badges to which I was entitled as a sponsor and went inside before doors-open, chatted with my friends inside for a while, then went back outside for a bit after doors-open (and the resulting mad rush to The End's tables :)) and got another pic of the now-reduced line.

The first band of the festival, Zero Hour, were also a band I really wanted to see, since their technical, progressive-metal sound had already impressed me at Glenn's very first US ProgPower festival, near Chicago in 1999. Besides, they're reallly cool guys. :) Here are some pics:
Zero Hour #1
Zero Hour #2
Zero Hour #3
Zero Hour #4
Zero Hour #5
Zero Hour #6
Zero Hour #7
Zero Hour #8
Zero Hour #9
Zero Hour #10
Zero Hour #11
Zero Hour #12
Zero Hour #13

Glenn had already warned me that although my all-access pass would allow me access to the camera-well in front of the barricade, photographers would only be allowed to take pics during the first three songs of ANY band's set. This was reasonable and was evenly applied (well, except for Glenn himself :)), so I had no problems with it. After Zero Hour's first three songs I went toward the back to enjoy the show.

The next band up was Silent Force, featuring D.C. Cooper on vocals. I'm not familiar with their material but they put on a good show (everyone did, really :)) and D.C. was a great frontman.
Silent Force pic taken from the private balcony over stage-left
A pic of the audience
Silent Force #2
Silent Force #3
Silent Force #4
Silent Force #5
Silent Force #6
Silent Force #7
Silent Force #8
Silent Force #9

Outside, our attempt to take a pic of myself with Devin Townsend was doomed to failure. (We're both screaming "Farrr beyonnnd metallllll!" :))

The above weirdness and some other things took place during Edguy's set, and although I'd wanted to get some pics of their well-received set, I wasn't able to.

The next band was also the biggest draw of the festival -- Germany's legendary power-metallers Blind Guardian and their first-ever US performance. Here are some pics:
Blind Guardian #1
Blind Guardian #2
Blind Guardian #3
Blind Guardian #4
Blind Guardian #5
Blind Guardian #6
Blind Guardian #7
Blind Guardian #8
Blind Guardian #9
Blind Guardian #10
Blind Guardian #11
Blind Guardian #12
Blind Guardian #13
Blind Guardian #14
Blind Guardian #15
Blind Guardian #16 Blind Guardian #17
Blind Guardian #18
Blind Guardian #19
Blind Guardian #20
Blind Guardian #21
Blind Guardian #22
Blind Guardian #23
Blind Guardian #24
Audience during Blind Guardian
Another audience pic
They got a great crowd-reaction and sounded great! Here's a pic from the side. That's Glenn in the front all by himself -- hey, he deserves it!

The last band for Friday are also one of my personal favorites: Sweden's Pain of Salvation. I'd already seem them perform at ProgPower Europe in 1999 and at Glenn's first US ProgPower fest in Chicago in early 2001 -- a show that still ranks as one of the five finest live performances I've ever seen. Could they top that this year? Let's see.....
Pain of Salvation #1
Pain of Salvation #2
Pain of Salvation #3
Pain of Salvation #4
Pain of Salvation #5
Pain of Salvation #6
Pain of Salvation #7
Pain of Salvation #8
Pain of Salvation #9
Pain of Salvation #10
Pain of Salvation #11
Pain of Salvation #12
Pain of Salvation #13
Pain of Salvation #14
Pain of Salvation #15
Pain of Salvation #16
Pain of Salvation #17
Pain of Salvation #18
Pain of Salvation #19
Pain of Salvation #20
Pain of Salvation #21
Pain of Salvation #22
Pain of Salvation #23
Pain of Salvation #24
...Then the first three songs were over, so I began taking pics from outside, aiming as best I could over people's heads:
Pain of Salvation #25
Pain of Salvation #26
Pain of Salvation #27
Pain of Salvation #28
Pain of Salvation #29
Pain of Salvation #30
Pain of Salvation #31
Pain of Salvation #32
Pain of Salvation #33
Pain of Salvation #34
Pain of Salvation #35
Pain of Salvation #36
Pain of Salvation #37
Pain of Salvation #38
Pain of Salvation taking a bow
Their performance, cut short due to time constraints and with a somewhat worn-out crowd, wasn't quite the stunning spectacle they put on in Chicago, but it was still the highlight of the day for me and for their devoted fans. They're nice guys, too, and it was a shame that normally-outgoing frontman Daniel Gildenlow had to fly in and out of Atlanta so quickly due to his current tour with the Flower Kings.

We went outside after the show, went to eat again at City Cafe (great....more leftovers for the fridge) and then I skedaddled home to offload and post the day's photos. I got back to the hotel at around 7am and crashed right away. Saturday would bring an early luncheon appointment, if I could just wake up in time. :)