The Power Within tour with Dragonforce, Holy Grail, and The Huntress
Tonight, Dragonforce played at the Rave in Milwaukee, WI. Seeing they were not playing in Chicago, it was an easy choice to head up north. This was my first time seeing them play live and like a lot of fans, I was introduced to them through video games. Going into this I was wondering, could they play as insanely fast live as they do on CD’s and with a new singer could they sound as good?
Dragonforce is:
Herman Li – Guitar
Sam Totman – Guitar
Vadim Pruzhanov – Keyboards
Dave Mackintosh – drums
Frederic Leclercq – Bass
Marc Hudson – Vocals
Opening band, Huntress did the best they could to warm up the crowd but with a sound that seems to carry over from one song to another was hard to get into.
Holy Grail, on the other hand, sounded very fresh and had a great stage presence and got the crowd pumped up for their guitar heroes coming up next. I would recommend coming early to see this young band; you will not be disappointed.
By the time Dragonforce came on, the room had filled up, compared with the opening band who had just a few hundred. With the drum kit on the right side and the keyboards on the left, the front was left wide open. They opened with Die By The Sword off their just released album,
The Power Within. Right off the bat, Li and Totman tore into the fretboard, taking turns to take the lead. New singer, Hudson reminded me of Sebastian Bach and seemed very comfortable being upfront with a great set of vocals.
Playing next, Operation Ground & Pound, along with another new song, Cry Thunder, seeing Li play is like watching a master at work, making his guitar playing seem effortless as he bounced, tossed, licked, and shred away. Just watching makes your jaw drop. They played 10 songs and for close to 1 ½ hours that included, Soldiers of the Wasteland, Seasons, Holding on. Totman and Leclercq seemed to be enjoying playing the most as they made several faces throughout the show. Totman was teasing the crowd with his playing and Leclercq kept going to his guitar tech to take a shot of Jack Daniels while playing; just gave the whole night a fun night of great Metal music.
The night ended with Heroes of Our Time which is one of my favorite songs and sounded just like the CD. Pruzhanov several times came up front to play his keyboard just as fast as Totman and Li. Drummer Mackintosh was a beast on the drums keeping pace and laying down a solid foundation for the guys to go off. Last song of the night was Valley of the Damned, leaving everyone in awe with the extended solos.
Dragonforce is a band you have to see live, and if you’re a fan of metal, you owe to yourself to check them out.
You can check out their website to see where they will be touring www.dragonforce.com
All Photos provided by Peter Lizano
