DragonForce Live at The Newport 4/27/09: A Concert Review

Can you remind me, again, why I went to this show? It could have been the epic-ness of the show, the loud fast guitar solos but I think it was just because DragonForce is AWESOME! (and I’m not ashamed to admit it)!  I have been a been a fan of metal for a  long time, I went through junior high and the majority of high school listening to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and the rest of the classic New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands.  My friend got me into DragonForce around 2004 and their sound immediately attracted.  They seemed like the only new band that could hearken back to the epic, over the top, fantasy themed metal that those NWOBHM bands could.  However, recently over the past year or two I branched off to new things and listened to metal on a far less frequent basis, and it was a splendid heavy metal homecoming for me. 

I went to see DragonForce with low expectations, as I had heard a number of things about the band: they’re not good live, they can’t play as fast as they can in the studio, they are cheesy up on stage, and that they’re not good live (yeah that one needed to be said twice).  However, I implore none of these are true (except maybe the cheesy one)!!  The energy the band had on stage was more energy than I have seen in any band in a long time, and unlike most metal bands that are serious on stage they actually looked they were having the time of their lives!  But most importantly they could play their instruments, and play they did.  ZP Theart (vocals) constantly sprayed water on the crowd, while twin lead guitarists, Herman Li and Sam Totman, dueled out their solos while mocking each other.  Vadim Pruzhanov may be the most enthusiastic keyboard player in the world today, especially when he got behind his key-tar (yes, that’s right a key-tar!)!  His keyboard solo was one of the most energetic keyboard solos ever, hands down; from doing a jig to playing with his tongue it was inspiring to say the least.    

If one word could describe DragonForce live it would be “over the top” (yeah, I know it’s three words).  Hilarious stage antics raged from a drunken comedic routine between Li and Totman broken up only to play the band’s most popular song (thanks to Guitar Hero) “Through the Fire and the Flames.”  There were even moments during slower sections of some songs where the band members spun around like ballerinas.  The band also knew how to control a crowd; from hand clapping to chanting the show was everything a Heavy Metal concert should be.  The only flaw was probably from the crowd.  It seemed as though a majority of the crowd was there to see the band with the “hardest” song in Guitar Hero.  It seemed as though some people had no clue what to do and ended up just standing there immune to the force of the music being played for them.  On the other half some people only wanted to mosh…throughout the entire concert!  Being a fan of the genre I can understand the want to mosh, but my only comment is moderation people, moderation.

Overall I was very pleased with my decision to go, and I would go again in a heartbeat, this show raised my respect for DragonForce on a technical level and a showmanship level.