Dragonforce
7 October 2004
Mean Fiddler, London
The very early door time meant I unfortunately only caught the closing notes of the Renegade Playboys from the balcony which was followed by a mixture of clapping hands and raised middle fingers in their direction.
As Johan was running the Dragonforce merchandise stand tonight, I was put in charge of taking photos with my compact camera. As a result I was unable to make any notes during the gig so I have had to trust my rather hazy memories of the evening.
In an effort to encourage stage diving, Dragonforce had requested the removal of the photo pit. As a result, and in any case as we already have loads of excellent stage shots of Dragonforce, I decided to make use of my access all areas pass and take shots from a unique view from behind the band.
Black Fire opened proceedings in furious fashion, with the now common site of band members charging around the stage. Picking up on the impact of using Blackie Lawless` mic stand podium on their recent tour with WASP, Dragonforce had added a podium of their own stage front and used it to full posing effect.
Following opener Black Fire, vocalist ZP Theart encouraged the crowd to make use of the stage, encouraging divers. As it tuned out they may as well had left the photopit, as the security had other ideas about stage diving and were running across the stage to prevent them. At one point Herman Li`s pedals were apparently trodden on and this could just as easily have been by security as by a fan. Having finished taking a bunch of photos, on two occasions I made my way back into the crowd the direct route via said podium, however was told I`d be leaving the venue should I dive again. This later changed to a threat of ejection if I took any more pictures, despite the fact I had a pass. Top form from the security tonight!
Anyway, back to the gig and Dragonforce had their own annoyance to contend with when midway through Black Winter Night, the power for the guitars failed. This could have blown the gig, but full credit to them in handling the power out with jokes and a drum solo from Dave Mackintosh. Showing off even more, when the power returned, the bad recommence the song from the exact point the power went.
Vadim Pruzhanov was afforded an impressive keyboard solo, which with power ballads Dawn Over A New World and Starfire broke up the power metal onslaught nicely.
Much of latest album Sonic Firestorm was aired tonight, with Prepare For War being a personal favourite. The band doesn`t always execute these songs as tight as on CD, putting the energy and the fun of the live performance as a priority. However, the waving plastic swords and battleaxes in front of them indicate the crowd are loving every minute of it.
Valley Of The Damned still seems to be the firm crowd favourite and saw a threesome of Herman Li, Sam Totman and Adrian Lambert up on the podium playing with each others instruments. Erm, by that I do mean musical instruments of course!
Tonight represented a big step forward for Dragonforce. The Mean Fiddler is both a prestigious and fairly large venue which they had managed to pack out. With them, the UK has an act capable of taking on Europe`s elite and hopefully they`ll have chance to do just that at next summers festival season.
Dragonforce set list (I think):
Black Fire / Fury Of The Storm / Fields Of Despair / Black Winter Night / Dawn Over A New World / Vadim Solo / Soldiers Of The Wasteland / Prepare For War / My Spirit Will Go On / Starfire / Valley Of The Damned / Heart Of A Dragon
LINKS:
Dragonforce
Renegade Playboys
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