DragonForce Slays Chicago

Heavy Metal Takes Over House of Blues

Last Monday at the House of Blues was a night for those with a sense of humor and a thirst for speedometer crushing riffs. DragonForce, who has been making regular Chicago stops since 2006, paid a visit in promotion of their latest album Ultra Beatdown. The current tour is pumped up on stage presence and battle themed friends.

The show was originally slated for The Congress Theater, but was moved to the House of Blues and given an early 5:30 p.m. start time. A large gathering answered the call and made it out early enough to catch openers Powerglove. The video game metal band took the stage clad in spiked koopa shell armor, skulls, and banners fit to boost any warrior's spirit. Powerglove proved victorious in winning the acclaim of Chicago fans with their sound based off of music from games like Mortal Kombat and Final Fantasy. Power glove treated the crowd to inflateable swords, candy, and utter domination of an early time slot. Honestly, who could ask for anything more?

Turasis, another formidable metal band curtosy of Finland, followed next. The folk metal band was a chance to catch a breather from pixilated inspired melodies while still carrying on the tourch to light the path of the evening. A wild violin, lovely accordian, and commentary on American drinking habits rounded out the short, but satisfying set.

Seeing DragonForce once is just not enough. Watching Herman Li lick, punch, and lift his guitar by the strings without missing a note never seems to get old. There is so much to absorb at a DF concert that it seems impossible to digest it all in only one sitting. A few hours is just not enough time between figuring out how ZP has perfected the epic stare into the vast horizon, calculationg jump height vs quantity, and simply enjoying the gratification of a good keytar jam. On top of the visual overlad is 4 albums of music to thrash through at about 5 plus minutes per song. That is a lot of ground to cover in one set, but no worries Chicago. If you didn't catch it all that there is always next time.

View more of Maureen Vana's reviews and pictures on vanaphotography.com and the NBC Chicago Street Team Blog.

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