Chicago Powerfest 2006 Review

“The Chicago Powerfest Supplying Fans of Metal with Rare Acts from Around the Globe.”

Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale

Photos: Erika Kristen Watt & KEO

Greetings and salutations metalheads across the world; welcome to the forth-annual Chicago Powerfest! A fast growing time honored tradition like the Atlanta ProgPower Fest the CPF also bolsters two (2) days of hard-hitting music featuring both veteran and up-and-coming bands from various sub-genres of metal primarily with the obvious emphasis on power; all of this took place on Friday, April 7^th and Saturday, April 8^th at Mr. Kelley's Music Box in Chicago Heights, IL. Did we mention this “exclusive” fest was only intended for 600? So you guessed it, those in attendance received a very intimate showing of some of today’s best, moreover harder to see acts here, in the States…and for those of us who reside in Chicago, it TRULY rocks!! And if you wanted to take a souvenir back home with you, Chicago Powerfest T’s were available to commemorate the event. Here’s a suggestion gents, girlie tees!

The Chicago PowerFest united metalheads from coast-to-coast; (especially our contest winner Russell B. from Seattle and thanks to Ion Vein's Russ Klimczak for taking the photo) came out to support this blessed event. Not only did the CPF connect an entire continent but Europe: Sweden (Morgana Lefay, (Nocturnal Rites); Italy (Eldritch); & England (Biomechanical) were properly represented as well. From what we were told, 370 people showed for the first night (mostly out-of-towners), which exceeded the coordinators expectations. We even met someone who had driven non-stop from New Jersey just to be apart of the festivities, now that's dedication. Speaking of blessings, let us raise our horns HIGH for those who are responsible for hosting this fête, making the CPF the true connoisseur of metal’s wet dream: Chris Lotesto (Ion Vein), Rob Such (Twelfth Gate), & John Coyne. May the goodness fill your lives with many metal filled blessings! Let’s hope next year they not only pack the house but that it sells out. After all, you totally deserve it!

This festival was quite amazing for us as it was our first time seeing any of the bands on the bill, minus Ion Vein. It was quite an experience for us being able to capture these bands on film and paper. We have coverage for this 2-night event but we unfortunately on night one, we missed the first two acts (Chicago’s black metal masters Withering Soul and Gracepoint). You know how much we are into giving you setlists especially for festivals but to much of our dismay, we were not able to corral all of them as originally hoped. Better luck next year but hey, at least we have photos right! Just in case you wanted to know Gracepoint's setlist here it is: Full Circle; Spider; In The Air; Animal; N; and Echoes.

Speaking of photos, Ms. Erika Kristen was unable to attend the second night so if some details are sketchy it is a direct result of me being tired and way bitchy from double duty, as in taking photos and trying to remember details for this review. And we all know I suffer from a bad case of CRS (Can't Remember Shit) if I do not write it down immediately. Not to mention that hour+ drive ahead of me back to city after dropping a friend off at her hotel. Ultimately was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Of course, I needed to vent since by writing this review, I was made to relive the evening. ;^p Oh wait before I forget, we were on the subject of pictures not that long ago, it was so cool of the Gents to allow camera inside the venue. How sweet is that? Nevertheless, this is how the festival unfurled, act by act on each night as we saw it:

NIGHT I - April 7, 2006

Lineup: Bruce Hall – vocals; Bernie Versailles – guitars; Juan Garcia – guitars; Karlos Medina – bass; Rigo Amezcua – drums

This L.A. quartet has been rocking the hearts and ears of metalheads since 1984. The Powerfest crowd ate their performance up! Singer Bruce Hall received the attention of every onlooker. It’s nice to see the band is back together after breaking up in ‘88 then reuniting in ‘99. However, the name of the band was get this…”Order of the Illuminati” as they were forced to change the name when their former vocalist parted ways with the band. Well the boys had the last laugh re-emerging by the name of Agent Steel and naming their album Order of the Illuminati. Good for them!

Anyway, enough of history, let’s get back to tonight shall we metallers? Right before the third song of their set, Hall exclaimed, “It’s really good to be here in Chicago! It’s making my birthday dreams come true…because today is my mother fucking birthday…”, the crowd yelled as you could hear “Happy Birthday’s” float through the air (even with ear plugs so you know the love was flowing). In closing, Agent Steel’s performance was a credible and controlled one.

Agent Steel Partial Setlist (in no particular order): Earth Under Lucifer; Ten Fists of Nations; Illuminati Is Machine.

Click thumbnail to enlarge photos

Lineup: John K. aka Yiannis Koutselinis – vocals; Jamie Hunt – guitar; Chris Webb – guitar; Jon Collins – bass; Matt C - drums

England continues to pump out amazing talent and this time it is Progressive/Industrial Metal stars, Biomechanical. The band brought the house down with their awesome stage presence. Vocalist commanded the attention of all, people started running up to the front to get a closer look during the first song of their set. Mr. Koutselinis (who strongly resembles Frank Zappa) is one lively frontman! During the second song of the set (when the fog machines kicked in), John graciously thanked his audience and said that it was the band's “second time in the U.S.” and that the crowd was “fucking amazing”! The band was just into the set as their frontman; the rhythm section was particularly getting down.

Later in their set, they did a rendition of Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”, introducing it as “British mother fucking Steel”…it slayed! Nice to see they represented their fellow Union Jackers! It was the perfect tie in considering the venue had a silkscreen banner of “Painkiller” on the wall. The covers did not stop there; Biomechanical also nailed “Raining Blood” by Slayer with their set closer. Talk about pure fucking energy; it was amazing! The crowd roared in response, as well as they should have!! The band’s setlist heavily concentrated of songs from their 2002 release, Eight Moons as well as performing songs off their 2005 release The Empires of the Worlds which famed producer Andy Sneap co-produced mixed and mastered. This band killed, hurry back to the States, huh!

Biomechanical Setlist: Enemy Within; The Empires of the Worlds; Do You Know Me; The Awakening; Hunted;  No Shadows; In The Core of Darkness; Painkiller; Regenerated; DNA Metastasis; Survival; Relinquished Destiny; Assaulter; Raining Blood.
 

By the time Italy’s Eldritch came on, the venue had thinned out some. Part of that should be blamed on Biochemical, they tired the audience out with their set, we were damn near spent afterwards! However it just got better!! Because were so impressed with Eldritch, we felt compelled to give a little history of the band (for those who are not familiar, and if you are, you may skip ahead to the next paragraph). The band formed in 1991 in which the origin of the band’s name came from the Watchtower song “The Eldritch”, which was a favorite of the band at the time. Did you know they used to have a female bass player? The band is now on their sixth (6) release Neighbourhell. in which the Limited Edition has a cover of the Faith No More song “From Out Of Nowhere” plus an additional track. Yummy!

Okay, back to the review… After witnessing the diehard fans along the expanse of the stage singing along to every word of the first song was a sight to behold. It even made our second wind kick in! It seemingly supplying vocalist Terence Holler (how apropos for a metal singer) with more pep too! The energy the smallish crowd supplied to the band was really special considering it was the band’s first appearance in the States. It's just too bad the reception did not stay hot for long as more people began to leave during their set. Irregardless of the fan reaction, the band played as if they were playing to thousands upon thousands of screaming fans. You have to give it to them, they played their hearts out! They were clearly the best band of the evening, and that was no easy feat with Biomechanical’s set kicking all types of ass just prior! Happy we could witness such splendor! The band’s performance was very lively as guitarists Eugene Simone and Roberto Proietti hammed it up, as well as they should; their twin attack was domineering. The rhythm section was fierce. With Dave Simone on the skins, he act as if someone had a gun to his head…he was insane as cymbals were flying everywhere not to mention the double bass was monstrous. Bassist John Crystal's was magnetic.

Many people in the crowd attempted to get the band to play “Standing Still”, regrettably the band was unable to honor the request. Instead Holler joked with the crowd to “Buy the CD” from the merch booth because they could “Use the money to get home”, the band laughed heartily as the singer screamed, “Just kidding!” Not that the band needed any reassurance to how awesome their sound was but Terence posed this question to the crowd, “How do we sound?” To confirm, the audience went ape shit in which that was all of the response needed. The band proceeded to annihilate the remaining fans. Again, it's too bad so many people left, they missed a lot! Half way through the set, the singer’s voice began to hoarsen ever so slightly. Apologizing to the crowd, “Shit, I have a cold. I am not one of those gay vocalists… I may not be perfect, but I try!” Preach it or shall we say "Holla"! ;^p After his speech, Holler asked for a glass of water in which Mr. Lotesto was gracious enough to get the a bottle of water to satiate the singer’s thirst. Then there was a keyboard malfunction…but during the lull while the Powerfest “committeemen” worked like nuts to correct the problem the enigmatic singer took the opportunity to bond with the audience, “We’re in Chicago, we come from Tuscany and I still cannot believe my eyes! We hope to come back someday!” To be honest we cannot recall if the band played again, we were done…it was a LONG night! No matter how it you slice it up Eldritch was a perfect way to end the night! Ciao!!

Eldritch Setlist: Intro; The Dark Inside; The World Apart; This Everlasting Mind Disease; Ghoulish Gift; Save Me; From Dusk Till Dawn; Bless Me Now; Erase; Come To Life; Reverse; Slow Motion "K" Us; Standing Still; The Rain; Scar; Toil Of Mine; More Than Marilyn; Still Screaming; Suffering Degree; Chains; From Out Of Nowhere.

NIGHT II - April 8, 2006

Lineup: Dave Flatt – vocals; Matt Lee – guitars; Andre Cortes – guitar; Tyson Rippl – bass; Raven Murphy – drums

Mirror Black formed in 2002 and is the brainchild of drummer Raven Murphy, vocalist Dave Flatt, and bassist Tyson Rippl. Asides from some damn good shredding (you know how high that ranks in our books), amazing drum work by Murphy, and awesome bass work by Rippl; it was the only thing that saved this band from sudden death. Not to send the band into the fiery pits of eternal damnation but being plagued with the affliction of “awesome music and questionable singer” syndrome does not help matters. The issue with Flatt is his attempts to go the theatrical route with his voice...unfortunately comes up a tad flat (no puns intended). Perhaps it was stage fright or something. When Flatt announced it was, “the first time in Chicago” the crowd’s response was warm, which is always a plus to any performer. The band gave it their all; it would be interesting to see this band again under different circumstances.

Mirror Black Setlist: Ruins of Heaven; Legion; Remnants of Promise; Salvation.

Lineup: Brent “Red” Erickson – vocals; Rich Knight – guitars; Jim Stopper – guitar; Rob Such – bass; Mike Nevaril – drums

Chicago’s very own and co-sponsor Rob Such’s band Twelfth Gate brought the house down with new singer Brent “Red” Erickson as the band looked at ease with Erickson at the helm. It definitely was perfect timing to debut the singer this evening. The crowd response was tremendous. During their set, the vocalist toyed with the crowd as he “complained” about the temperature in the venue, in response many screamed, “Take it off!” Not that we can compare the new singer to the recently departed Scott Huffman but the charismatic Erickson seemed like he had been with the band for years. The band performed a plethora songs from their sophomore effort Threshold of Revelation, released in March on Season of Mist Records.

Bonding very well with the crowd, Erickson informed the audience that it was the birthday for Bruce Hall and that he was accepting gifts. For the final song of the set, Erickson introed the song, “This is the last song and it’s called “The Suffering…” before he could finish his sentence a heckler exclaimed, “That’s exactly what it is”. Oh come on now, we all understand you can’t please them all BUT what grounds do you have to jeer a band when they are phenomenal? Different strokes for different folks but in a case like this, you paid your money to get in there so in the immortal words of Peter Steele, “Who’s the real asshole here”? You better believe it’s you assface, get your own damn band if you think you can do any better!! Ohhhhh. <<<CRASH>>> think I just tripped over the soapbox, sorry about that smallish tirade. By the way, the vocalist showed he was the better man by not answering. Guitarists Rich Knight and Jim Stopper were relentless. It's nice to see Stopper is still kicking ass after the unparalleled Chicago based phenom, Oppressor disbanded. And of course, Mr. Such was quite good. To close their tight set, Erickson thanked the crowd, “Chicago, we’re Twelfth Gate and you fucking rock!” Well the band fucking owned, they truly did. Can’t wait to see them again.

Twelfth Gate Setlist: Desire Brings; Come Alive; Human Swine; Inner Core; Black Robe; Innocent; The Suffering.

Lineup: Brian Gordon – bass; Russ Klimczak - lead vocals; Chris Lotesto - guitar/keyboards/vocals; Chuck White - drums/percussion; Andy Paradis - guitars

Ion Vein was the second band in a row hailing from Chicago and child of guitarist/co-sponsor of the CPF, Chris Lotesto. Everyone who saw this band’s set was definitely in for a treat! For starters, I know what was said in the previous review of the band’s last gig (when in direct support of Finnish power metal outfit Sonata Arctica) in January. Unlike last time, vocalist Russ Klimczak rocked! He truly did!! The band also had guitarist, Andy Paradis (Talamanska) join them for tonight’s special occasion. The entire band rocked, they seemingly kicked their performance into overdrive performing a couple of songs from their upcoming CD.

Judging from the vocalist's body movements and intense performance, he was a little fed up himself. A fired up Klimczak addressed the crowd, “Have you ever had enough? Have you ever had the fist of life up your ass…have you ever had enough?” Well let me tell you, that was more than enough for the crowd, his embittered speech got the audience going. Guitarist Chris Lotesto put his all into this number as well as bassist Brian Gordon was having the time of his life ripping into his notes. On “This is Me” Klimczak seemingly released every bottled emotion from his core singing the following the words “This is me, I don’t care what you say”. Our hometown boys did an awesome job especially on the final song of the night; “Painkiller”…Russ annihilated this song. Drummer Chuck White particularly shined on this one. If Mr. Klimczak is ever in the market for a side gig, he ought to consider doing Priest covers or something of the like; he would make an absolute killing! Tonight turned out to be a reversal of fortune for Ion Vein, it was redemption night for Russ Klimczak indeed! The band was tighter than I have ever seen them. Can't wait to see them open for Gamma Ray next month or the new CD for that matter.

Ion Vein Setlist: Fools Parade; Seemless; Enough; Love/Hate; This Is Me; Anger Inside; Alone; Painkiller.

Lineup: Jonny Lindkvist – vocals; Fredrik Mannberg – guitar; Nils Eriksson – bass; Nils Norberg - lead and rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer; Owe Lingvall - drums

Sweden’s Nocturnal Rites wowed the crowd tonight! Everyone in the venue attempted to converge to the front of the stage to take a gander at the band, even the majority of those in the VIP made the descent. The band lead off with “Fools Never Die” a single from their latest and greatest album on Century Media Grand Illusion. Vocalist Jonny Lindkvist was domineering; han är bra på att sjunga. The overwhelming crowd response should have made the band feel amazing since it was their first time ever performing in the States. Obviously it did because I cannot recall many times not seeing smiles across their faces...well that was until technical difficulties occurred during their set.

From what we hear, the band had issues with an electronic device they were using which contained pre-recorded parts on it. Well luckily, the CPF committee got the issue resolved in a timely matter and the show resumed soon thereafter. Did I say how clear the sound for NR was? It was amazing; the amount of energy this band emitted was about as hot as the temperature in the venue, which was pretty hard to do. It was hotter than the second tier of helvete in there. Following the disruption, Lindkvist asked the crowd, “Chicago, are you still awake? Are you still alive?” Talk about a phenomenal tie in as the band ripped into my favorite off the new album, “Still Alive”. The entire audience roared at the start of the familiar opening riff. Towards the end of their set, the vocalist made his way through the venue, he even jumped on top of the bar and began singing to one of the patrons. No wonder he worked up a mighty thirst after returning to the stage. In the meantime, Lindkvist toasted the crowd with a resounding, “Skål” as he raised hans buteljen öl to the audience! You know that excited me much. The rest of their magnificent set was a blur; I wish I could report more but in between taking the best amount of pictures, I could (after the camera started to malfunction)…all I will say is that we hope the band comes back to the States soon! It’s awesome to see after being together ten plus years, the band can now add the U.S. to their impressive resume. Until then, tack så mycket för konserten! Vi ses nästa tid!!

Nocturnal Rites Setlist: Fools Never Die; Never Trust; Shadowland; Deliverance; Awakening; Iron Force; Fire Comes To Ice; The Flame Will Never Die; Avalon; Still Alive; Against The World; New World Messiah; Cuts Like A Knife; Wake Up Dead; Afterlife.

Lineup: Charles Rytkönen – vocals; Tony Eriksson – guitar; Peter Grehn – guitar; Fredrik Lundberg – bass; Robin Engström – drums

Unfortunately, the place emptied out after the Nocturnal Rites set however during the mass exodus, the announcer extended an apology for the technical delay during the band’s set and “if we wanted a CPF 2007 to purchase one of the commemorative t-shirts”. Several people did make the trek back to the merch booth in support of the institution. Last on the roster is Morgana Lefay, another collective from that fine land of metal, Sweden. This band has the distinction of returning from last year’s CPF (with another awesome svensk band at the helm, Tad Morose). Can you believe how long this band has been together, since 1989! During that time, the band has released seven albums dropped the Morgana in their name to Lefay performing under that name until 2004. As the story goes, back in 1997, vocalist Charles Rytkönen and guitarist Tony Eriksson lost the rights to the name Morgana Lefay however, the band continued to perform under Lefay with members of other bands. In 1999, the subsequent members of Morgana Lefay released the self-titled album to release the band of contractual obligations then in September of 2004 Lefay returned to Black Mark thereby taking back the rights to their full name, Morgana Lefay. Hell that’s enough to make your head hurt; can only imagine how the band feels. Well judging from their performance tonight, all woes were past them…for the exception of a technical glitch and other unrelated issues.

The band did not take the stage until well into the midnight hour, during the first disruption to their set (about two to three songs in), guitarist Tony Eriksson’s wireless do-hicky crapped out on him. Solving the issue, Mr. Lotesto corralled another guitar for Eriksson to use. It was cool to see other band members out in the crowd during ML’s set headbanging and throwing horns. By the way, no one cannot ever say this band does not have an immense sense of humor, the words “Shit Fuck” were taped to Robin Engström’s kick drum. The crowd seemingly got a kick out of it as well. After the band returned from the first mishap, they were on point; they sounded amazing. It was hysterical to see the banter between Rytkönen and the crowd. At one point Charles accused the audience of being deaf. Not too long after that Rytkönen surveyed the crowd in the same fashion as NR’s vocalist did. Soon there after, the band’s first set was over; ten minutes had gone by and Charles Rytkönen had not returned. We understand he had gotten sick during the intermission due to heat exhaustion; he performed his ass off so it was easy to understand that! Again, it was so hot in there it was insane. The band later returned to the stage using other vocalists from the other bands to perform an entire encore set full of covers. It was great improvisation! Agent Steel’s vocalist, Bruce Hall, sang a rousing version of Pantera’s “Walk”. Metallica’s “Creeping Death” was also performed. By this time, I retreated to the rafters to watch the last song but proceeded to yak with Biomechanical. Speaking of yakking, so did Engström. haha What a way to end a festival…I mean how metal was that moment? ML did justice ending the 2-day party. In closing, it was one hell of an event...det gjorde ett bra jobb!! Tack, tack och god natt!

Morgana Lefay Partial Setlist (in no particular order): Blind; Master of the Masquerade; Red Moon; Victim of the Inquisition; Ace of Spades; Walk; Creeping Death.

Candids for your viewing pleasure:

We’d like to thank the Chicago PowerFest committee (Chris, Rob & John) for sponsoring such an amazing event and allowing FourteenG to be a part of it. See you next year! Horns High!! \m/ *_* \m/

Chicago PowerFest 2006 Schedule:
Each night's schedule is as follows:

Friday, April 7:
ELDRITCH 12:00 – close

BIOMECHANICAL 10:30 - 11:40

AGENT STEEL 9:20 - 10:10

GRACEPOINT 8:20 - 9:00

WITHERING SOUL 7:30 - 8:00

Saturday, April 8:
MORGANA LEFAY 12:10 – close

NOCTURNAL RITES 10:20 - 11:50

ION VEIN 9:20 - 10:00

TWELFTH GATE 8:20 - 9:00

MIRROR BLACK 7:30 - 8:00

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG