Dragonforce -- Kansas City, MO -- September 28th, 2009

[mankvill]

My one-sentence review from a Dragonforce fanboy standpoint: Extremely fun, concert of the year so far.

My one-sentence review from an un-biased standpoint: Extremely fun, concert of the year so far.

The first band of the evening was Taking Dawn and I'd only heard bad stuff from them. Like they sound like a worse version of Avenged Sevenfold (is that even possible?), but they were a bit better than that. True, I'd never listen to them on my own, but they were pretty entertaining live. At one point, the guitarist ran off the stage and was playing the guitar as he ran all over the club and up the stairs to the VIP section. Awesome. But the music was no bueno. 5/10

I assumed that a ton of people were there for Sonata Arctica. And it showed. Lots of singing along to their songs. It was really fun. They are cheesy as anything, but really entertaining. Lots of lighters in the air and clapping along. The keyboards and the bass were kind of low in the mix, but the vocalist and guitarist were superb. 8/10

Setlist:
1. In Black And White
2. Flag In The Ground
3. 8th Commandment
4. Last Drop Falls
5. Fullmooon
6. Don't Say A Word
7. Vodka

There's not really a less controversial band in metal these days than Dragonforce. Are they tr00? Do they suck live? Well, one just has to attend this tour to see for themselves: Dragonforce deserve every single bit of praise they get for anything. We've all seen the video of them sloppily playing through songs on Youtube. But they are spot-on now. The mix was perfect, Herman Li (Ri) and Sam Totman blazed through their solos with ease and it was some of the most fun I've ever had at a concert. I've been listening to these guys for a long time and to hear those songs live just made everything that much better.

No: My first Draognforce experience was not through Guitar Hero, nor was it the song Through The Fire And Flames.

My friend in front of me caught a Sam pick and gave it to me! YES! The entire crowd was singing to every song all night long and even the keytar duel with the Sonata Arctica got a joyous response. I only hope that an big turnout (for a Monday night, at least) will prompt these guys to come back ASAP. 10/10

1. Fury Of The Storm
2. Heroes Of Our Time
3. Reasons To Live
4. Disciples Of Babylon
5. Starfire
6. Keyboard Solo/Keytar Battle with Sonata Arctica
7. Operation Ground and Pound
8. Fields of Despair
9. Where Dragons Rule
10. The Last Journey Home
11. Valley Of The Damned
encore
12. Strike of the Ninja
13. Through The Fire And Flames

[rjturtle9]

[b_halperin]

such a great setlist im so mad i missed this tour

[MunicipalWasted]

Yup, major suprise.
I should've gone.


But no Paid in Full? Oh well, I seriously hope Sonata comes back on headlining (like %1 chance of happening)

[SerpentineVIVIVI]

I really hope I can see this in Poughkeepsie, I just need to figure out how the hell I'm getting there and back.

[DethMaiden]

That Sonata Arctica set is criminally short but decent for its length. Except for the inclusion of Vodka.

[Elvenking]

Originally Posted by DethMaiden

That Sonata Arctica set is criminally short but decent for its length. Except for the inclusion of Vodka.

I was hoping for at least 10 songs...but 6? vodka is not a full song.

Anyone remember when Sonata Headlined the states a few years ago? Why cant they fucking do that again, I'm getting really mad seeing them play with these crappy bands and open up all the time.