The 22nd September saw DragonForce come to Carlisle's Brickyard along with NeonFly, supporting their brilliant new album, Maximum Overload! Seems a bit stupid to cover these metal monsters when this is primarily meant to be about local bands, but who gives a toss?
I could use this blog to brag about the fact that I have all of the Force's signatures on my box set, or how the singer and bassist of NeonFly signed one of their CD's for me, or how Marc Hudson saluted to me when I was queuing, flipped the bird at me while he was in the crowd for NeonFly, referred to me several times during the set and made the first move in fist bumping me while still on stage, but it'd take to long to type =)
Anyhow, NeonFly kicked things off with a song called Ship With No Sails, a lovely six munite song of loss! In the instrumental part of the song, front man Willy Norton instructed the crowd to clap along with the drum which all eagerly did. I knew this was going to be a good performance, as from the first clap my watch undid itself from the force and slid down my wrist. In this first song alone, you could feel the energy of the band coming into the audience. And of course it was hilarious watching Willy almost fall over!
I can't say enough kind words about these guys! They stood there, a massive group of misfits, the drummer looking Emo, the bassist with some amazing dreads, the two guitarists as metal as steel, and the singer moving all over the place, but all of them knew what they, and each other, were doing!
It's easy to see why the Force chose these guys, considering there ability to get the crowd going, Willy instructing us to punch the air and shout "HEY" in synce with him. And then Willy jumped right to the barrier, singing/serenading three girls infront of him and shaking the hands of anyone who put them out!
Now, because NeonFly are not a local band, I shall not be reviewing their album, Outshine The Sun, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it!!!
So Neon finished, I bought a CD, had a little breatjer outside and then got as close as I could to the stage, which sadly was four rows back! As we all waited for the Force to begin, an Asian and a New Zealander ran through the crowd, guitars in hand to a large outburst of screams from teenagers who have spent to long listening to DragonForce in the bedroom, hoping one day they may be half as good as them!! (me)
As the song coming through the speakers ended, I started chanting DragonForce, the whole crowd immediatly joining me, only for another song to come on!! BASTARDS!!! The song ended, and the chant began again, anf this time to the crowds avail! New drummer Gee Anzoles was first to wlak tje stage, wave and then get behind his drums, before the beautiful palm muted riff of Defenders was played by the same men who had run through the crowd a moment ago!
And so the moshing began! Not that I was in the pit for long as I noticed an opening in the middle of the crowd, meaning I could stand at the barrier right in front of Marc (*cough fanboy*cough)! Marc's performance was amazing, although I did feel he wasn't putting as much effort in as Willy did, but I suppose he didn't have to, as, unlike Willy, he wasn't trying to win new converts.
A particualarly goof moment was when they played Three Hammers, the crowd getting involved singing the chorus, jumping and going mental! Symphony of the Night was another good one, a song the band played especially for Carlisle as it was the song that came up most in a Facebook post asking what Carlisle wanted to hear.
The band ended their set with Cry Thunder, but of course, the crowd hadn't finished, and so for the third time screams of DragonForce, this time mixed with ENCORE and ONE MORE SONG, surged through the crowd, until they came back on, and WOO's were screamed. Marc said the next song was a bit contradictory, as DragonForce said they'd never do a slow song, and never do a cover (even though all their albums have slow songs on them, and the cover isn't that slow!) Screams of Ring Of Fire followed as the Cash classic was played with all the glory of a power metal masterpiece! And speaking of power metal masterpieces, the Force ended with their most well known, Through The Fire and Flames, while the crowd erupted into a mass of moshing metalheads desperate to get the most out of the final song, singing every syllable in synchronisation with Marc! The show ended with them all coming to the front of the stage and bowing to the hoard of screaming fans stood before them.
If you missed either of the bands in Carlilse, I highly recomend you see them while they're on this tour!!!
It's a shame the night had to end, but I suppose if it didn't I wouldn't have seen Die No More on the weekend!!! Stay tuned for the review...
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