02.06.2018 DragonForce

FortaRock

Goffertpark Nijmegen (Netherlands)

After the epic folk metal of Týr there was now fast power metal on the main stage being played by the British band DragonForce. Furious fast guitar solos, a slightly video game touch sound and high voice singing parts of singer Marc Hudson could be expected. Already from far you could see the playful banner at the background when the first notes of “Reaching Into Infinity” of the equally named album were waving towards one.
Was there already at Týr very coherent posing the guys of DragonForce were nearly somehow overacting a little bit. During each guitar solo the two guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman were climbing onto a platform in the middle of the stage. From time to time bassist Frederic Léclérque is joining them. The songs are having generally a kind of sing along character and are very catchy. Besides that, unfortunately also only little diversified. They restricted themselves to a good mixture of compositions from their last two albums “Reaching Into Infinity” and “Maximum Overload” which were only supplemented by old classics of “Inhuman Rampage” and “The Power Within”. In the middle of the concert the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to the drummer Gee Anzalonenoch after Marc Hudson announced his birthday. Only the “Ring Of Fire” cover version did not really fit into the set.
Basically, I was quite happy that they only played roughly 45 minutes as this monotony cannot really longer be born. In the beginning it was quite funny but really quick disenchantment took over due to the small band width that DragonForce presented. The viewer did not matter, they were celebrating the band. For me it was the worst gig of the day but luckily there should other highlights coming up later.