ProgPower USA organizers have issued the following news:

Germany ’s progressive metal icons VANDEN PLAS and Sweden’s FREAK KITCHEN have been confirmed to co-headline the ProgPower USA VIII Showcase on Thursday, October 4th, 2007.

"As one of my favorite artists, Vanden Plas went immediately to the top of my want list after consulting with Glenn about this year's festival roster", said Showcase promoter Shane Dubose.

"Freak Kitchen's amazing performance last year solidified their spot in my mind as well. It's going to be an incredible night of music and a great kick-off to the festival. Huge thanks to Glenn once again for providing me with his blessing and the means to make this event such a success."

ProgPower USA promoter Glenn Harveston explains the “Showcase” name, “I changed the name of the pre-party simply because it has outgrown that name and become the unofficial third night of the festival. We now have a chance to bring back the crowd favorites from recent years and keep the main roster fresh as well. It’s a total win-win situation for the fans and the bands. Shane has done a hell of a job with handling Thursday night and I’m happy to see him take it to another level.”

The festival will return on October 5th and 6th to Atlanta’s Center Stage. VIRGIN STEELE, FIREWIND, REDEMPTION and RAINTIME have been confirmed thus far.

Six more bands will be announced for the festival over the coming months including the headliners as well as two more Showcase bands added.

Advance gold badges are sold-out and only 900 tickets will be made available to the public.

Ticket information for both the main festival and the Showcase will be released via the festival website (www.progpowerusa.com) in late January.