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So we meet again, Mr. Stanne! The BraveWords team met Mikael, the lead singer of Dark Tranquillity/Halo Effect, backstage at Summer Breeze, just a few weeks back. Metal Tim gave the vocalist, a huge Rush fan, a can of Rush beer (which he drank, onstage, in Germany) as well as a Rush themed bar mat. In Atlanta, the amiable, ginger haired frontman was once again mingling with fans, prior to the show.

Once onstage, as the headliners for Day 2, essentially granted carte blanche for time, the Swedes offered a longer set than they're currently performing on the North American tour. Prior to newly released "Unforgivable", Stanne, who was on the same stage, a year ago (so he knows the crowd) said, "Let's play some death metal!' Perpetually walking from one side of the stage, to the other and never stopping for very long, the man is a bundle of energy. In all, four cuts off Endtime Signals were aired, along with a mix of hits and some deeper tracks, as well, bookended around the opening "The Wonders At Your Feet" and closing with a wild ride through classics "Therein", "Lost In Apathy" and the usual "Misery's Crown" finale.

Twilight Force debuted a new line-up, which saw seven costumed characters onstage, the male singer looking something like Star Wars' Kylo Ren, the female vocalist with a horned headdress akin to Tim, The Enchanter, from Monty Python & The Holy Grail. The rest were an assortment of frilly shirt and lederhosen wearing Hobbit clothes, seven folks (two voices, twin guitars, plus keyboardist who also served as narrator, with menacing voice-overs).  Initially, from one's perspective, in the pit, they seemed to be competing against one another for photo ops/fan reaction. "Flight Of the Sapphire Dragon" saw a shaped pool floaty tossed atop the crowd. An army of fans came equipped with inflatable, plastic swords, to salute the band.

Between the two acts, Norwegian progsters Leprous performed. Starting with un-photogenic red/purple lights, with plenty of stage fog, for "Silently Walking Alone", the emphasis throughout was on lighting: caustic backlights or color choices and blinding strobes that offered few photo opportunities. 

A full report about ProgPower will be posted shortly.