10/06/2026
CONCERT REVIEW
ProgPower USA
September 9-12
Centerstage Theater
Atlanta, GA
Review and Photos by Andy Laudano
A Goodbye, A Celebration and A New Beginning!
For 25 years promoter Glenn Harveston's ProgPower USA has brought the best in power metal and progressive metal from around the world to the historic Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. The festival started as a two day event before eventually expanding into four days of music and fun. To make things easier, promoter Nathan Block ran day one, Milton Mendonca was in charge of day two and days three and four, considered the main festival, remained the baby of founder Glenn Harveston. Bands from around the world, many of whom tour the U.S. on a regular basis now, would make their American debut at the festival. But what has made ProgPower USA something truly special is it's unique community atmosphere. The fest has become a yearly metal family reunion for fans from across the States and around the world. But despite this year's stellar, all-star lineup, it was also kind of bittersweet as this would be Glenn Harveston's last year as promoter. Nathan Block would be retiring as well, leaving Milton Mendonca to thankfully continue the fest into the future as a three day event going forward. But before we said goodbye to our friends, we would celebrate with them all that they built.
Day 1 began with a highly emotional set from U.S. prog band The Reticent. This was an odd pick as an opener, especially considering the emotional state many attendees would be in this weekend. Italy's Noveria followed with the type of happy power metal that you would expect to kick a festival off with and lifted the the spirits of the crowd back up. As with previous years, visa issues reared their ugly head again and two days before the show it was announced that ex Rhapsody vocalist Fabio Leone and Italy's Elvenking would not be able to make the show. Thankfully the headliners from day one and day two stepped up and agreed play a second set on the opposing days. That led to Norway's Conception playing next. That also meant that vocalist Roy Khan would now be playing three sets as he was also scheduled to play a solo show on day four, making him the ProgPower MVP! For their first show Conception played a different, more laid back set than they would play the following day as headliner. Khan and guitarist Tore Ostby were wearing baseball caps and their performance even included a fun acoustic interlude. Next would come Threshold, who put on the set of the night despite having all kinds of travel issues getting here from their home in the U.K. Due to an air traffic controller issue that cancelled their original flight out of London's Heathrow, the band got little to no sleep in a 24 hour period, landed in Atlanta and made it to the venue shortly before they had to go onstage. If you didn't know what was going on backstage, you never would have been able to tell from their amazing performance that night. Finland's Ensiferum closed out the night with a fun, energetic set of Finnish folk metal to close out the final show under Nathan Block's leadership.
Day 2 started with one of the heavier sets of the fest by the U.S.A.'s Fires in the Distance. Scardust from Israel made their American debut next. They sounded great and it was obvious to all just how happy they were to be there. Australia's Teramaze was also happy to finally play here as the last time they were scheduled to play founder/vocalist/guitarist Dean Wells became too ill to fly to the U.S. forcing them to cancel. Fans really enjoyed their brand of melodic prog metal. Ensiferum returned to play their second set. Most of the songs were the same as yesterday but fans were having too much fun to mind. Greek guitar god Gus G and his band Firewind are no strangers to U.S. fans or ProgPower. They have played the fest several times and always killed it. This time would be no different as vocalist Henning Basse belted out favorites "I Am the Anger" and "Falling to Pieces." In another cool moment, bassist Petros Christo donned a Spartan helmet as the band debuted a new song, "The Legend of Achilles" from their upcoming album, Gods, Myths & Titans. Progressive metal legends Conception returned for their second set, this time in full stage gear. Vocally, Khan has never sounded better. Not to be outdone, during a lengthy solo, guitarist Tore Ostby took his guitar out into the crowd giving fans a moment they'll never forget. And speaking of unforgettable moments, in a special moment you can only see at ProgPower, Gus G returned to the stage for the band's final number and biggest hit, "Roll the Fire!" Watching a guitar legend and a future legend playing side by side as Khan sang his heart out was a great way to end day 2.
Day 3 would see one of the greatest lineups in festival history as Glenn Harveston seemed determined to go out with a bang! The day kicked off with a great set from Italian progressive metal band DGM. Next came the return of crowd favorites, Germany's Brainstorm! "For the next hour your ass is mine!" vocalist Andy B. Franck informed the crowd. And just like that he had the sold out crowd in the palm of his hand. They sang, screamed, pumped their fists and chanted "Hey!" at his command. The band was tight and Franck's vocals were on point as he belted out favorites, "Worlds Are Comin' Through," "Highs Without Lows" and the big sing along "All Those Words." Easily one of the best sets of the fest! And so was the next set by progressive metal veterans Crimson Glory. Lead singer Travis Wills has really stepped up as the legendary band's frontman. He seemed much more confident and comfortable in his role. Vocally he was so good if you closed your eyes you might think you were hearing the band's late original vocalist Midnight, and that's no easy feat to pull off. Original guitarist Ben Jackson and newer recruit Mark Borgmeyer have gelled into a formidable guitar duo. Pagan's Mind drummer Stian Kristoffersen sat in for original drummer Dana Burnell who was unable to make the show. He learned the set with only a few day's notice and still killed it. Some of the show's many highlights included "Lady of Winter," "Painted Skies," "Azrael" and the big ballad off Transcendence, "Lonely." Ashes of Aries, featuring former Iced Earth singer Matt Barlow and guitarist Freddie Vidales played a special set featuring The Dark Saga album in it's entirety. It was great to hear Matt singing songs like "I Died for You," "The Hunter" and "Vengeance is Mine" again. Sweden's HammerFall took the stage next and showed once again why they are one of the top power metal bands in the world. The set was a nice mix of older classics and newer material including "Heeding the Call," "Renegade," "Hammer High," "Last Man Standing" and "Let the Hammer Fall." Vocalist Joacim Cans sounded fantastic and founder/guitarist Oscar Dronjak sped across the stage wielding a guitar shaped like Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. On a day where every band was banger after banger, HammerFall may have stolen the show. Only one band could follow a performance like that, fellow Swedes Evergrey. They are more than just a band, to everyone who attends or puts on this fest, they are family. Evergrey has played the fest more than any other band and it was in fact seeing their performance at the old Power Mad festival in Baltimore that inspired Glenn Harveston to create ProgPower USA. Even on the rare occasion when not playing the fest with Evergrey or one of his side projects, founder/guitarist/vocalist Tom Englund would still attend the fest from time to time, just to hang out with fans and friends. Unfortunately, visa issues threatened to ruin this show but thankfully Englund's bandmates from Redemption, keyboardist Vikram A. Shankar and drummer Chris Quirarte stepped up and filled in. One of the coolest moments of the set took place mid set when Shankar and Englund performed beautiful and intimate piano only versions of "Words Mean Nothing" and "I'm Sorry." For the final number, "OXYGEN!" Tom invited members of the ProgPower crew onstage to help sing the chorus as day 3 came to a close.
Day 4 saw Greek progressive metalers Sunburst make their American debut to start what would surely be an emotional day. U.S.A.'s Seven Spires, featuring vocalist Adrienne Cowan performed next. They would also return as the backing band for the great Roy Khan, who himself was returning to the stage for his third festival appearance. This time he was playing songs from his time in Kamelot, mainly focusing on the Black Halo album. He was joined by keyboardist Jonah Weingarten (Pyramaze) and Circle II Circle guitarist Christian Wentz even appeared for a song. Getting to hear Khan sing these songs again was magical! "When the Lights Are Down" was the perfect opener. Other favorites that followed included "Soul Society," "Center of the Universe," the beautiful duet between him and Adrienne Cowan "The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)," "Ghost Opera" and the closer "March of Mephisto." Redemption was next to perform, and founder/guitarist Nick Van Dyk had a surprise for the fans. For this special set, previous vocalist Ray Alder of Fate's Warning would rejoin the band to both alternate songs and share a few with current vocalist Tom Englund. Dutch vocalist Anneke Van Giersbergen returned to the ProgPower stage, this time reunited with her original group, The Gathering. They were performing their seminal album Mandylion and at one point fans were so blown away, a "Holy S**t" chant erupted! A surprised Van Giersbergen replied, "Lovely, such a lovely thing to shout, but I'll take it." Australia's Voyager proved to be the perfect band to close out the fest. Just as it was setting in that the final band under Glenn Harveston's watch was about to play, out came the fun loving Aussies to lighten the mood. With the band dressed in red sequined outfits, lead singer/keytarist Danny Estrin strutted out onstage, looking like a pimp in a long, yellow, fur coat. Their hilarious two and a half hour show included everything from the reading of a children's book telling the story of Voyager to not one, but two wedding proposals. Somewhere in between all the stage banter they even found time to play a few songs. When the night finally came to an end, they invited Glenn on stage to take a final bow with them as the crowd roared.
This was the end of an era. Words cannot express the gratitude for what Glenn Harveston has built, the many dreams that he made come true, and the community he created. We wish him and Nathan all the best in their retirement from ProgPower and look forward to what Milton has in store for the future.
