Thursday 05/10/06 DragonForce, All That Remains, HORSE the band @ The Marquee Theatre, Tempe, Arizona

The Marquee Theater sits on the banks of the Salt River and linked by twin bridges to the heart of the night life section of a bustling University town. As we wait in line the women’s rowing team can be seen set aglow by the setting sun. It’s a beautiful venue.

Full of exuberance the post-hardcore Nintendocore HORSE the band is just plain fun. Screaming, screeching, great cords and a sense of humor highlight ‘Birdo.’ They head bang like tornados whilst the varied vocals and instrumentals of this piece make it anything but boring. The song ‘Antipizza’ thrashes, roars and is way too cool. They make Gigwise want to pull out the PS2 and crank up their tunes. They are also amazing musicians with a fresh approach and style that never seems to goes stale. Despite one drunken heckler we can’t help but love them.

All That Remains' melodic death metal is relentless, aggressive to the core and laced with supreme licks via Oli Herbert. They start off with ‘For Salvation’ then ‘Tattered On My Sleeve’ and everyone is getting pumped. The venue is packed tight as Phil Labonte’s growls hurl ‘Death In My Arms’ at the crowd. Jeanne Sagan is right up there with Bonzilla of Suckerhead as one of the premiere women bassist in metal. She comes together with Mike Martin for a mean riff during ‘It Dwells In Me' whilst the audience holds their hands up wiggling their fingers. At one point the heckler returns and Phil shouts “I’ve screamed it your face already, don’t give me mouth, I’ll scream down your throat!” and he does just that brilliantly. Phil stands front and center, leans forward and on a smoke filled stage in biting white lights charges into ‘This Darkened Heart.’ Rip your head off drums signal the arrival of ‘This Calling’ and the jumping, pushing crowd goes mad. Phil’s killer roars are offset by his righteous clear vocal chorus. He leaps off a speaker and all three guitarist line up then head bang in unison finishing off their set to a thunderous due.

DragonForce IS the perfect metal storm. There are no weak links in this power and speed metal band. Sometimes it’s like magic, the perfect band, the perfect venue and the perfect crowd. Tonight is such a night. Quite possibly the best living guitarist of our times Herman Li and Sam Totman’s twin jet engines are powered by something from the beyond. The burning epic ‘Flame Of Youth’ sweeps across the sea of hands as Sam and Herman spin and leap together in the air. The crowd is so into them it’s insane. Surfers spills into the pit at break neck speeds as the band performs with a stature that is as epic as their songs. When we think it can’t get any better they smash into the exhilarating ‘Revolution Death Squad’ and leave Gigwise dumbstruck. The horde is totally locked into the players as ZP Theart stands silhouetted against a smoky backdrop and sings. Herman holds up a huge lighter and the audience takes out theirs, holds them up, ZP puts on a black hat and drifts into ‘Trail Of Broken Hearts.’ His vocals soar to timeless heights and the crowd becomes one swaying with their hands in the air whilst singing along. They play ‘Body Breakdown’ and ‘My Spirit Will Go On’ then leave the stage but the screaming horde just will not give up and the band returns for the second time and absolutely thrills us with ‘Through The Fire And The Flames.’

DragonForce and All That Remains are poised for a European Tour and bring with them a light speed metal ride that’s not to be missed.