Rob H

I will mostly offer wit & wisdom (or lack thereforeof) & commentary, not so much minutia of my everyday life. Also concert pictures. So many concert pictures.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

The penultimate band at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA was @skaldvikings , a very unique and interesting French band playing Nordic folk music with traditional instruments and singing in Nordic languages. Possibly the biggest curveball ever seen at #ProgPowerUSA but one the crowd ate up.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

One of the bands that were new to me at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA was #CemeterySkyline , a bit of a supergroup of members of heavier bands with @MiklStne of @dtofficial on vocals and @amorphis and @dimmuborgir represented as well. Very nice and very atmospheric. #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

For the second straight year, the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA treated attendees to the delightful insanity / inanity of @jasonbieler and @jeffscottsoto , this time in the form of @saigonkick with Soto stepping in on vocals, or #SotoKick as they billed it. #ProgPowerUSA #SaigonKick #Soto

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

One band I really liked on Saturday at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA was #NightDemon , just three guys playing no-frills heavy metal in generally rather dark lighting. Sometimes that is exactly what you need. #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Another snag at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA involved @ORDENOGAN singer Seeb Levermann being too ill to make the trip. Playing to a recorded vocal track & Seeb's costume with a balloon for a head, somehow the rest of #OrdenOgan made it work. Still glad I saw the full group in 2024 tho.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

@iowahawkblog Close? That's like saying Vatican City is close to Italy.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

There were an unprecedented number of cancelations at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA and coming in on quite short notice was @ProgJectBand who played songs from classic prog bands. Yes #ProgJect is a cover band, but one with legit musicians from legit bands and they definitely showed it.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Friday at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA featured a pair of particularly heavy bands in the form of @belakorband and @riversofnihil . I am never going to be big on growling vocals, but both #Belakor and #RiversOfNihil offered some complex playing to keep me engrossed. And more sax!

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Both weekend days of the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA opened with a purely instrumental band, @sometimefeb on Friday and @LuxTerminus on Saturday. Each band got the #ProgPowerUSA show going quite well, and who doesn't love to see someone break out a sax? #SometimeInFebruary #LuxTerminus

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

@theroyalhalf They heard there was a team in LA named the Bruins and that was that.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Best band Friday at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA was @MajesticaMetal , Tommy Johansson's old/new band, playing music that is high spirited even for power metal. They were supposed to play #ProgPowerUSA over a decade ago under their old name ReinXeed, and #Majestica was worth the wait.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

The @IronMaiden concert I saw at the @TheO2 London in 2017 for the Book Of Souls tour was the first time I caught the band outside the United States, and I got to see them on their home turf. #IronMaiden gave a top tier performance, as always.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

The oldest show I have unposted pictures of on this phone is @Shinedown in London at the O2. #Shinedown were one of the best openers I have seen for Iron Maiden, and they did very well with a 9 song set in the massive arena.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Wrapping up the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA was @pagans_mind , one of the many great bands I discovered through the festival. #PagansMind delivered a spellbinding performance as usual, the fifth time I've seen them at #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

I was a bit surprised when @WingerTheBand was named for the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA , and I was not much of a fan of their big songs from the late 80s, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the material from the album Pull, which #Winger played in its entirety. #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

More prog on Saturday at the 2025 @ProgPowerUSA with @Damian_Wilson and his fabulous voice, performing his songs from a number of bands, including a few by @Threshold . At one point he went out into the audience to sing and then got a ride back to the #ProgPowerUSA stage.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

I saw #Illumishade for the third time at the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA after not knowing anything about them six months earlier. A spinoff of @eluveitie that plays extremely listenable progressive symphonic metal, they were another favorite from Saturday night. #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Things went back to the prog side of the coin on the Saturday evening of the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA with @DisillusionBand . It is always great to get that change of pace between the two main genres of #ProgPowerUSA , which keeps things fresh.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

@ChadBenner1 @ProgPowerUSA @lovebites_jp Yeah. I remember people getting extremely excited about them when the bands were announced the year before, and those people were proven very right. I think the LA show may have been ever better, and I am very much awaiting their return. Amazing musicians.

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

The Friday band at the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA that just blew me away was @lovebites_jp . Every member of the band is stellar, and their heavy and fast metal was so exceptional that once it ended, I bought a ticket to see #Lovebites again in SoCal four days later. #ProgPowerUSA

[Rob H @BaronRob20]

Getting things started on Saturday at the 2024 @ProgPowerUSA was @FrozenCrownBand , a very energetic power metal band that I saw once before near the start of their career. #FrozenCrown was probably my favorite band of the night, putting a big smile on my face. #ProgPowerUSA