As I was standing at the bar before the gig I overheard a few people saying that they had never heard of the Powerquest.  However after seeing tonight performance I doubt very much whether they’ll forget them.

As the majority of the crowd stood and wondered what they were about to hear, the lucky few of us who have seen Powerquest before and know what they are capable of, well we just waited in anticipation and shuffled forward to obtain a decent view of the stage.

The evenings events started with an introduction by a representative of the Classic Rock Society, looking every bit like he was on his way to the local PTA meeting, and who made all the non-members there feel about as welcome as a fart in a space suit.  Inquiring why they weren’t members telling them it just wasn’t on as they had members all over the world isn’t exactly welcoming them with open arms now is it?  Not many marks on the people skills and selling persuasions there matey I afraid. Think perhaps you need to try a new approach and change your sales pitch banter.

Soon it was down to business for Powerquest who unleashed a set of pure quality with a mix of tracks from their two albums ‘Wings of Forever’ and ‘Neverworld’. Vocalist Alessio Garavello has to be one of the most natural front men on the rock scene today.  He appeared relaxed and in control throughout and has a fantastic voice to boot.  From the opening flurry of ‘Wings of Forever’ his voice was quite simply majestic.

Although the crowd seemed a little unsure of the band at first they seemed to warm to them quickly as the show went on.  Once again clearly demonstrating that they were more than up for the task and kept that all important energy flowing between them.

The enthusiasm and enjoyment the band were radiated from their performance soon spilled out into the crowd and although tonight’s set was somewhat short than we would have liked to have seen, it was certainly one of the highest quality gigs in regards to musicianship and commitment to win over everyone in the room with their music that I’ve seen this year.  An excellent performance which was thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

After a brief interlude the results of the raffle were announced!!! (how rock n roll was that ?!?)  Then Threshold were introduced.

As soon as Mac came on stage dressed in a kilt and New Rock boots then you knew it was going to be a wild night.  The band opened up with a big favourite of the fans ‘Mission Profile’ from their acclaimed new album 'Subsurface'.

I think perhaps Mac would have been a little more comfortable on a slightly larger stage, as he wandered back and forth like a caged animal on the small stage while the rest of the band looked on just slightly more comfortable than their lead singer.  Threshold might not be the most animated band around, preferring to let the music do the talking, but it was clear this mighty vocalist was feeling restless in his stage environment tonight.

Mixing tracks off both their new album and some older tracks, Mac tells us this is the first time on the tour that they have been able to play their full set as they continued with the excellent 'Ground Control', also off the new album.  With Mac continuing to pace back and forth in between vocal spots the rest of the band continued to play some of the best Progressive Metal I have heard in a long time.

Continuing the set with 'Ravages of Time' and 'Freaks', it was only then that Mac seemed to settle down and showed what a great front man he can be by bantering and joking with the audience.

With a set that was just short of two hours and playing a lot more tracks off the new album including 'Opium', 'Stop Dead' and 'The Art of Reason'.  These being some of the best off the album and the set itself being a lot longer than they had played at the bands two previous shows at The Underworld in London and the Bloodstock festival in Derby.

With a few of the tracks reaching the ten minute mark in length they certainly didn’t seem so as Karl Groom and Nick Midson were superb on guitars without the need to show off.  These two musicians seem to work well together and the melodies flowed throughout every song. 

Richard West’s keyboards were quite magnificent and the new boy in the band bassist Steve Anderson filled in the gaps and seemed well a home with the band.  Keeping it all together drummer Johanne James pounding beats couldn’t be faulted at all.  Sat to the rear of the stage he smiled throughout the whole set and looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

I wish I could have seen the band at Bloodstock the night before so I could have compared the two gigs. Tonight’s gig was a far more intermit affair, with the stage less than two foot high and the audience just inches away from the band.  The sound quality was a lot better than I had expected after seeing the venue itself.

They finished off with a crowd favourite 'Long Way Home', which in my opinion was in itself well worth the lengthy travel involved in getting to the gig.

As this was my first experience of a live Threshold performance, I must say I was greatly impressed.  It’s just a pity that they were only playing three gigs in the UK, as the prog metal genre really seems to be finally receiving the exposure it deserves in more recent years.

I truly hope that this band will be doing a few more dates in this country in the near future and that they receive all the recognition they deserve for being such a fine band.

As a closing comment I would like to say how commendable it was to see both Powerquest and Threshold’s Mac come out after their sets to chat to the fans and sign stuff for them.  Nice to see as not many seem to bother these days which is a real shame.  Also many thanks to the Classic Rock Society for providing this opportunity to catch these great bands in action.  Your sales pitch might stink but your intentions are commendable.  Lastly, if you ever get the chance to catch either of these bands live then do make the effort to go see them.  Both bands are well worth their weight in gold and it’s so good to see bands that look like they actually enjoy what they are doing and not simply going through the motions.