Dragonforce are a hard drinking, extreme power metal band from the UK, and if you haven’t heard of them you may have been living under a rock. They have two of the fastest guitarists in the world Herman Li and Sam Totman, and when they go at it, its like watching Malmsteen on steroids. They are excellent when it comes to technique and surprisingly quite humorous and entertaining too. Playing each others guitars and performing dual acrobatic jumps on stage, they have incredible presence. Having toured extensively with WASP and Iron Maiden early in their career, they have really mastered showmanship.

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It’s possibly the most encompassing demographic milling about the Entertainment Centre’s cavernous lobby tonight – there’s groups of greying gents encircled around their beverages, women tottering about in heels and sequins, numerous denim clad 20-somethings and teens clutching their programs, but possibly the best sight of all – some single digit little ones, running between seats replete with giant headphones.

Really, we could expect no lesser a cross-section for a Stevie Wonder show.

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The nine men behind masks are behind a black curtain until Joey Jordison’s drum warm-up cues it to drop. Slipknot sidle onstage amid purple-lit smoke that’s near-impossible to focus on, while Jordison waves bizarre tree-root/scarecrow-hybrid gloves at the crowd. The eerie screams and lazy bass-driven soundscape of Iowa is sampled as they take their positions and remain immobile for several moments. It’s a wildly successful opening tactic, as the appearance of these nine figures – still, silent, and representative of a marketing concept much larger than their physical make-up – is enough to incite pandemonium throughout the venue. Corey Taylor’s roar and Jim Root’s high-pitched lead riff introduce fan favourite Surfacing, a cut from their 1999 self-titled debut which surmises the band’s misanthropic, rebellious tendencies in three minutes of break-neck, down-tuned heavy rock. Continue reading