There are some bands that are extremely popular in certain segments of the population, but completely unknown to everyone else. Until about 30 hours ago I had never heard of DragonForce but now, thanks to a wokmate, I can say not only that I am familiar with their music but also that I have attended a concert.
DragonForce turns out to be a 6 piece power metal band from London with a habit of playing their instruments at high volume, as measured in both decibels and the sheer number of notes played per bar. The lyrics mine a rich vein of fantasy cheese, and it is obvious that nobody takes the theme very seriously. The best part of the show was the extremely weird interlude where the keyboard player played a bizarro ten-minute solo that sounded like something from a Sonic the Hedgehog game before switching to that oft-maligned 80's wonder instrument, the keytar for a music duel with the guitarists.
DragonForce were preceded by the requisite inferior opening acts, neither of which names I caught. The first was a bog standard metal group. The second sounded a lot like Whitesnake (whether or not that is an improvement is left up to the reader), but distinguished themselves by having a guitarist whose look and stage presence seemed to be modeled on Barry Gibb (whether or not that is an improvement..., etc).
All in all, an excellent show.