Wheeee, ProgPower! The second in a series of MetalFestivals in 2004 (the first being the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles 6Pack weekend in Cleveland OH, pictures forthcoming), this time bringing me back to the peach state, Atlanta GA.

This was the second ProgPower I had attended, the first being ProgPower II in 2001. I gathered up m'homies, Tony Stray and Carol Anderson, and we caught a redeye flight out to Atlanta. It was a good thing we took the redeye, as Hurricane Ivan, which had been wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico, was threatening to make its way toward western Georgia. In fact, had we taken a later flight, there was a good chance that we would have been delayed and would have missed the Thursday night pre-party. It turns out that Ivan made its merry way to Tropcical Stormdom, and by Friday the weather was starting to clear up. By week's end, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

We were fortunate to have taken an early flight and caught the performances of hometown boys Prototype and the magnificent Magistral from Houston, TX. Here's a nice group hug with (from left to right) Kirk Scherer, Christine and Vince Levalois, Carol Anderson, Lucho Silva, me, Tim Thomas, and Kragen Lum. Wow, am I short!

I had met Lucho back in 2001 when New Eden played in Houston with Magistral at the Bang Your Head, Houston! festival.

And speaking of Texans, here's me and Randy Garza, who I had also met at the Bang Your Head Houston fest in '01.

In between Metal shows and lack of sleep, Carol, Tony, and I got some sight-seeing in! Here I am in downtown Atlanta by The Underground (a strange underground mall) and the Coca-Cola museum.

Carol, an avid Pepsi drinker, was a bit dismayed by the lack of availability of her favorite soft drink in the hometown of Coca-Cola.

Tad Morose kicked my ASCII onstage, and were quite the hams off. I must admit, I didn't mind one bit posing for this picture!

Although I have no idea who the guy in the glasses is... he just kinda stepped in there...

Photographer extrodinaire and one of the most well-traveled metalheads out there, all the way from the San Francisco bay area, Alina pauses for a brief chat before running back to work. The long blonde lock in the middle is hers, by the way...

I had to travel all the way to Atlanta to catch up with fellow Los Angeleno Heather Smith, who is every bit as busy at home as she is working the festivals.

Okay, I'm reaaaaaalllyyyy short -- me n Dio from South Carolina, or was it North Carolina? damn it, i don't even think i can point it out on a map.

At any rate, ProgPower was over and everyone was leaving the fine establishment of Earthlink Llive -- another successful show. Sad partings begat plans for next year's festival.

Poor Tony was so pooped, he couldn't keep his eyes open at the post show grub-feast. Of the whole adventure, getting post show food without a car was the most challenging part. With the help of ProgPower veteran, we finally found an all night joint a few miles from our hotel, but the food was some sort of strange healthy stuff; I missed the grease and predictability of Denny's. Chicken strips and BBQ sauce thankyouverymuch!