We felt pretty privileged to have Primal Fear travel all the way from Germany to honor us with their righteous metal. Right out of the gates Ralf Scheepers spewed metal from the depths of his vocal cords and started the night off right, making this small bar in the downtown of Joliet seem inadequate for the level of metal we were hearing. There were many times you still had that feeling of an arena show as whomever was operating  the sound was a real pro at making it sound larger than life. Yes, we left with the typical “crickets in our ears.”

The whole band is extremely talented, but it must be said that Scheepers took home the best vocalist award that night along with MVP. He screamed his lungs out throughout most of the show. It was some of the most intense and persistently perfect vocals we have ever heard in a live setting. Even Rob Halford would have been amazed.

The encore was probably the best as they played “Metal is Forever” and our favorite “Unbreakable-2” and really seemed to be getting warmed up. Like most bands they saved the best for last. They played for about 90 minutes, so we didn’t feel cheated, but we did want more. They ended the show promptly at 11 pm and most likely they would have played longer if allowed.