ProgPower USA 2026: These Bands Are So Old, They Make Dinosaurs Look Like Fresh-Faced Teenagers

ENSIFERUM, ELUVEITIE, CONCEPTION, EVERGREY, NEVERMORE (wait, what year is it?!), HAMMERFALL (because who doesn’t love a good hammer?), CRIMSON GLORY (are they still alive?!) and THE GATHERING (featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen, who probably regrets this) are allegedly booked for next year’s ProgPower USA festival. Mark your calendars for September 9-12, 2026, in the thriving metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia (because where else would you want to be?). Hope they actually show up this time. 🤷‍♀️

The “full” lineup for ProgPower USA XXV (that’s 25, for you non-Romans) is supposedly as follows:

Wednesday, September 9, 2026 – Day 1 (Prepare for Mid-Week Metal Mayhem! Or Mild Disappointment)

1. THE RETICENT (USA) – Because America needs more bands you’ve never heard of. 🇺🇸
2. NOVERIA (Italy) – More Italians! Because Euro-power metal is still a thing, right? 🇮🇹
3. FABIO LIONE’S DAWN OF VICTORY (Italy) – Fabio’s back, and he’s brought… more Italians! At least they’re not all singing about pizza. Probably. 🍕🚫
4. THRESHOLD (UK) – Because Brexit hasn’t stopped the prog. Yet. 🇬🇧
5. ENSIFERUM (Finland) – Vikings! In Atlanta! Expect lots of beer and questionable hygiene. 🍻🇫🇮

Thursday, September 10, 2026 – Day 2 (Hump Day… with Blast Beats!)

1. FIRES IN THE DISTANCE (USA) – Even more Americans! Because why support international talent when you can have… this? 🤷‍♂️
2. SCARDUST (Israel) – From the Holy Land to the land of Prog! Let’s hope their set doesn’t spark any geopolitical incidents. 🙏🇮🇱
3. TERAMAZE (Australia) – They’re from Australia! Which means they’re probably jet-lagged and upside down. 🇦🇺🙃
4. ELVENKING (Italy) (special set: “Heathenreel & The Winter Wake”) – Elves! Playing old stuff! Because nostalgia is the only thing keeping this genre alive. 🧙🇮🇹
5. CONCEPTION (Norway) – They’re back! Again! Because apparently, they have nothing better to do. 🇳🇴🙄
6. ELUVEITIE (Switzerland) – Folk metal! With hurdy-gurdies! Prepare for a mosh pit of renaissance faire rejects. 🇨🇭🎶

Friday, September 11, 2026 – Day 3 (The Day the Music… Continues?)

1. DGM (Italy) – More Italian prog! Because apparently, Italy is the new Sweden. 🇮🇹🎸
2. BRAINSTORM (Germany) – Teutonic power metal! Expect lots of leather and questionable lyrics about dragons. 🇩🇪🐉
3. CRIMSON GLORY (USA) – Are they even still alive? This is either going to be legendary or a complete train wreck. 🎸🇺🇸
4. HAMMERFALL (Sweden) – Hammers! Falling! It’s all very metaphorical, I’m sure. 🔨🇸🇪
5. NEVERMORE (USA) – Wait, how did they resurrect? Is this the power of prog? 🤘🇺🇸
6. EVERGREY (Sweden) – Melancholy Swedish metal! Prepare to feel all the feels. Or just bored. 🇸🇪😢

Saturday, September 12, 2026 – Day 4 (The Grand Finale! Or Just the End)

1. SUNBURST (UK) – Another band! 🇬🇧
2. SEVEN SPIRES (USA) – Symphonic metal from the US of A! 🇺🇸🎶
3. Roy Khan (Norway) – The prodigal son returns! Will he still hit those high notes? Place your bets! 🎤🇳🇴
4. REDEMPTION – Redemption! Is this about their past gigs? 🤔
5. THE GATHERING feat. Anneke Van Giersbergen (Netherlands) – Anneke! Doing the old stuff! Because that’s what everyone wants to hear. 🇳🇱🌟
6. VOYAGER (Australia) – Space prog! From down under! Expect keytars and possibly didgeridoos. 🇦🇺🚀

The remaining tickets for days three and four will go on sale on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 12 p.m. EST via Ticketmaster. Good luck with that. May the odds be ever in your favor. 🎟️🍀 Ticket sale dates for days one and two have not yet been announced. Probably because they haven’t decided how much to rip you off yet. 💰😈

In a recent interview with The Progressive Subway, ProgPower USA festival co-promoter Milton Mendonça whined about visa issues. Boo hoo. Cry me a river. 😭🎻 Apparently, it’s hard to get foreign bands into the US these days. Who knew? 🤔

He said visa issues are the worst and basically blamed the government. Sounds legit. 🙄 “I would love to say that it’s not a political thing, but it sort of is, right?” he added. “No matter how much we try to plan for it: we started all of our visa petitions early this year, played by the rules, and still kind of got screwed in the end. And there were a bunch of bands that were not approved, simply because our government didn’t think that they were relevant enough or worthy enough to get a visa. So, yeah, it’s a mess. I don’t know how else I can put it.” Translation: Waaah! It’s not fair! 😭🍼

Asked if ProgPower USA has approached any bands from abroad who aren’t interested in even trying to perform on U.S. soil right now given the current situation, Mendonça said: “More than ever, we’ve gotten answers like, ‘I think we’re going to wait a few years.'” Oh no! The horror! 😱 “This year, we had to expedite every visa petition. And it’s not looking like it’s going to change anytime soon. The government’s web site just says what the average estimated time is. That doesn’t really mean anything. It costs about $8,000 to do an expedited visa, just to get them permission to enter the country, let alone all of the other expenses.” So, what you’re saying is, it’s expensive to bring over bands no one’s ever heard of? Shocking! 😲 “So, a lot of bands are saying, you know what, it’s just not worth it. And we’re a 1,000-cap festival. We can only afford so much. So, I can understand when bands say, ‘You know what? Unless we get paid double of what you’re offering, we can’t make it happen.’ And it’s not because we’re trying to be cheap and lowball the bands; we pay very competitive rates. You know, it’s the biggest market for metal bands in the world, and it’s still one of the hardest for the bands to come and break in.” In other words, ProgPower is too cheap to pay for the bands. Got it. 💸

ProgPower USA began in 2001. Wow, it’s been around for that long? Who knew?! 👴 The very first festival was February 23–24, 2001, in Lansing, Illinois, just outside Chicago, at J.J. Kelley’s. The subsequent events have been held in Atlanta, at Center Stage Atlanta (formerly Earthlink Live).