Five years ago instrumental Power Metal band PowerGlove hit the pause button on tour life, but continued the game at Saint Vitus Bar with Helsinki Productions on Saturday, April 1, 2017. PowerGlove performed a successful, next level comeback show for New York City fans who charged through the doors of Saint Vitus eager to see PowerGlove back on stage in full force. Opening acts of the evening included You Bred Raptors?, Driven Mad, and Sinaro. PowerGlove have long been a favorite in the Metal community for their killer heavy metal covers of video game theme songs. The band leveled up since their formation in 2003 in Boston, MA with two masterfully produced full-length albums of video game themed heavy metal covers that have amassed thousands of fans. In 2010 the band signed to eOne Music and played to several hundred fans on 70,000 Tons of Metal 2017 this past February. Rather than releasing their new album Continue? all at once, PowerGlove will spit their fireball singles from the album once a month throughout the year. The final single released will be part of a box set collection as the entire album.

Bodies were ready as PowerGlove kicked off their set with their new 7- minute single “Kraid’s Lair”, a succulent and righteous cover causing anyone to lose all their inhibitions. Dressed as video game warriors themselves with spiked spaulders, chain mail armor and faux leather hide vestments, PowerGlove set up Saint Vitus for an hour and a half of video game nostalgia, headbanging metal, and BEER., Melting faces with a song like "Kraid's Lair" as a set introduction has the potential of causing a brief technical difficulty. Drummer Bassil Silver took the opportunity to leap over the drum kit request that the crowd shout in unison, “Nick, I f**ing love you”.

Before performing the next single “Storm Eagle”, bassist/frontman Nick Avila introduced the song with a sock puppet, stating that it was a poor representation of the bird puppet fans were accustomed to seeing, though it would have to do for the time being. “This sock is gross, it’s disgusting, it’s been on my feet for days, don’t shake my hand’, Avila stated. “Storm Eagle” pays homage to that notorious stage that you couldn’t beat as kid in Mega Man X and to that Nick Avila asked the audience to chant, “F**k that bird”. The most comical moment during “Storm Eagle” had been the moment the crowd threw their fists in the air to aggressively chant with Avila, as if remembering this loathsome in-game creature as the bane of everyone’s childhood. Making the set even more epic were the stage fans blowing through Nick and guitarist Ben Cohen’s strewn hair.

Aside from their extremely innovative performances and musicianship, it is not a complete PowerGlove show until a battle has commenced between their Metal warriors. Two plastic blow up claymores were bestowed upon two ladies in the crowd by Nick Avila and granted them open space to begin the brutal battle to the theatrical song “Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man”. Gamers and metalheads become comrades attending PowerGlove shows. With Saint Vitus packed to the brim, the rest of the setlist included “X-Men”, “Red Wings over Baron” (Final Fantasy IV), “Guile”, “So Sexy Robotnik”, “Kirby”, “Snake Man”, “Gotta Catch Em’ All”, “Mario Minor”, and of course “Power Rangers”. Besides being weird and highly entertaining, many would agree that PowerGlove will always hold the title of 'Video Game Metal Lords' for the brilliant guitar riffs and progressions in their music. Fans flocked to the band's merch table and were also able to meet them after their set. Those who could not attend the show at Saint Vitus can view a full stream of their show in the video below via BackStory Events. PowerGlove will be back on stage April 29th at South Texas Comic Con 2017 and June 24th for TOO MANY GAMES 2017 in Oaks, PA.