2nd band for 2013: ELDRITCH

[dcowboys311]

I wouldn't. I loved the kind of bands that played last year and the general atmosphere, and am not looking for a ProgPower lite or something else. Keep it old school.

Expansion wouldn't necessarily have to be into the PP-lite realm. Some doom bands like Pagan Altar of Hour of 13 would be welcome additions that don't deviate too far from the existing formula. But I agree, there is already one ProgPower, don't need another.

 

[DMR]

I can't understand why anyone would think the guys who wrote Awaken the Guardian wouldn't be appropriate for a heavy metal festival.

 

[Justin G]

Expansion wouldn't necessarily have to be into the PP-lite realm. Some doom bands like Pagan Altar of Hour of 13 would be welcome additions that don't deviate too far from the existing formula. But I agree, there is already one ProgPower, don't need another.

That's the key - don't deviate too far from the existing formula. You can pull in some doom, thrash, even prog and power without going too far afield. Diversify too much though and you lose the identity of the fest.

Then again, identity doesn't pay the bills, so maybe drawing a hard line is foolish.

 

[Justin G]

I can't understand why anyone would think the guys who wrote Awaken the Guardian wouldn't be appropriate for a heavy metal festival.

It's not that they wouldn't be appropriate, it's that they'd be more appropriate at a fest like PPUSA.

I'd flip out to be able to see them either way.

 

[SteelFireRecs]

Arch/Matheos would be sick

Yes im saying this again. Im not gonna argue with everyone, because we all know we would melt to see Arch/Matheos and see them play some classic FW.

 

[nomisofsiman]

What? Arch Matheos would NOT be a fit but Eldritch would?
Sorry. But with this booking anything is indeed game.

I can see it either way I suppose; however, Eldritch does have that thrash element that has been one of the genres featured in this festival.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I can see both sides of the argument, and I think it would work indeed.

Eldritch can have a lot more punch/speed/metal than Arch/Matheos. However, for a festival that strongly relies on "older-school" style bands, Arch/Matheos is a great fit regardless of it being a new project. Old school Fates fans would go nuts over it.

On top of it, I would like to see Ragnarokkr expanding more and more style-wise. I think the Eldritch booking is a step into that direction, though I'm curious as to who will be the headliner of the event...

Sorry Milt, I will have to disagree with you there. The festival needs an identity and if it expands too much more it will lose this identity.

 

[AngraRULES]

Fair enough. I haven't been to Ragnarokkr so I'm not too sure about the atmosphere you guys talk about since I obviously haven't experienced it. I don't think it needs to become another PPUSA, but I can't help but ask... given the current format, do you see the attendance will keep returning year after year given the current format, or will a slight reformulation (akin to what happened to PP) have to take place to keep things fresh and bring people back?

 

[nomisofsiman]

Fair enough. I haven't been to Ragnarokkr so I'm not too sure about the atmosphere you guys talk about since I obviously haven't experienced it. I don't think it needs to become another PPUSA, but I can't help but ask... given the current format, do you see the attendance will keep returning year after year given the current format, or will a slight reformulation (akin to what happened to PP) have to take place to keep things fresh and bring people back?

I think it's hard to say. The first couple years have not had great turnouts; however, at the same time I've talked to a number of people who didn't really know too much about it either, plus it being in Joliet aside from Chicago I think has been an issue. Having said that though, this past year had a lot more people than the first year, so I think this third year will really say whether or not it can start to get a larger attendance or not.

 

[Diabolik]

Fair enough. I haven't been to Ragnarokkr so I'm not too sure about the atmosphere you guys talk about since I obviously haven't experienced it. I don't think it needs to become another PPUSA, but I can't help but ask... given the current format, do you see the attendance will keep returning year after year given the current format, or will a slight reformulation (akin to what happened to PP) have to take place to keep things fresh and bring people back?

The atmosphere is very roomy.

No, I agree with Milton, while it doesnt need to become PP lite, but I dont see all the fear of it becoming something different. While Eldritch is a tad different from most of the bands that are normally booked people are forgetting that this was a band that was sponsored by a fan.

This is the same thing as I was suggesting a few months back about adding bands like Acid Witch, Bones, and Speedwolf. While more heavier than the stuff that has been booked at Ragnarokkr, it is a chance to get people to come who normally would not come but it isnt a stretch where the main theme is being altered....most of those bands fall under the umbrella of "cult" underground.

While most of the stuff that has been booked is classic traditional 80's and some newer bands that play that style, there is no reason that some of the bookings can branch out a bit. Ragnarokkr isnt turning into something else......there are still a lot of other bands still being booked.

 

[Jasonic]

Bobby. You nearly made me pee!!!!

For the record I am not dissing Eldritch. I do like lots of the Inside Out stuff. Wait are they on that label?

 

[Justin G]

Bobby. You nearly made me pee!!!!

For the record I am not dissing Eldritch. I do like lots of the Inside Out stuff. Wait are they on that label?

No, Scarlet. I guess they used to be an InsideOut band.

 

[Jasonic]

Gotcha. Yea. Thought they were on IO. I will check em out soon.

 

[Diabolik]

Bobby. You nearly made me pee!!!!

For the record I am not dissing Eldritch. I do like lots of the Inside Out stuff. Wait are they on that label?

huh? bladder issues? I usually make the female race puke.

 

[Jasonic]

Your atmosphere comment.

Ok so i guess both pentagram and manilla road are playing MDF.
Seems like more and more fests are picking from the potential Ragnarokkr pool.

 

[Diabolik]

Your atmosphere comment.

Ok so i guess both pentagram and manilla road are playing MDF.
Seems like more and more fests are picking from the potential Ragnarokkr pool.

yeah, with talking with Mike...it gets harder to find the perfect fit of bands. Picking from a good solid band with a fanbase and that can draw and also nt be crazy expensive.

 

[Jasonic]

That will always be a challenge.
I guess it's a matter of accepting that it will draw 200 or straying from the original mission to grow.
The good thing is the fest HAS made a name for itself so there should be an increase in attendance without having to book something just to appeal to the masses.

 

[Justin G]

That will always be a challenge.
I guess it's a matter of accepting that it will draw 200 or straying from the original mission to grow.
The good thing is the fest HAS made a name for itself so there should be an increase in attendance without having to book something just to appeal to the masses.

Can we at least get a "no bands that sound like Nightwish" rule in place?

 

[Ragnarokkrmetal]

I need to weigh in on this topic. There is something people fail to realize. A festival that draws 200-300 (250 for the sake of calculations)........if it only draws that many, then ticket prices will probably be low. Let's say $40 because that is what it was for 2012. Gross profit is $10,000. Reggies is unanimously agree to be the place to hold it. There fee is $1600 and 20% of gross. So now we are at $6400 to pay for everything. Based on past years, hotels average about $1200. Gas for the two if us to get up and back is about $300. Let's just take off $1400 for the sake of ease in calculations. We now have $5000 to pay for bands and all the small costs.

$5000 might sound like a lot, but consider what a band needs to come. An old school traditional metal band is generally poor. Will they pay out of pocket to travel to play a festival with little exposure.....no chance in hell. So any band not in a 300 mi radius of the city will want to fly in. They can't afford hotels either so that's more. So for three unknown bands, our entire budget is gone with no profit to use next year....all based one us being able to get everything for free.

On the other hand, we shell out on a band that will sell out. This was the original plan for 2012. Iced Earth wanted $7500. They brought over 700 paying people to Mojoes. Our one-day ticket was $2 less than their ticket. Many of them would have bought the two-day. We'll just round it to 500 for calculating purposes. Mojoes would have been free would we had that size crowd. Minus backline and costs, net profit would have been $10,000....already double. Would a traditional metal band pay out of pocket to play this fest....yes. They did for VS, Brocas, and Wizard. We would have gotten even more with a band like Iced Earth. Let's say we even assisted in travel cost for some of them and brought Wizard over. Profit for the following year is still $5000+.

Now there is the argument that you true metal warriors don't want to see these types of bands. All the people saying this either didn't come one day (some didn't even come at all) or left before the end anyway and we put the last band on around 11pm. I could have put Wizard on at 11 and IE on at midnight. You still wouldn't have stayed so why would it have mattered?

So we get a free venue, a huge crowd, money for the following year, bigger hype, free publicity, etc. Way better scenario than what happened for 2012 and the situation we are in for 2013.

 

[Diabolik]

I need to weigh in on this topic. There is something people fail to realize. A festival that draws 200-300 (250 for the sake of calculations)........if it only draws that many, then ticket prices will probably be low. Let's say $40 because that is what it was for 2012. Gross profit is $10,000. Reggies is unanimously agree to be the place to hold it. There fee is $1600 and 20% of gross. So now we are at $6400 to pay for everything. Based on past years, hotels average about $1200. Gas for the two if us to get up and back is about $300. Let's just take off $1400 for the sake of ease in calculations. We now have $5000 to pay for bands and all the small costs.

$5000 might sound like a lot, but consider what a band needs to come. An old school traditional metal band is generally poor. Will they pay out of pocket to travel to play a festival with little exposure.....no chance in hell. So any band not in a 300 mi radius of the city will want to fly in. They can't afford hotels either so that's more. So for three unknown bands, our entire budget is gone with no profit to use next year....all based one us being able to get everything for free.

On the other hand, we shell out on a band that will sell out. This was the original plan for 2012. Iced Earth wanted $7500. They brought over 700 paying people to Mojoes. Our one-day ticket was $2 less than their ticket. Many of them would have bought the two-day. We'll just round it to 500 for calculating purposes. Mojoes would have been free would we had that size crowd. Minus backline and costs, net profit would have been $10,000....already double. Would a traditional metal band pay out of pocket to play this fest....yes. They did for VS, Brocas, and Wizard. We would have gotten even more with a band like Iced Earth. Let's say we even assisted in travel cost for some of them and brought Wizard over. Profit for the following year is still $5000+.

Now there is the argument that you true metal warriors don't want to see these types of bands. All the people saying this either didn't come one day (some didn't even come at all) or left before the end anyway and we put the last band on around 11pm. I could have put Wizard on at 11 and IE on at midnight. You still wouldn't have stayed so why would it have mattered?

So we get a free venue, a huge crowd, money for the following year, bigger hype, free publicity, etc. Way better scenario than what happened for 2012 and the situation we are in for 2013.

well said. You need to explain stuff like this more often.