All..
Many of you noticed my posting last Thursday of the Enchant, Redemption and Zero Hour gig and the subsequent forum announcement of the BARfest forum. I wanted to take a few minutes to explain to everybody what I am doing and to enlist the support and the help of the PP community.
First of all- let me clarify what Bay Area Rock Fest is NOT- The Enchant, Redemption and Zero Hour gig in San Jose in March has been brewing for a while out here. All the guys have been chatting amongst themselves for a while- I started talking with all the bands about this last year, and helped pull all the logistics together to promote this and announce this last week.
The Bay Area Rock Fest is going to be a MAJOR event that will help bring our kind of metal back to the Bay Area. This will be a festival that will provide all of the ProgPower crowd a reason to come visit San Francisco in the spring and hear music that we all love.
Before I get into the details, let me give you some background. This all started from a conversation that Eric from Timeline (Eboles) and I were having over a few beers last July about the need for a ProgPower West- Im sure we all have had those same discussions over many beers both at PP, in our own locales, or on the PP board (GO MADFEST!)
San Francisco has a great history of music starting with the 60s scene from the Bill Graham era of mixing bands on stage like the Airplane, Miles Davis and Dr. John all on one stage. With the addition of bands like Journey, the legendary metal shows in the 80s like the Days on the Green and the rise of the thrash scene we have always had some killer music out here..
Over the past few years, we have witnessed a major decline in the metal scene out here, as Im sure many of you have-- We have now lost 3 major clubs that would book metal/prog rock shows- The Pound was located in a bad area of town, but it did give people a chance to come out and see rising metal acts and would book bands like Stratovarius, Sonata, Kamelot and so forth. It closed in September a few weeks after the Kamelot show!! Several other clubs have closed between the Edge in Palo Alto and most recently Bourbon Street in Concord is in a state of flux because of new ownership and a unfortunate recent event.
What I believe that we have out here is a major stable of talent between bands like Enchant, Zero Hour who are local and other Southern California bands like Redemption that have ties in Northern California. Furthermore, we have what I believe to be the only local metal TV show on cable- www.ccrock.com. This is a great show that has featured live performance clips from Bay Area shows, music and interviews with bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche and Yes. This is a great tool to help keep metal alive.
What we are trying to do is twofold. First of all to help keep the scene alive by mobilizing the fan-base here so we make SURE we don't miss the national touring acts like Kamelot and Sonata (who are not coming through here on their latest tour--much to my dismay!) Secondly, we want to have an event which will supplement ProgPower, Chicago PowerFest, MADFEST, NEARfest, and whatever other festivals that this awesome community of fans can put together.
We have made the first step by getting the gig out the door with Redemption, Enchant, Zero Hour and Eric's band Timeline. The Avalon is a great club that seats 900 people, and is an INCREDIBLE venue--
As far as the second goal- I am very close to announcing the details of the entire festival. For those of you making travel plans for the year- plan on May 4th and 5th in San Francisco. This is going to have a different tone than any of the other festivals. It will be a good mix for an open-minded PP fan. There will be bands on the bill that are proven PP performers that you will all absolutely love. There will be an exclusive North American appearance of a major overseas band that has played here before. There will be the first-ever North American appearance of an up-and-coming band. There will be an appearance of a major legend in our genre of music. There will be appearances by some bands that are different from the usual PP canon of bands. You have my assurance on one thing- Im NOT going to book anybody that Glen is booking, or any of the other US festivals. I don't think that is a wise thing to do for our entire scene.
I know from the boards that everybody has their own opinions on bands, and that Glen does an amazing job of putting together a lineup that works for everybody. I know there are some of you who will totally object to some of the bands that I am going to bring- but I ask you all to give me- and the scene a chance. Having the support of this community- both in coming to the festival, or contributing in other ways is going to help grow this scene on a national basis. As we all know, Glen has built this scene in North America by launching the US draws of overseas bands that would normally flounder here by themselves. I truly believe that the scene is poised to blossom with multiple festivals in the US and strong draws in ALL markets for overseas/local progressive acts.
Now- for my thoughts on the name-- I wrestled a long time with the name for this festival- After coming up with all kinds of prog, power and metal names. I decided on Bay Area Rock Fest aka BARfest.. Im sure when the lineup comes out some of the naysayers on the board are going to go-- "Hey that lineup makes we want to BARF! Well-- I think the MTV-bred metal soul in us all hears Beavis and Butthead in the background saying the same thing. Thats part of the fun with it.. The REAL meaning behind this, is that Im tired of trying to pigeonhole our music into a category. I believe that this is the TRUE rock and roll out there right now. That is why I went for the straight Bay Area Rock Fest name. Additionally-- It was hard to believe that nobody has done something with a simple name out here- Im sure it was the heave connotation!!
So- now it comes time for my plea-- If you care about the local scene and can help bring your friends to see the March show-- PLEASE do so. If you feel you have any other expertise to contribute to help- whether you want to be a roadie moving gear, or can hang flyers, post forums or have artistic talents- please let me know-- Ill post more specifically what I need on my forum http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/bar-fest-430/ . Bear is already helping out tremendously and is a great asset to have-- as well as a great guy to hang with!
Additionally, when I post the lineup on the Bay Area Fest for May, you can make the choice if you want to help in the same capacity- both from logistically or supporting it financially through a special sponsor/patron offer. I welcome any feedback or thoughts you have on this forum or my forum.
Before signing off, I wanted to thank my partner in crime Eric for all the endless hours that we have spent to put this together-- I know you all will be happy.. Additionally, I want to thank Glen for bringing us the music that we love and giving me the inspiration to do this. Without PP, there would be a huge musical void in my life-- I might be stuck listening to VH1.
Stay tuned for more exciting details.
David-
Many of you noticed my posting last Thursday of the Enchant, Redemption and Zero Hour gig and the subsequent forum announcement of the BARfest forum. I wanted to take a few minutes to explain to everybody what I am doing and to enlist the support and the help of the PP community.
First of all- let me clarify what Bay Area Rock Fest is NOT- The Enchant, Redemption and Zero Hour gig in San Jose in March has been brewing for a while out here. All the guys have been chatting amongst themselves for a while- I started talking with all the bands about this last year, and helped pull all the logistics together to promote this and announce this last week.
The Bay Area Rock Fest is going to be a MAJOR event that will help bring our kind of metal back to the Bay Area. This will be a festival that will provide all of the ProgPower crowd a reason to come visit San Francisco in the spring and hear music that we all love.
Before I get into the details, let me give you some background. This all started from a conversation that Eric from Timeline (Eboles) and I were having over a few beers last July about the need for a ProgPower West- Im sure we all have had those same discussions over many beers both at PP, in our own locales, or on the PP board (GO MADFEST!)
San Francisco has a great history of music starting with the 60s scene from the Bill Graham era of mixing bands on stage like the Airplane, Miles Davis and Dr. John all on one stage. With the addition of bands like Journey, the legendary metal shows in the 80s like the Days on the Green and the rise of the thrash scene we have always had some killer music out here..
Over the past few years, we have witnessed a major decline in the metal scene out here, as Im sure many of you have-- We have now lost 3 major clubs that would book metal/prog rock shows- The Pound was located in a bad area of town, but it did give people a chance to come out and see rising metal acts and would book bands like Stratovarius, Sonata, Kamelot and so forth. It closed in September a few weeks after the Kamelot show!! Several other clubs have closed between the Edge in Palo Alto and most recently Bourbon Street in Concord is in a state of flux because of new ownership and a unfortunate recent event.
What I believe that we have out here is a major stable of talent between bands like Enchant, Zero Hour who are local and other Southern California bands like Redemption that have ties in Northern California. Furthermore, we have what I believe to be the only local metal TV show on cable- www.ccrock.com. This is a great show that has featured live performance clips from Bay Area shows, music and interviews with bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche and Yes. This is a great tool to help keep metal alive.
What we are trying to do is twofold. First of all to help keep the scene alive by mobilizing the fan-base here so we make SURE we don't miss the national touring acts like Kamelot and Sonata (who are not coming through here on their latest tour--much to my dismay!) Secondly, we want to have an event which will supplement ProgPower, Chicago PowerFest, MADFEST, NEARfest, and whatever other festivals that this awesome community of fans can put together.
We have made the first step by getting the gig out the door with Redemption, Enchant, Zero Hour and Eric's band Timeline. The Avalon is a great club that seats 900 people, and is an INCREDIBLE venue--
As far as the second goal- I am very close to announcing the details of the entire festival. For those of you making travel plans for the year- plan on May 4th and 5th in San Francisco. This is going to have a different tone than any of the other festivals. It will be a good mix for an open-minded PP fan. There will be bands on the bill that are proven PP performers that you will all absolutely love. There will be an exclusive North American appearance of a major overseas band that has played here before. There will be the first-ever North American appearance of an up-and-coming band. There will be an appearance of a major legend in our genre of music. There will be appearances by some bands that are different from the usual PP canon of bands. You have my assurance on one thing- Im NOT going to book anybody that Glen is booking, or any of the other US festivals. I don't think that is a wise thing to do for our entire scene.
I know from the boards that everybody has their own opinions on bands, and that Glen does an amazing job of putting together a lineup that works for everybody. I know there are some of you who will totally object to some of the bands that I am going to bring- but I ask you all to give me- and the scene a chance. Having the support of this community- both in coming to the festival, or contributing in other ways is going to help grow this scene on a national basis. As we all know, Glen has built this scene in North America by launching the US draws of overseas bands that would normally flounder here by themselves. I truly believe that the scene is poised to blossom with multiple festivals in the US and strong draws in ALL markets for overseas/local progressive acts.
Now- for my thoughts on the name-- I wrestled a long time with the name for this festival- After coming up with all kinds of prog, power and metal names. I decided on Bay Area Rock Fest aka BARfest.. Im sure when the lineup comes out some of the naysayers on the board are going to go-- "Hey that lineup makes we want to BARF! Well-- I think the MTV-bred metal soul in us all hears Beavis and Butthead in the background saying the same thing. Thats part of the fun with it.. The REAL meaning behind this, is that Im tired of trying to pigeonhole our music into a category. I believe that this is the TRUE rock and roll out there right now. That is why I went for the straight Bay Area Rock Fest name. Additionally-- It was hard to believe that nobody has done something with a simple name out here- Im sure it was the heave connotation!!
So- now it comes time for my plea-- If you care about the local scene and can help bring your friends to see the March show-- PLEASE do so. If you feel you have any other expertise to contribute to help- whether you want to be a roadie moving gear, or can hang flyers, post forums or have artistic talents- please let me know-- Ill post more specifically what I need on my forum http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/bar-fest-430/ . Bear is already helping out tremendously and is a great asset to have-- as well as a great guy to hang with!
Additionally, when I post the lineup on the Bay Area Fest for May, you can make the choice if you want to help in the same capacity- both from logistically or supporting it financially through a special sponsor/patron offer. I welcome any feedback or thoughts you have on this forum or my forum.
Before signing off, I wanted to thank my partner in crime Eric for all the endless hours that we have spent to put this together-- I know you all will be happy.. Additionally, I want to thank Glen for bringing us the music that we love and giving me the inspiration to do this. Without PP, there would be a huge musical void in my life-- I might be stuck listening to VH1.
Stay tuned for more exciting details.
David-
