Black Label Society & Dope confirmed for Chicago Powerfest 2009

[Harvester]

I deleted a previous post because Rob and the guys had not made the official announcement yet. Here is the "official" press release:


BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and DOPE Confirmed for CHICAGO POWERFEST 2009
CRJ Productions would like to welcome BLACK LABEL SOCIETY as Headliner and DOPE as their direct support for the Friday, May 8th, night of the next CHICAGO POWERFEST, set to take place on May 7-9 at The Pearl Room in Mokena, Illinois. Tickets for this May 8th, date of the fest will go on sale this Saturday, April 4th, at 11am CT via all Ticketmaster locations.

Festival organizers also commented, "In keeping with the Powerfest tradition of spanning a wide variety of hard rock and metal genres, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and DOPE are two more bands who will contribute perfectly. This is what we feel a metal fest should be & plan to continue in this multi-dimensional direction with the goal of being bigger and better each year."


Final Powerfest Main Stage Lineup...

Thursday, May 7 (kick-off show with Paganfest tour):

KORPIKLAANI
PRIMORDIAL
MOONSORROW
BLACKGUARD
SWASHBUCKLE

Friday, May 8:

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
DOPE
KIUAS (Fin)
ASSAILANT (Swe)
MINDWARP CHAMBER
BuzzNews.com Metal Wars Winner

Saturday, May 9:

DEVILDRIVER
SOIL
NOVEMBERS DOOM
PERZONAL WAR (Ger)
SHEEPHEAD (Ger)
LUNA MORTIS
DIAMOND PLATE


Current Acoustic Sets…

Friday, May 8:

SACRED DAWN
WILL BOZARTH

Saturday, May 9:

NOVEMBERS DOOM
GWYNBLEIDD


Tickets for the other two nights of the event (May 7th featuring Paganfest USA 2 & May 9th featuring DEVILDRIVER) are currently available via all Ticketmaster locations. Also, specially priced 2-day & 3-day ticket combos will also be made available starting April 4th via www.ChicagoPowerfest.com

As previously reported, CRJ Productions will continue with its official fan sponsorship/VIP program this year…intended to give fans a higher level of participation in the fest and a chance to take advantage of some cool perks.

For more information regarding Powerfest or the VIP program, please visit www.ChicagoPowerfest.com and www.myspace.com/chicagopowerfest
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http://www.ChicagoPowerfest.com
http://www.myspace.com/chicagopowerfest
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[booB]

eyup.

 

[GateXII]

Thanks Glenn!

 

[OrbWeaver]

I think I've seen a show like this before. It was called "Ozzfest."

 

[shreddy]

There are only a couple of the bands on this bill that could afford to play SharonFest.

 

[Srontgorrth]

There are only a couple of the bands on this bill that could afford to play SharonFest.

Both headliners and direct support would fit perfectly well within an Ozzfest lineup, in fact, only Dope hasn't actually been on Ozzfest.

 

[edgeofthorns]

Hmmmm...interesting lineup, but doesn't really appeal to me, with the exception being BLS.

~Brian~

 

[DEATHZILLA]

Would like to see Kiaus in a big way. Those guys kick total ass!! I was hoping to see them do one of their first u.s. shows at the mighty Prog Power! I am a fan of Assailant and Personal war as well. The other bands to be honest i wouldnt go across the street to see.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

Wow. Black Label Society is okay. There are certain songs by them that I really, really enjoy; and Zakk is a pretty good guitar player (limited by his use of only a few scales, but whatever).

Dope, however, is unforgivable. I thought that DevilDriver was the worst band on that lineup, but Dope is just terrible. Nowhere close to the metal awesomeness that I enjoyed at Powerfest just a few years ago (Nocturnal Rites, Solitude Aeternus, Atheist, Martyr, and Saturnus are all alum of this fest that now features, as someone has already said Ozzfest bands...eww).

 

[Diabolik]

DOPE, has to be one of the biggest jokes ever. I think even when NuMetal was big...they were still looked at as a joke. Do they really have any fans???

I think I am more excited for the Gwynbleidd and Nov Doom acoustic.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

Novembers Doom acoustic would be interesting to hear. Anything they do is golden and magical and full of win.

 

[BABS]

Dope, however, is unforgivable. I thought that DevilDriver was the worst band on that lineup, but Dope is just terrible.

ROTFL I've been stuck seeing both of those bands live (a few years back DevilDriver was the opener for an Opeth and Moonspell show and Dope I saw open for another band years ago. Both were painstaking, I suggest people use this time to go to the bar, run to the potty, order food, etc.

Dope did have a loyal fan base - that I do remember.

 

[edgeofthorns]

Zakk is a pretty good guitar player (limited by his use of only a few scales, but whatever).

Pretty good? I think he's excellent. He seems to play Randy's and Jake's stuff note for note when covering the old material. His own stuff with Ozzy has always impressed me, but I don't claim to know much about guitar either.

Dope, however, is unforgivable. I thought that DevilDriver was the worst band on that lineup, but Dope is just terrible.

I don't even know who Dope is, but I guess I'm not missing much.

~Brian~

 

[Jasonic]

Well, it is what it is.
The promoters obviously want to grow the fest beyond just being for underground bands.

I think what they are going to lose is the loyal fanbase that they were growing for the fest in the past few years.

It will be good for some of the underground bands to play for a different crowd and all.

I don't think though that the average BLS or DevilDriver fan will come back next year to Chicago Powerfest if they get more underground headliners. They are coming just to see the bands they want to see, not because it is part of Chicago Powerfest. On the flipside, the fest will lose a lot of attendees who have been coming just to support the fest.

I will be there on Saturday. I am looking forward to both Novembers Doom sets, Luna Mortis, and Diamond Plate.

 

[Cheiron]

Their 'loyal fanbase' wasn't big enough to return a profit on.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

Their 'loyal fanbase' wasn't big enough to return a profit on.

You can't stick Martyr, Lethal, Nocturnal Rites, Morgana Lefay, and Ted Morose into headliner spots and expect huge turnouts.


Britt

 

[axehomeyg]

Well, it is what it is.
The promoters obviously want to grow the fest beyond just being for underground bands.

I think what they are going to lose is the loyal fanbase that they were growing for the fest in the past few years.

It will be good for some of the underground bands to play for a different crowd and all.

I don't think though that the average BLS or DevilDriver fan will come back next year to Chicago Powerfest if they get more underground headliners. They are coming just to see the bands they want to see, not because it is part of Chicago Powerfest. On the flipside, the fest will lose a lot of attendees who have been coming just to support the fest.

I will be there on Saturday. I am looking forward to both Novembers Doom sets, Luna Mortis, and Diamond Plate.

That all makes sense to me, except, the part about 'wanting' to grow the fest beyond underground bands. It seems like (judging by other fests this year), that the choice for them is between 'no fest at all' and 'slightly unsatisfying turnout for the vocal minority'. I'm sure you guys are all correct about what the lineup will do to hardcore fans, but, I think the dudes' motivations were alot less about greed, than about plain ole' survival.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I think they just had a lot of potential headliners fall thru this year for whatever reason, and in the end had to settle on some bands that probably weren't high on their list but had a chance at helping to turn a profit.

It will be interesting to see what direction they take next year as I would expect this lineup to produce high turnout figures, and probably in turn high profits.


Britt

 

[Jasonic]

Look, we could debate for days as what type of line up would generate a profit, etc ,etc.

It all depends on what as a promoter you want as the mission for your fest.

Initially, most viewed Powerfest as a festival that showcased Euro power metal bands as well as more unknown domestic power / prog bands. They obviously wanted to shake this tag in 2007 with booking Atheist, Solitude, Saturnus, etc. Some REALLY were turned off by it. I personally loved it, but so be it. Even though the genres presented were new, it still to me was under the banner of "showcasing great underground metal bands that haven't been here yet, or haven't been in a long time" Not too far off what I perceived as their mission.

They themselves stated that it was a developing and growing year and wanted to up the ante. They certainly did in booking Iced Earth and Testament. This though is where things to me got interesting. They also brought in Pagan Fest as well as metalcore. Two genres that have started to grow in popularity as they have been doing the fest. So last year's fest was a little of everything.

That brings us to this year. Once again, a little of everything, even more amplified with DD and BLS.

That brings me back to mission. If these guys simply just want larger and larger numbers, then they are in the right direction. I just question whether or not bringing in regularly touring mainstream bands as headliners will result in return customers if you don't go that route in the future. Keeping a smaller scale underground festival certainly won't generate the same level of profit, but given a good balance of sponsorship and domestic VS overseas bands, could still remain as a going concern.

These guys have been doing it for a while now, and certainly deserve any and all profit they make (Lord knows they have all made financial sacrifices along the way).

CRJ (as well as every promoter) certainly has my respect for everything that they do.

 

[Jasonic]

I think the dudes' motivations were alot less about greed, than about plain ole' survival.

Oh absolutely!!!!
I certainly was not implying that the decisions for these headliners had anything to do with simply more $$$$ in their pockets.

My follow up post right above explains a little more what I meant, in terms of the "mission" for the fest.