Cheers and Jeers IX

Actually - yes. I believe he is battling a sinus infection,.. if you ever had one, you know how much they suck.
I can't talk when I have one, much less try to sing...

You definately didn't have one this past weekend! :D

- not having eagle-sharp eyesight enough to see if those were dual or triple recs in the backline, and not knowing what pedals/racks/etc. were used for everyone's sets. :'( I'm a gear whore

Ok, done

Triple Recs...:headbang:


QFT!
You mess with our 'lil sis on the crew (who can handle herself FINE), THEN YA MESS WITH ALL OF US.. :mad: ;)

Damn straight...No matter who the opponent, I got $10 on our sis! :heh:

I might get flamed for this, as my perspective on it is unique.. not being there as an attendee, but as one of the people on the other side of the curtain.

I think we ran only 5-10 minutes early on Fri, due to fast changeovers.. that extra time ended up getting lost by the end of the night. It also sometimes allows bands to squeeze an extra song into the set.
From a crew standpoint.. if we can keep the extra time, I like it, since we know at SOME point there will be a longer than average changeover (as witnessed Sat night). And I will push for that as much as possible - especially if there are any bands recording or filming
I know people typically use this time for bathroom breaks, shopping, socializing, eating, etc... but if it is up to me.. early is good. Many of us in the crew get one quick break to shovel in some food in the catering (10 minutes over the entire night, usually after the bands have eaten), so it is a little hard for me to empathize with you.
Also- I know there is a live feed out in the lobby.... so if people are really there to see a band... shop later, socialize later, and get autographs later - or earlier.
I will agree that maybe a better way to communicate it is in order if we are running ahead...
I will leave final word on that that up to the promoter
Flame away as needed

QFT - 100% in agreement here

Nope - it'd 10 minutes to do something else that needed to be done !! :lol:
Such as setting up rental guitars for alternate tunings, battery changes for band pedals, battery changes for vocal mics ... :loco:

It's all good.. i DO understand how someone who traveled and/or sponsored, and then missed out on 1/4 of the bands set could be upset.
Guess we'll see what Glenn has to say ...


QFT - The Sequel

I'd like to add 1 more cheer to my list, and that's wearing the Cubs hat to irritate not only certain Prog Power friends, but 1 fellow crew mate as well!
Go Cubs! :Smokedev:
 
I want to give Glenn a HUGE thanks for everything including my media pass for the show! I had the time of my life and was there from weds til sun afternoon and it was exhausting and a blast!!! :headbang:
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Cheers:
To MetalRose for making me laugh my ass off for 4 days!! Thanks for being my roomie too...here's to next year!!:kickass:
To Bear and Eric and Beth and Bobby and Shawn for the places to crash even though there was drama and I moved to 3 hotel rooms, thanks to you I had a place to shower and sleep!
To Bear and Eric for cracking me up til 6 am thurs morn...and Bears mask!!lmfao!!! You guys rawk!!!
To Jon Schaffer, my friend, for the pass, station ID, long chat and for hanging with us on the Granada porch til the bus finally after being 2 hours late, left at 5 am or so. He felt really bad that he couldnt hang with the fans as he ALWAYS does after the show. He needed a shower and bus call was 3am. When the bus was late, he hung with us instead of getting rest and had some beers. He was part of the porch crew! That was a blast and Angela and Brian loved to be able to chat with their hero for so long! It was his guitar that blew up too! He was so pissed that he could have just plugged in another guitar but they thought it was the rig...that was a bummer ending that way and he felt like shit about it ..so no-one give him any shit.He rules!!:worship:
To Bill Hudson for being so goddamn funny and keeping us up til 6am!!!
To Saint Deamon, Nobby and Jan are will go down as the coolest guys at PP 9!! I LOVE you guys!! One of the best live bands and the funniest and sweetest guys I have met!! Nobby went looking for me forever before the set to shoot them onstage and couldnt find me...I was looking for them...was classic! Sorry I missed that guys...next time!!
To Frode and Vanessa for giving me that Pagans Mind shirt when it was supposed to be hers!!! That just blew me away!! I love you guys!! Frode, I knew you were there for a reason!!! Tell my boys i cant wait to see them next year!!!:kickass: :worship:
All the cool photogs for being so nice and fun and cool in the pit...Vanessa,Allen and Andy!! You guys rule!! Hope you got better shots then me...fucking lighting...o_O
To all the people that I met from last year and the new ones this year...was great meeting you all and I had so much fun mostly because of all of you! PP people are the best in the world!!
John Zahner for introducing me to the Mountain King, Jon and for Jon for asking me if I wanted to go to TSO again!!!:worship:
Hoyt and Patrick from Pathfinder for the tickets to C2C on weds!!! You guys rawk!! I will have photos for you soon!
Mitch and Zak from C2C, you are the coolest guys and you ruled!:headbang:
Christian for finally making it after 20 hours in the Denver airport and 7 in DC and still having a great attitude!! You rule!:)
Another shout out to Glenn: PAGANS FUCKING MIND NEXT YEAR!!!!!! When that came on the screen I cried like a baby....dont tell anyone...hehehee!:cry: Oh and Circus Maximus and Brainstorm....fucking AMAZING!!!!:worship:
Whitney the bartender at the Center Stage for giving us a ride to the Techwood and hooking us up at Checkers for burgers!!! Whoo hoo! Good food!!
Brian for taking me to that awesome resturaunt down the street fri at 3 am for quesadillas and banana nut choc chip cake!!! Holy shite!! That was amazing!
To Brian and Angela for hanging with me for breakfast sun afternoon and riding with me on the Marta and getting to the airport on time! I hope you get all hooked up tomorrow nite at Iced Earth.,..just go find Jon..he will hook you up!
To Norman and Mike! Thanks for hanging with me at the airport and flying next to me on the plane...made it much better and so did the lil pill Mike gave me to sleep...I am all about that next time I fly!! Yay! knocked me out!!
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Jeers:
The Madison for being so slow and bad, but we found a killer bartender sat that got us our meal in 10 mins flat and hooked us up with free shots!!
No food and everything closing early sat and sun...just plain sucked!
Being hungover fri so I felt like shit all day...bummer...hehe.:ill:
DRAMA....no comment
Shawn....again, no comment. Lol.
Bad lighting for photos...
Was sad that a few friends couldnt make it this year: Powermaker,Taylor, Bob and Renee...there is always next year guys and it will be amazing!!
Having to fly back home:lol: with a hangover after staying up with the porch crew til 6am with Saint Daemon, Jon, Ang and Brian and Urban and Shay, etc...crazy fuckers!!! LMFAO!
Getting 4 hours sleep and having 12 pm check out...
Metal draggin her ass in at 7am drunk ass when we had check out in 4 hours...lmfao!!!
Rolling my bag through puke at the marta station just like Angela...gross!LOL!
getting home and having no voice to do my show tonight and sneezing all fucking day...coming down with the PP plauge from no sleep too much booze and too much fun...am I really complaining??? No fucking way!! I HAD A BLAST AND IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!:headbang::worship:

PROG/POWER RULES!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS EVERONE ESPECIALLY GLENN AND JON!!!
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW AND REVIEW SOON AT WWW.LEAHSROCKREPORT.COM AND WWW.LEAHBURLINGTON.COM AND THERE SHOULD BE PHOTOS OF ALL YOU CRAZY FUCKERS SOON ON MY MYSPACE...GO LOOK SOON! WWW.MYSPACE.COM/LEAHROCKPHOTOGRAPHER
 
ha... funny you mention this, because this is exactly the reason I haven't met you and several others yet. People seem to think I'm a very outgoing dude just because I know so many people, but the truth is that if I haven't had enough to drink (or sometimes even if I have), I'm a total wallflower.

Me = a great big pussy. There! Now everyone knows. :lol::lol:

you totally aren't **that** shy - you talked to all of us at the t-shirt table :) it was great to finally put a person to the forum name ;)
 
Cheers:
*The crew for making it all happen so well! :headbang:
*Glenn for just being so damn cool. :worship:
*Sponsoring a band this year!
*Ticketmaster (Yeah, I said it...) - for realizing WEDNESDAY that we never got our Hellish Rock tickets and TM printing them at will call with absolutely no hassle.
*Pathosray for being cool and putting on a great show.
*SUE for being badass in general.
*Realizing Wed night that Mustasch was awesome and listening to the new album enough to know most of the songs they played, nothing worse than finding out you like a band AFTER you saw them! Kick ass performance!
*Saint Daemon - didn't have time to learn the material, but the performance may make a fan of me yet.
*Amorphis was cool, wish they had been able to hang out.
*Manticora for anything/everything, but especially the guitarist who made sure my wife at least got a pick after someone snatched the wristband she caught.
*PPX lineup - I don't care if I hate all the bands I have not heard before that play Friday night, Orphaned Land and Brainstorm alone is enough to have me there and on the rail all night! (Circus Maximus and Pagan's Mind helps too although they are more recent.)
*Other than the end of Manticora set, no major asshole encounters this year, big step up from the jackass at the rail last year!
*Watching the highly intoxicated people attempt to operate the stairs...why the hell do you get so piss drunk then decide you need to sit in the top row???



Jeers:
*Coming back to work and having people who have no clue ask me what bands played because they *might* know em, then the totally blank stare as I start naming a few...moving away from ATL sucks ass :mad:
*Whatever the hell the event in the Loft was on Sat night - security didn't mind running my ass off the stairs but the crowd on the sidewalk blocking the view as I tried pulling into traffic was OK. (And on a judgmental note we thought it was a hooker convention...)
*Myself for being tired by 11pm these days...
*Waiting too long to post and having the memories fading already!
 

Cheers:
Glen (Thanks once again for a great fest)
Stage Crew (great job again this year!)
all around fans for being nice
Rob Rock for taking a moment to say hi to my buddy and I. Killer.
Atlanta weather being nice
PBR


Jeers:
stupid idiot on thursday who tried to jump up on stage and almost knocked that tower of monitors down. Cabrone! (or whatever he was yelling during the whole night).
Madison Grill saturday night. Nothing against the staff but i think MGMT didn't staff ENOUGH people to handle the influx. Kudos to the wait staff (or at least the guy i had) for being nice through it all.
People bitching about next year's lineup.


Self Humbe Opinion:
Matt Barlow's voice.....
although it sounded good, having been a longtime fan it didn't sound near to his voice before he left I.E. I wasn't sure if this was due to no vocal practicing, lack of, or just age or something. I still think Ripper was great with the material but i'm sure i'm the odd one out.
 
Wow - better get this done before the memories completely fade as stated above.

Cheers -
Glenn the maestro, the hardworking crew from hell for making things run so smoothly, the security guys (always have a blast with those guys), the vendors (I'm thanking someone for taking my money?), the bartenders (who took even more of my money).

Roomie Jim, Frank & Jules from NM, Donna from Houston. Brent & Guy from CO. Tammy. Familiar faces rule - I may not seem shy when I have been drinking - but it's true so familiar faces are always good.

The Inn at the Peachtrees - the staff is always great fun, the shuttle driver always nice, and the courtyard is cool - just wish I had actually made it down there a bit more this year. Oh, and this time our room had a fridge and a microwave - pretty cool surprise.

All the bands - whether I liked them or not - for coming over and making someone's experience great. Some bands are a bit "too" proggy for my tastes - but for each of those - there is another that i find that turns out better live than I expected.

Jon Oliva's Pain - this was our first year ever as sponsors. Didn't really take advantage of the VIP stuff that comes with it except to go backstage and drop off some t-shirts for the guys, and take pics during the set. Didn't even get one free drink out of the backstage area (that was going to be my big money saver for justifying sponsoring over a gold badge lol) - and ya know what? Way worth it - anything I can do to help in some small way make sure this thing keeps going, I'm in.

I got to meet some new people this year - but I suck with names - but I do remember faces :) Pretty easy to do at PP where it's like an extended family reunion and all you have to do is say "hey man, good to see you again" and you're off on conversation.

Alabama Crimson Tide - woo hoo - you guys made my night :) I was pretty sure that my buddy was messing with me when he txted me the halftime score - but going to the vinyl bar and seeing it for real - good stuff :)

Jerry Springer - my God - have you all seen this show? Freaking hysterical. I look forward to this as part of the PP ritual now every year. I won't say what sort of state we are in watching it - but damn it is awesome. I think we have decided that one of these times we are going to get on that show - I don't even care what role they give me - I just want to get up there and ad lib some wacky stuff too.

Jeers -
Can't complain too much. Mostly the general stuff - like how can a city the size of Atlanta shut down so early when we need sustenance after a nice of metal? Does not compute.

Marta - 1230 and 1a.m. stopping times? Really? I would think that they would try to set it up for AFTER all the bars close. Maybe they have some sort of deal with the cabbies or something.

Hotels in ATL in general. Quit freaking gouging us dammit - we need that money for the vendors who bring us rare treats dammit. Oh, and can we PLEASE have a hotel in the nice, tropical south with an outdoor pool again? Damn, where's my Hampton Inn. I saw a few places at the Inn at Peachtrees that would work for a pool - maybe not in the long run - but at least temporarily ;-) Maybe next year.

Myself - for not being more outgoing - and for not at least getting a nametag. I tell myself every year I am going to talk to and meet more people and I do, slowly but surely - but after 4 festivals I'd hoped to at least meet almost everyone whose posts I read so regularly. Next year maybe I will trade my beer for redbull and just be amped up talking to anything & everything.

Scheduling - no, not the bands - my own. I need to stop arriving on Wed and get back to getting in a day ahead of time so I can get my "reunion with lifelong friend" and resulting hangover over with instead of having it happen on a day when there is some event.

OK, I should actually get some work done - been a while since I was actually productive here at the office.
Take care all you people, look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Glenn & Crew - take a break - a well deserved one - and a bow. You guys continue to put on the best fest I have ever been to.

Cheers:headbang:
Jeff in Colorado
 
Jeers:
*Coming back to work and having people who have no clue ask me what bands played because they *might* know em, then the totally blank stare as I start naming a few...

I ran into that at home before I headed out to Atlanta. I would tell people I was going to see Iced Earth, Helloween, and two bands featuring former members of Savatage. If none of those names generated a spark of recognition, I gave up. :lol:
 
You said it. Can the long winded loud drunken metal/party tirades be relegated to outside the vendor room? Pleez?!?!?!? Thanx! :headbang:

Did you have the sign that read something like "Your beer doesn't go well with my CDs" or something? I remembered reading that at one of the booths. It's also got to suck having to be in the vendor room almost the entire time and have to deal with all the smoke in there too.
 
Did you have the sign that read something like "Your beer doesn't go well with my CDs" or something? I remembered reading that at one of the booths. It's also got to suck having to be in the vendor room almost the entire time and have to deal with all the smoke in there too.

Thanx for bringing that up Jibrille. Being a vendor all weekend is fine, it's our job, but this biz of people holding a beer/drink over our CDs has got to go. And then one of them had the nerve to argue with me when I mentioned to please HOLD YOUR BEER TO YOUR SIDE. Seemed a simple courtesy to me. I guess I just ask too much outta life. :loco:
 
I ran into that at home before I headed out to Atlanta. I would tell people I was going to see Iced Earth, Helloween, and two bands featuring former members of Savatage. If none of those names generated a spark of recognition, I gave up. :lol:

I mentioned Helloween to a guy I work with and he actually knew of the band. But that's the exception, not the rule. Most of these people I talk to just give me blank stares. Maybe if you mentioned Trans-Siberian Orchestra, some people might have a clue who they are. Of course, 99% of the people who see them or buy their CDs don't know the history of the band.

Granted, if anyone had asked me about these bands four years ago I'd give them the same blank deer stare. Still don't know all the bands out there, but I'm more involved now than I have ever been - and hope to stay that way.

What's mainstream music? Prog & power are my "mainstream" musical genres now. :headbang::kickass:
 
Oh yeah, another very important (to me) cheer!

Big time cheers to Jim Pridgen and Jason Birzer coming out of the Grenada at *just* the right time. I had decompressed a bit with JayDub, Don, and Bob (another drum tech) @ the Grenada and was WAY too tired to make the 20+ minute walk back to the Courtyard @ 3:30 in the morning (and too late for the PP band/crew shuttle). No one was at the front desk, so I decided to go outside and just hail a cab, after waitng 5-10 minutes and not seeing much traffic at this time, I went back in to check the front desk (to see if they could call for one) - still no one. Went back outside and not even a minute later these two come out. It turned out that Jim was driving Jason to the Courtyard and he gave me a ride as well!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You were an absolute life saver! :headbang::headbang:

No prob, glad to be of service! Especially after we aided and abetted keeping Mike and Tracie awake way too late ;-)

Some cheers and jeers while I'm here:

Cheers

- Glenn & Crew, 9 for 9 now, all awesome
- Happy band members on stage, my favorite thing about the fest is seeing the joy of the bands who assumed they had few or no fans in the US only to be greeted so warmly by a sold out crowd.
- Spheric Universe Experience for putting on the most killer show this side of Jon Oliva
- Jon Oliva for being his usual awesome self
- Eclipsed by Sanity for opening the weekend with such a killer set and getting Zak on stage for that fun cover
- Circle II Circle for tearing it up after that bizarre Midnight "show"
- Ken and TLE for supplying me with the CD box after I spent way to much money on my first pass by their table
- Mike, Tracie and Su for being cool and fun as usual and letting me (with help from Jon, Anne, Zane, Jason and Patrick) keep them up way too late after the show both nights
- Sean for his prank calls on the way to Rocklahoma and Jon for having the videos of them on his laptop
- The subset of the DC crew who came down, I'll miss seeing you guys at Jaxx on a regular basis
- Scott the new guy for making to his first fest!
- Shaye for joining me in cheering Bammers big win over ugag, now if only the Jackets can match that achievement...
- My dad for picking me up at the venue on Friday after I did my shopping to take me out to my condo closing then sticking around to get the keys and paperwork after I'd signed everything but was still waiting on stuff from the seller so I could hop MARTA back and catch the end of Pathosray
- The pizza place next to subway which was open Wed and Fri nights and had good food

Jeers
- My wallet for hurting so much after going into the vendor room too many times
- My buddy Trenton for deciding a wedding was more important than the fest :p
- Whoever gave Jon that Great Kat tape... he made us listen to the whole thing Friday night, I think my ears are still bleeding....
 
I'm not sure if I have anything new to add, but . . .

CHEERS

* Glenn and the crew for yet another job well done. I've said it before: This is by far the best run fest I've seen. Any jeers listed are minor.

* Friends new and old - the music is great, but the people help to make the fest the reunion that it is. I won't list everyone, but thanks to all (even if you did make me use the worst cab driver in Atlanta one night). The Sat walk to the Vortex is a great tradition.

* The Grenada - for staying open during renovations. The hotel is old and in definite need of an overhaul, but the combination of price and proximity can't be beat. Fingers crossed (but without an optimism) that the prices won't go sky high after the renovations. Too bad show and dinner times kept me from the free happy hour.

* Kroger - A 15 minute walk from the venue, and I get to stock up on food. A quick walk back to the Grenada between sets for a sandwich is better for me than ordering food at Vinyl.

* The weather! Nice, cool, but not cold. I hope the PP crew can schedule this weather every year.

* One particular friend's increasingly hilarious drunken pick-up lines. I won't post them (that's for him to do), but they certainly kept us all in stitches.

* Midnight. Yes, Midnight. Was he good? NO! Do I ever want to see him in back at PP, in any function? NO! Do I ever want to experience anything like that thing again? NO! NO! NO! However, he made for a great conversation topic the rest of the weekend, and will go down in PP lore. Oh, and he left the show with a girl, which is pretty impressive, too.

* Oliva - I'm an admitted Savatage fanatic, and I wish he played for longer, but that was awesome! I loved hearing 'When The Crowds Are Gone". Matt LaPorte channels Criss Oliva amazingly well. What a great show.

* The club next door letting out at the same time as Iced Earth on Saturday. That was a definite change in scenery.

* Gamma Ray - High energy performance, and no drum solos (perhaps they finally learned).

* Smoke free Center Stage - Okay, maybe not completely smoke free, but MUCH better.

* Saint Daemon - I love 'Serenity', but Glenn was right. These guys were a ton of fun. I enjoyed this set.

* The raffle - I won nothing, but I appreciate all the effort that goes into it. Thanks, Jax.

* The Forum Poster - Ann Marie puts a lot of work into it. I found out that she also puts out the money for it to be printed. Thanks!

* The Video Announcement - I'm admittedly a little disappointed in some choices, but I love the video announcement. I liked the old web site countdowns, but this gives everyone a chance to experience it together, as well as talk about it the next day. The video was well done, and the work Glenn puts in to confirm everyone before the fest is appreciated as well. Keep it up with the Friday night announcements!



JEERS (all minor - I had a great time)

* Iced Earth sound and equipment issues. They are one of my favorite bands, but it seems like Karma that they bring in their own set up, take so much longer, and then have issues.

* Elvenking for piping in chorus samples. One person singing into the mic. A chorus of 20 people coming out of the speakers. Cool trick. It took away from my enjoyment of the set. (Saint Daemon, on the other hand, worked really hard for their choruses and it was impressive).

* How hot it was at the front before and during Jon Oliva's and Iced Earth's sets. I bailed out to the back for the last 20 minutes of IE because I needed air.

* The people that got out of hand during IE's set. PP is not the place for moshing. One drunk guy almost got clobbered (not by me).

* The "Frat Boys" that were screaming drunk all weekend (mostly screaming out 'Wolf Pu##y') and shouting obscenities over the video presentation.

* The PP bug. Count me as one more victim, and I took Airborne twice a day!

Steve in Philly
 
Seems like the show went well this year, better than ever IMO. I heard a few complaints about the show running early Friday, a few technical problems here and there, maybe the A/C could've worked better... but nothing all that major.

As for the lineup, the way the show is ran, the venue etc.... we naturally all have opinions about those type of things. Thing to remember is that, no one knows as much about the details as the promoter. Not that everything is dead on correct every time, that's impossible with a festival, but none of us knows as much about the why/when/if/who/where etc. as the promoter. Just something to consider. My 2 cents worth that's all.

Thanx to everyone involved. Hope to see you all at PPX. :worship:
 
Okay. We CAN'T enjoy a smoke with our drink in the Center Stage lounge area ANYMORE.

You CAN'T take a drink outside to enjoy with your smoke....

Vinyl IS the designated smoking area where we CAN enjoy a smoke, a drink, socialize with friends that we usually only see once a year, talk as loud as we want, and eat, yet the past two years we've gotten complaints from the vendors because of the smoking/drinking/partying in Vinyl.

So tell me: Where do we smokers get to smoke, socialize, and drink with our buddies all at the same time without complaints??????

This IS a metal fest, is it not?????