Late to the thread this year, but it was an awesome year overall. If it had been really crappy I might have posted sooner, but I'm not sure Glenn, Jen and crew could put on a crappy PPUSA if they TRIED to.
Cheers:
-No more sidewalk construction work between Artmore and the venue
Heh, I was wondering if I was the only person who noticed this. At one point walking toward the venue from the Artmore I thought "Hey! Last year this same course would have twisted my ankle!" Kudos to the City of Atlanta for getting the work done.
Jeers:
Toilet overflow, and staff not turning the room the day after. Yay, sticky crap floor!
I'll go out on a limb and surmise that you were at the Artmore. Same thing happened to us -- twice. And it's not like we were really bombing the porcelain porsche, either. I guess their toilets are just...less robust.
Cheers:
- Glenn & Jen. Thank you so much for another fun filled fest. It was the best one yet. I know you two work you butts off all year long and as a multi-year sponsor I wish to personally thank you both.
- The Jon Olvia workshop. The man, the legend. Words can't describe this experience fully.
+1 to both of these. Can't thank Glenn, Jen and the entire crew enough for all the hard work they put into this shindig.
And that Jon Oliva workshop was a great start for my PPUSA 2012 experience; we got to watch a pretty ass-kicking song created by a master step-by-step in about 90 minutes. Absolutely phenomenal. They said it was recorded; I hope it came out well. I'd pay good money for it. And "When the Crowds Are Gone" was a perfect ending. "OH! YES!!"
Cheers:
The Catering company (that obviously took a big hit by even coming to the Artmore. I don't think they sold a thing that day) But they still gave me a free lunch because I tried to help them with their van that broke down out front of the hotel.
By an independent count, they sold two (2) platters, at $10 each. A bit steep considering Davinci's was only 3 or 400 feet away with their glorious $6 lunch special.
Cheers
-Alan of Primordial. He was, is, and will be the most interesting and amazing person to attend Progpower, on stage and off. I really, really loved seeing him on stage and talking to him off. Especially on Saturday, he really seemed to cut loose a lot and have a ton of fun.
Being able to chat with him on Saturday, and hang out with him and an attentive crowd until 5:45 am (!) Saturday morning was a true high point of the festival. He's a man of many opinions and he's not afraid to express them...but he also has many facets that might not be obvious at first, but come out when talking to him.
--And yes, he
can smile and laugh. He did when I referred to myself as a "recovering" Catholic. ("I was sick, but I'm trying to get better....")
-The people in the pit. It was cramped, there were a lot of us in there, but you were all so incredibly professional and amazing. Thank you to the sponsors especially for making room for the photographers, and thank you to the photographers for giving up the good spots on a rotating basis.
I was only up there twice during performances, but everyone
was really considerate. Awesome!
Cheers:
-Exceptionally generous Artmore partiers. The cupcakes, pizza, and liquor were much appreciated.
-DaVinci's pizza -- didn't even know about this place and it rules. Went Friday and Saturday. It's likely to turn into my new lunch spot since it's close to my office.
+1 on both of these.
"Bacon Dave," you were awesome for bringing a pile of Chinese food late Friday night and pizza on Saturday night. As for the cupcakes......it occurs to me that they're not all THAT far from me up here in Auburn.

DaVinci's just flat-out rules. Really awesome pizza and according to my friend Ripper, the best wings he's ever found in Atlanta. I didn't realize that their parking lot next door is free, so I have a new eatery to consider when I'm in town for a show.
The only jeer was the dang parking deck at the law school. I left the Thursday night from Nightwish/Kamelot and when I typed in the code it prompted me to do so again and then informed me it was a duplicate code and to see an attendant. Right. What attendant? Not even a darn telephone number to call an attendant! I got out eventually as did another young couple in the sane fix but if the law school wants all the money they are due, they really need a mechanism for getting assistance to people glitched by their exit terminal. Spending the night in their parking garage is simply not an option!
You can always sue them later........oh, wait, maybe not.
Bacon Dave was the pizza man - he rules on so many levels! i will pass this along to him, Jaime xx
Add some thanks for me, please!
Oh, and another cheer I totally forgot - Nathan for sharing his cookies with the sponsors before one of the sets (forget which one). That was very nice of him.
Agreed! Yummy!
CHEERS/JEERS to the Artmore this year. They had me checking in Wednesday night instead of Thursday night, and I'm told I wasn't the only person this happened to. When I asked if I could simply arrive Thursday they said "sure...but we'll still charge you for Wednesday night." So I poured $240 down a hole for one unneeded room-night and picked up the key on Wed.
That was when I discovered that the room I supposedly booked wasn't a two-story mini-suite like I'd gotten for several years in a row, but a deluxe studio, and it faced into the courtyard. Oh! No!
The cheer comes from the nice lady at the desk who told me to get there right at noon on Thursday since they had exactly one deluxe studio vacating, and it faced out. They were able to move me there, but the whole experience left a rotten taste in my mouth.
JEERS to the lighting during Nightwish's set on Thursday. Guys, we came to see a band, not be blinded over and over by those bright white lights. Almost as bad as Unearth at the Tabernacle a few years ago opening for Dimmu Borgir.
Also a slight jeer for the looong outro and no encore. It was a great performance, but it ended not with a bang, but a whimper and some disappointment.
CHEERS to Solution .45 for making me proud, Primordial (particularly Alan) for putting on the most intense performance ever at PPUSA, Kamelot and Nightwish and Jon Oliva for a truly amazing Thursday of entertainment, Epica for wrapping up with "Consign to Oblivion," all the bands who I saw because they were all amazing, to Glenn for scheduling PPUSA next year only one weekend after Dragon*Con instead of two....and cheers to (almost) everyone at the festival for the camaraderie. We have a very special thing going, and it'll be awesome to see everyone again next year!