Current & Future U.S. Metal Festivals/Music Support in the U.S.

[MTMMAG Chuck]

Metal Fans:

The world of metal is wide open and everyone has their personal tastes. I personally wasn’t too into the some of the Progressive sutff, but I enjoyed Edguy, Silent Force, Angra, Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian immensely. Glenn did an excellent job (again!) and has brought some stellar bands to his festivals the last two years running. However, from what I’ve heard (and this is second hand- so Glenn don’t get upset), the ProgPower festival will not even consider such stellar bands like Pretty Maids, Running Wild or Rage because they’re isn’t fan interest. I think that there is, but with the focus of ProgPower being such they probably not going to book them. I also heard that the festival will not choose a band that did much of a U.S. Tour in the past year, which knocks out bands that would be great like Jag Panzer or Iced Earth (which despite their treks across the U.S. haven’t played Kansas City). Now if this is all wrong info I apologize in advance.

We all need to be UNITED IN METAL! I have attended many different festivals in the States such as Milwaukee Metalfests, ProgPower I & III, Foundations Forum for seven years, and the last two Classic Metal Fests. Plus there are many festivals in the various metal genres I haven’t been too like Emissions From The Monolith, Snakenet Music Festival (Snakenet Radio), Stoner Hands Of Doom, Confederacy Of Scum, Ultrasound, and so on. I have seen great bands at all of the festivals, and while not every band playing always agreed with me at least it was still in the general realm of some metal genre. For example over the last two years at the Classic Metal Fests I & II I’ve seen Vicious Rumors, New Eden, Halloween, Iron Cross, the legendary Destructor, a reunion of Intruder, Kamelot, Skullview, Seven Witches, Vyndikator with Bob Mitchell from Attacker, Overlorde, and so on. It was an excellent show but the bands deserved more of an audience. The Classic Metal Fest III will be in CHICAGO (much like the first ProgPower was) the first weekend in June 2003. If they could get advance ticket sales of even half of the paid attendance of ProgPower by early February it would be a huge leg up. Perhaps bands such as Iced Earth or Euro bands like Grave Digger, Running Wild or Pretty Maids could be brought over as headliners and more of the “true metal” smaller bands could be exposed to a broader audience. Glenn bottled lightning with his first lineup and it brought a good buzz to springboard into the even more successful ProgPower 2 and 3. Promoter Brad Youngblood is a good guy doing what he can to promote metal to everyone because he loves the music, and doing it with little to no money. So far, there has been a pretty apathetic response from the metal scene. I’ve always heard the upper Midwest – Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc is metal country, its not that far to drive, and if you’re from farther away Chicago airfare is decently priced. SHOW SOME SUPPORT! Look for more info at www.metal-music-foundation.com. At the very least send him an email with any promotional ideas, volunteer to help promote locally in your area of the country with flyers, go onto various metal forums and talk about the festival and drum up some buzz, or at least send him a positive email. No, I don’t work for this festival or any other, but I do what I can to promote any festival in the U.S. with my zine More Than Music. I feel that having two or three healthy metal festivals in the United States will be complimentary not competitive, it’s not as if the European metal festivals go down in attendance even with the ton of shows each summer.

Four suggestions for ProgPower 4:
1) A little more coordination with band autograph signings would be great. Many fans were disconcerted from paltry line organization and I heard a lot of grumbling.

2) Expansion of the number of festival days (Fri, Sat, Sun), the number of stages, set staggering or the number of bands and hours of the day they start. Perhaps work with a local club for a stellar pre-show to get some bands that are good but couldn’t make it onto the festival (for example, this would get out of the bands back to back rule since it is technically a pre-show so Silent Force could play, etc). Some people think that fans wouldn’t show up in the daytime to see bands but if they’re quality who wouldn’t be there from noon till midnight? They do in Europe, they even do at Ozzfest, and true metal heads are at least as dedicated as the nu-metal fans. One point to make is that most European fans have much more vacation time than U.S. fans, but who wouldn’t swing a three or four day vacation for a ton of bands! Alternating stages that enable a band to play in the downtime while the first stage is being set changed would be great too. Different stages for Prog vs. Power would be an idea as well. Why not get more struggling new bands who would play cheap but are still quality into this, maybe some sort of generic backline and they just need to bring personal instruements. I am sure plenty of bands would jump at this, as a lot of attendees at ProgPower are from bands themselves.

3) Some sort of coat check. Since this is in the fall/winter and it can be bad weather it complicates space to have to pack stuff around the venue. This idea coupled with a double stage idea (which would keep people moving more) and even more staggered out shows throughout the day could maybe alleviate some of the gripes I have read about fans holding seats just to hold their CDs they bought/coats or not looking excited enough. Sorry I don’t headbang to Reading Zero, but put Helloween on and I will rock out.

4) Bands for the show. I won’t get into the band suggestions since the ideas come like rain from the heavens on this forum, but what we need is some version of a balloting process, maybe list say thirty contenders for bands to book, and let us vote. We’re the ones ultimately paying for this! Right? Metal fans are the ones buying tickets and flying to the venue, paying for a hotel, then we should have at least some voice. At the very least, pick half of the bands as set in stone, and then let us have some bands as “fans choice” as like the Readers Choice Awards. That would be fair and maybe get more people excited if they can contribute.

Wordy as I am, that is all I really have to say. Just let’s expand on this great new start of metal festivals in the U.S., set aside our difference in opinion toward which bands rule, and maybe we can take back a small portion of the world from Nelly and Britny Spears! Kudos again for an amazing show, the venue was excellent (if crowded), and everyone I met band wise and fan wise was very cool.

Charles Cannon
More Than Music Magazine Publisher/Editor

 

[rgbeach]

Charles,

Excellent suggestions (though I am more into prog than power ). I was very interested in going to the Classic Metalfest last year, but unfortunately didn't get there. I will absolutely be going this year - thanks for the reminder!

One of your suggestions for ProgPower was to have an new/unsigned band stage for bands that are just trying break into the scene. This would need some degree of quality control, but I think it's a great idea. Heck, my band would play entirely for free!

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Excellent post Charles, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that Iced Earth IS indeed headlining PP IV - this is straight from the horse's mouths...

 

[zinescene]

Originally posted by markgugs
Excellent post Charles, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that Iced Earth IS indeed headlining PP IV - this is straight from the horse's mouths...

That was about the worst kept secret since Rob Halford "officially" came out of the closet.

I think Chuck has some great points. I haven't attended that many other festivals in the US but I have a hard time believing that any is as well organized and run as ProgPower. I think part of the problem with some of the others is either lack of organization or publicity or willingness to lay thier asses on the line for a quality band.

As for the CMF, I would have loved to drive to Cleveland last year if Gravedigger played but quite honestly there was not that many bands on that roster that I cared to see otherwise so without the big name draw I wasn't going to spend a $400 for a show I'm not impressed with.

I am thinking of going this year though, especially if a couple of bands that are yet unconfirmed end up playing. I hope for the promoters sake he does get a few big bands, right now he's touting Metalucifer as a headliner. Otherwise I don't see him drawing any bigger crowd than he had in Cleveland.

 

[Wandrail]

Hmmm...you know, Glenn has done such a great job with ProgPower over the past few years, I really don't want to see all kinds of crazy things happening to make it a three ring circus as opposed to an out and out high concentration of quality bands. Having the multiple stages, basically with non-stop music playing actually doesn't appeal to me. People need a break from time to time, and what you would have is a band playing and no one watching, while they spill ou tto buy cds and shirts and use the bathroom. Plus, if you go just a bit beyond that, it starts to sound like Milwaukee to me, which is just complete ass. Go much further and you're there just trying to cram as many bands as possible into as little space as possible for as much money possible. Bands playing opposite each other with only a curtain between them? Not my idea of quality, which is what ProgPower has come to represent. ProgPower is the Anti-Koshik festival. All it is about is music, and finding the best way to give it to the metal populous who love it. Whatever happens, THAT had better not change, or I will be very sad. We don't want that, its just pitiful, trust me.

-Eric

 

[Wandrail]

One other thing, if it is truly a lock to have Iced Earth headlining next year, that is fantastic. I've listened to them for quite a while and never had a chance to see them, surprisingly. I think it would be perfect, and I hope to see it sell out at twice the capacity next year. I think Mr. Schaffer can help make this happen.

 

[Jax]

Originally posted by Wandrail
Hmmm...you know, Glenn has done such a great job with ProgPower over the past few years, I really don't want to see all kinds of crazy things happening to make it a three ring circus as opposed to an out and out high concentration of quality bands. Having the multiple stages, basically with non-stop music playing actually doesn't appeal to me.

I agree. You can't compare ProgPower to something like Ozzfest..that's a one day shot, so it's more feasible to have it be an all day thing. ProgPower is a weekend-long show, and to run it all day long for 2 or 3 days would be a bit much IMO..people are worn out by Sunday as it is, imagine if they were running non-stop, all day, for 2-3 days.

In addition, I don't see a problem with trying to steer clear of bands who tour the US regularly. I believe one of the original intentions was to give exposure to those bands who might not otherwise be seen here..not bands people can see every 8 months or so on their latest tour.

Just my $.02, though, your mileage may vary.

Jax

 

[guardian26]

I agree with Wandrail and Lady. Glenn is doing just fine. Part of the huge attraction is the community atmosphere and the all-access feel you get when hanging out with your favorite band at the bar, hotel, or wherever. Adding another 5,000 attendees will not do much for the genre, aside from make $. Look at the pathetic mess OZZFEST has become. Anything close to hard rock/nu-metal that can get 1 song played on the radio is invited.
Ugh! Glenn rules.

 

[MTMMAG Chuck]

It has been good to see some of the comments on here from my original post.

However these are the points I am trying to make.

I think Glenn is doing a fantastic job, but I think it could be a little better. At the very least maybe on Saturdays only start at noon, bring some smaller yet decent bands from the states in. Two days worth with ten bands per day is not too much to ask for the amount of money the tickets cost. There are plenty of quality bands on the scene domestically that could be added for a decent price. Without a car or a travel friend, I was limited to sitting in the hotel and attending the High Art Museum on Saturday. I would much rather have been watching some more bands that don't hit my part of the United States.

I would never ask for a snafu like the Milwaukee Metalfest or any of his shows. I would expect bands to be able to play 45 minutes at the minimum. I also applaud the ProgPower crew for doing a fantastic job keeping things moving quite well. I would not condone something like a curtain between bands, this would only be a doable option if the stages were separated enough for little to no sound bleed. The point I was making about Ozzfest was peoples endurance not the musical type or comparing it in any other way.

Other domestic metal festivals are struggling to be in Glenn's league I will agree. However from what I've seen metalheads are often long on heart, wear their metalhearts on the sleeves of their denim jackets (even if hanging in the closet or don't fit any longer) and short on cash. Maybe Glenn was luckier than others, maybe he tried harder, or it was a combination of both. Would you say Keith Menser didn't care enough or try hard enough with Powermad. I feel that his heart was in it, but not enough people came through attendance wise to take it to the next level. It was interesting no one commented (yet) on the idea for a fan poll or some sort of voting system for the bands picked.

Point is this. I would just like to see at least one other decent metal festival in the stages with excellent bands. While I do love Power Metal (and what a wide open term that is), I am not a progressive music fan. I don't think less of anyone who is nor hopefully will I be bagged on for this comment, just my personal tastes. I would like to see another two to three day festival in the states that would book bands like Armored Saint, Udo, Rage, Running Wild, Grave Digger, and other true metal mixed with some melodic power bands that would not interfere and instead complement what ProgPower is all about.

I do think a lot of metal heads listen to a wide range of music. I could listen to Slayer and then Angra no problem, and a festival that celebrates our differences (if fans are openminded enough) would be a stick in the face to popular music.



I do think that yes it is cool to bring bands that don't tour the states as often, but look at the Euro fests. A lot of the bands that play also play on regular tours. For those of you who live in say a Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, whatever, you are lucky enough to see Iced Earth, or other bands who do small two week tours. Not here in the Midwest and I can't justify ten little $200 trips and days off to go see each individual tour.

 

[Wandrail]

I definitely hear your comments about bands that typically "tour" the states still playing ProgPower, especially since ProgPower is held in the south where fewer bands come. However, just as this year we had legends like Blind Guardian and Gamma ray sharing the same event, a band like Iced Earth can share the same event with a rarer euro-power metal or prog band. I personally don't see a conflict. And as far as endurance and tim eis concerned, I felt like there wasn't enough to both listen to the bands at the show and then hang out afterwards while still getting sleep enough to do it all again. I had to call off work on sunday and now I'm sick from running myself down so much (it was worth it, and ten times more illness). not to say if it were three days l;ong that that wouldn't be grand, but I do feel that the current formula is almost perfect, everything went perfectly. I think a third day would see fewer people, and it would have to cost more to ensure the quality of the show and the well-being of the bands. I, for one, will say that Mr. Harveston has earned my trust and has made every right move from the get-go. Here's to looking forward to many years of such successful endeavors that bring all of us metal folk what has been needed in this country for so long. Slainte!

-Eric

 

[zinescene]

I personally wouldn't mind seeing several more bands given 2 conditions. One, obviously the quality would have to be right up with what we expect from PRogPower. Two, I'd want them to be american bands that are unsigned or only have one or two releases available and haven't done much touring outside thier local area. That said, I would love the prospect of them playing on THursday as part of a Pre Show party, much like this years (just expand it a little).

However, realistically I don't see adding to the Friday, Saturday Schedule. I would think that logistics and time would play a major factor. I'm sure it's a nitemare getting all the bands shuffled from the airport to the hotels (yes I know glenn doesn't do it all) and then fitting in sound checks, band schedules, interviews, etc has got to be a real treat as well. Please, don't even suggest Sunday. For many fans and bands (myself included), that was a travel day without having to take another day off of work which at this time of year I can ill afford. (not to mention it would be another $200 by the time I got done with hotel, food and drinks)

Is there enough room in the US for another music festival that could support the likes of Rage, Grave Digger, Running Wild, Omen, Warlord etc . I think so, but it's going to take a lot more than a few big names to pull it off. Glenn has done a masterful job at not only organizing the festival but promoting it as well.

Case in point, Look at the initial Classic Metal Fest. THier debut had Destiny's End, Omen, Anvil, Exciter, New Eden, Jacobs Dream, Onward, Vicious Rumors, Liege Lord, Hades and more bands. With that line up you'd think they would have sold out Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo and they sold what, a handful of tickets. Come on, with a line up like that it should have turned away 5000 people or more. It's all in how you run it and promote it.

I like progpower the way it is, but then again I like PRogressive as well as power metal. Is there room for growth? That remains to be seen.

John

 

[woosta]

Here's the deal with Classic Metal fest: I never even HEARD about the first one and I'm usually all over metal boards and magazines. I found that I missed it and I was sick. When they announced last year that Grave Digger would play, I had the date book marked for tickest. Then, a little while later, they said Grave Digger MAY play if enough tix are sold. That didn't sit well with me. I know it's a financial risk, but you gotta make it and not hedge. There are so many last minute buyers of tix that you can't always go on presale. Ask for a sponsor or something, but it's gotta be a definite Grave Digger WILL be there thing. I still hope to see a classic metal fest, but they gotta promote it better. That's where Powermad dropped the ball and I never made it there either.

I only hope next year that Glenn can find the schedule around a Monday holiday again like last year. It sucked really bad to have to work on Monday after a long drive. Last year was perfect as far as date. Also, it wasn't so damn cold yet. I don't know that I want more bands because this year was a constant run to get autographs and see bands and there was no time at all to simply mill around.

 

[ReaLM]

Originally posted by MTMMAG Chuck

It was interesting no one commented (yet) on the idea for a fan poll or some sort of voting system for the bands picked.

I do think a lot of metal heads listen to a wide range of music. I could listen to Slayer and then Angra no problem, and a festival that celebrates our differences (if fans are openminded enough) would be a stick in the face to popular music.

Although a lot of people have broader tastes in metal then I do, most of the power & prog metal fans I know would not want anything to do with a concert featuring a band like Slayer.

I went to a slayer concert with my bf (se7enchurches) about a year ago figuring it can't be that bad (normally I can appreciate all metal even if I can't get into it do to the harsh vocals etc..). It was horrible. The atmosphere was so different from ProgPower. Everyone was rude and pushy. We had a large group of teenagers behind us (they looked like they were on drugs) mashing, punching each other, and ramming into us. I am short (perfect elbowing height), and the person next to me was so oblivious that I had to keep my hand over my face the entire time so that her elbow hit my hand instead of my nose when she moved her arm up and down. When a crazy shirt waving Angra fan almost elbowed me in the face during Angra I just had to say something and he apologized and made sure he was more careful for the rest of the set. At the Slayer concert so many people were mashing, crowd surfing, and acting like assholes, I doubt many of them were even listening to the band (and even if they were, I doubt they actually ever saw the band), and they made it impossible for me to even try to enjoy the concert.

I don't want anything to do with bands like Slayer and their asshole fans (I know there are a lot of Slayer fans who aren't assholes, I date one of them, so don't give me crap about this statement). My point is that everyone at Prog Power was kind and courteous, like a big family. The concert was about the music; not getting wasted and releasing repressed anger and aggression. A lot of black and death metal bands, in addition to me not liking their music, draw a bunch of rude people who only listen to metal because they think it is cool to wear all black and listen to angry songs about death: they don't care about the music.

Although there some people, like my bf (however he was originally mainly a death and black metal fan, I've spent a good portion of our relationship pushing bands on him like Edguy, Blind Guardian, and Kamelot), who would like this idea, I do not think a lot of the prog/power crowd would be interested in this kind of thing at all, especially the Prog fans (I am a Power fan myself). After all, you can't sing a long as well to those other genres.


Oh and as for voting for what bands to see, it would have to be more of a "pick your top five survey." Glen would have to assemble a list of bands he was thinking of getting and then ask for people to pick their top five (or 10 possibly). He could obviously make no guarantees and have to ability to ignore the survey completely if he wanted to.

Robin

 

[zinescene]

Originally posted by ReaLM
Although a lot of people have broader tastes in metal then I do, most of the power & prog metal fans I know would not want anything to do with a concert featuring a band like Slayer.


Robin

I don't want to speak for Chuck, but I took his suggestion to mean that OTHER festivals could feature a variety of bands from Slayer to whatever and that more than one festival could co-exist in the USA. The reference to Angra fans also liking slayer could have meant that some fans that went to PRogPower would also go to this other festival.

I am one of those who attended the last two ProgPower but I also saw Slayer with Megadeth and Anthrax and Morbid Angel with Soulfly and Pantera.

I think it's safe to say that Glenn won't be inviting a Slayer type of band to ProgPower but you can bet your ass that if Slayer did a festival with the likes of Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, ABSU, Dark Funeral or Witchery I'd be there in a heartbeat!

I will agree that Slayer fans are one of a kind. It was one of the most violent concerts I've ever attended. I steered clear of the mosh pits and fights and was able to enjoy the music.

 

[Wandrail]

Well, forget a band like Slayer, especially today, Slaye rbelongs on the damn Family Values tour or something, not in any true metal event. Ten years ago, sure, but none of thos ebands of course fit ProgPower. I think a band like Children of Bodom or even Opeth could fit the bill as being different and more extreme to the areas of progressive death, and I think it would be great to see them at PP4. Hell, if only fate had been less cruel, Death would have been a perfect fit (or Control Denied).

-Eric

 

[MetalAges]

Well remember, Opeth were SUPPOSED to play PPUSA III but I think the negotiations couldn't come to a mutual agreement.

 

[MetalAges]

Ok, I felt the need to comment on this just to bring a little more insight into things, and hopefully I am not talking out of school and Glenn won't be booking a ticket to strangle me for dragging out this thread Also, this is not an attack on the original poster or anyone else, I find the maturity of this thread to be quite cool actually.

One thing in all these comments that is being overlooked is $$$$$$$$$$$. My hats go off to Glenn for this one thing alone, because this man fronts a butt load of money to make all this happen. I don't want to go into too much detail regarding this, but we're not talking a couple thousand dollars. Try looking into the upper 10's of thousands. You have bands, travel expenses, club booking, hotels, catering, equipment, crew, merchandise, I mean the list goes on and on. There's a reason ProgPower USA has become (in my opinion) the premier Metal fest for this genre. You can't compare to an Ozzfest, because with Ozzfest you have millions upon millions of dollars to work with, apples and oranges. They can do all day stuff because the $$ is there to do so. Time is also another factor being overlooked. Glenn literally works all throughout the Summer and Fall putting this thing together, negotiating with bands/labels/management, club arrangements, ticketmaster, idiots like me who drive him nuts by coming too close to deadlines (I see you smiling from here Glenn) for stuff like shirt design, event program, art, ads, sponsor stuff... he also maintains his job hours and family life as well. It takes way way more than a couple months to do all this the right way. One of the reasons we DON'T see a lot more fests like this is not many people have the gonads to jump up and put up big bucks anf time, as well as risk, to do all this.

As far as band selection, we have to remember, Glenn is a true fan at heart. These bands we see ar eones that HE wants to see most too LOL! It just happens that a lot of us are into the same bands as him. He tries to do somethign special by bringing bands over to the States for the first time as well. Don't you think the a lot of these labels would have brought a lot of these bands over by now? Baffles me sometimes anyways. Simple fact is it's a risk, or sales don't justify bringing the bands over for a tour in the USA. There are a few exceptions ala the Blind Guardian tour that's now happening, but don't get me started on that one .

As far as stage(s), I am for the one stage only setup personally. Multiple stages require more crew, more equipment, more soundboards, more monitors, more/double everything, which of course starts driving up the costs on everything. Equipment rental gets expensive!! Thank God the awesome Guitar Center sponsorship helps to offset a lot of that, but DEFINITELY not all. Also, people in the seated areas save their seats a lot of times. So if you start having multiple stages then people lose their good seats, etc and then that would just start new complaints eh Also, soundchecks! The all important sound checks. These can and do take hours and it isn't all roses. There's always something that comes up and has to be dealt with, from easy to tough. Also, unloading of trucks! The ProgPower boys start the day around 9am (if I am not mistaken) and deal with the unloading/setting up of all this equipment to run the show. Takes a lot out of ones self.

As far as expanding the fest, again, $$$. That's an extra days club rental, extra day crew pay, hotel, equip rental, etc.. caa chinggg! There was a pre-show this year for Gold Badge members. Featured Magistral, Cea Serin and Persephone's Dream and was setup by a non ProgPower feelow by the name of Shane DuBois (hope I spelled that right!). He is the bassist in Cea Serin. To get a Silent Force or something to come play as you suggested was a possibility, remember, $$. These guys mostly reside in Europe, so plan on paying for travel to get here, Hotel rooms, etc. Also, this is not to mention the whole Visa/Passport process you have to go through to get a lot of these dudes here. Headaches in itself!

Coat checks, good idea, logitics would be hell. Would be fine if the venue was running this. Who becomes responsible for stolen costs/items? Who pays to compensate? Again, lots of headaches and risks. One of the cool things about the event is you could go out and back in and most everyone's Hotel was in walking distance. I know I myself ran back and dropped some stuff off so I didn't have to haul it around.

As far as a poll for fan input on bands, sure would be cool I think, as a guideline maybe. Again we have to remember, a lot of these bands are Glenn's wishlist, band sHE wants to see. Didn't you see him up front headbanging to some of the bands? This guy is a fan first. It's true a lot of USA bands would come and play for free but again we get into the "there's only so much room" factor. Glenn I am sure wold LOVE to give a ton of bands the time of day to be seen in front of the masses, but he's only got so much $$.

As far as some random notes on my part... I've done the Jersey Fest with multiple stages... ughhhhhh, hated it. I don't want to see a mass of bands ans sub par sound setup. If I am spending my money on tickets and hotels, etc.. I want to see kick ass bands and quality sound. As far as the horses mouth on Iced Earth, I would like to know which horse it was lol. I recall one band having to pay like $50,000 to buy onto the Ozzfest bill... Glenn can't wait for THAT day! LOL! As far as Saturday starting at nppn, again, time. Soundchecks run for hours, setup, crews getting over their hangovers (oops did I say that), there's only so much time in the day. Make some friends there, hang out. I recall last year when myself and some friends spent an hour and a half just chatting with Jorn Lande. The bands are very accessible at this event and most of the time, very cool. As far as Euro bands touring AND playing fests, again apples and oranges. Fests over there draw anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 people. It's a lot easier for bands to tour and play fests because the $$ and fan base is still there to do so. The media here in the USA is not widely spread when it comes to promoting this style of music here in the states either. So, it becomes a lot tougher to get the word out about tours and shows. Over in Europe you have the huge Metal mags still circulating anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 copies to the public. Sure, Metal Edge may do that here, but come on, they are definitely not targeting this style of Metal. Plus, in Europe, the traveling distance is a lot more realistic for people to be able to travel and see more shows than here. I think I've gotten off my original point, but I'm rambling lol!

Anyways, I guess this is where the term "it's easier said than done" comes into play, because if it were simply thinking and doing that created kick ass festivals, we'd all be doing them right?

Kudos Glenn, for the time, headaches, and risk ($$) you put into this event.

 

[Chrisf]

What Deron said!

Also, a few other minor points:

1) Powermad. Promotion sucked. Organization sucked. Venue sucked. I think Keith is a true fan, and means well. Unfortunately, the fest was run like shit, and that's why it failed. Hell, people in Baltimore didn't even know about this show the year I went, and they had fucking Evergrey and Mayadome there! Same kind of criticism for just about every other fest in the US.

2) More bands. No, there shouldn't be any more. I already heard bitching about Zero Hour and Reading Zero as being extras that many people weren't really into. Personally, I think that's crap, because both bands rule, but people didn't know them. It's appropriate to have about 2 lesser known bands that get some exposure. More than that, and it's really hard to get into hours of unknown music.

3) Length of show. Progpower was exactly right. Most won't see the fact that soundchecks start at 11 am. That's what it takes to do it right, and that's what was done. Start at 12? So, soundcheck should start at.... 6am? Don't think so. And it would be worse than that, with more bands.

Hey, there's always little things that can be improved, but I've seen few events of any kind run this well. I'd say, don't mess with perfection.

Chrisf

 

[Wandrail]

I would certainly second that notion.

 

[MTMMAG Chuck]

Well, boy did the hammer come down. I never realized how many people just accept what is given to them. Strive people, strive for improvement. Are you settling, this is as good as it gets and be happy? Maybe....according to some vehment comments it already is.

I would like to point out I never said the festival wasn't good as it is, only that I feel it could still be EVEN BETTER. I just wanted to get some people talking and suggesting, instead of tearing down and defending the status quo. No one said the metal scene and festivals had to be static.

And my point about Slayer was not that I expect Slayer to play ProgPower but that I love all kinds of metal, and just not what I saw last weekend. Perhaps Armored Saint, but no, not Slayer.

Point about European metal fests was not about attendance, but the fact the bands playing the festivals also can tour regularly in the same market. This was trying to see if bands that do limited U.S. touring still can get ProgPower possibilities is all. Specifically Iced Earth.

All that being said I think one can count on a certain number of tickets being sold now (if not more) and if, IF, the money flow was appropriate (and keeping them hopefully in the black) Glenn should try to add a little more something to the show (maybe not one of my suggestions) or continue to work toward improving this festival even more. Sure it takes a promoter with cajones (which Glenn has in at least ten pound clackers), but it also takes a crowd of metal fans to make this succeed.

Glenn, carry on with the good work. Deron, excellent commentary that I enjoyed, although I had considered much of the things you mentioned. Things can be worked around, where there is a will there is a way.