Heathen Crusade ... go attend it or die ...

And for those of you looking to get hotel rooms, remember that the discounted rates for the headquarters hotel (Courtyard Marriott) and the one next too it (Residence Inn) end on January 5! After that the rates go back to normal.
 
MadeInNewJersey said:
kupshi, will you & MisterMayhem be available to chat once we're there?

Some friends & I are looking into booking a festival in the NY/NJ area and would love your advice, tips, etc.


you need $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and be prepared to recover only $$$$, other then that all you need is a hope that you're dealing with some serious professional people and promote the shit out of it well ahead of time, other then that it's smooth sailing,

of course I'm talking from no experience
 
Yeah, we know about the $$$$ part; we have someone who's willing to finance it, but I'm not sure if he's aware of JUST how much it might cost.

We're more interested in learning about the difficulties with:
- how many bands can come from overseas for basically a one-off show before it becomes financially stupid
- VISA issues
- how to get the bands to the hotels, venues, etc.
- airfare & hotel costs, tips, etc.

Things like that.
 
MadeInNewJersey said:
kupshi, will you & MisterMayhem be available to chat once we're there?

Some friends & I are looking into booking a festival in the NY/NJ area and would love your advice, tips, etc.

Yeah, sure. Not a problem. Just ask for either of us at the Fest merch table. That is the most likely place to find us and if we are not there, they will probably know where we are.

You can recognize me by my pic on my avatar or from pics on my site (kupshi.com)
 
kupshi said:
Yeah, sure. Not a problem. Just ask for either of us at the Fest merch table. That is the most likely place to find us and if we are not there, they will probably know where we are.

You can recognize me by my pic on my avatar or from pics on my site (kupshi.com)

Excellent, thanks man. I've been talking to Joe @ regimental records as well, I guess you know those guys?
 
MadeInNewJersey said:
Yeah, we know about the $$$$ part; we have someone who's willing to finance it, but I'm not sure if he's aware of JUST how much it might cost.

We're more interested in learning about the difficulties with:
- how many bands can come from overseas for basically a one-off show before it becomes financially stupid
- VISA issues
- how to get the bands to the hotels, venues, etc.
- airfare & hotel costs, tips, etc.

Things like that.


- well, lets see, fall/winter best time to bring the bands here as the airfares are at its lowest, if they're are willing ship them via cargo plane ;)
- Visa, well, depends what country they're coming from, West Europe no problem, Easter Prussia - potential issues, tourist visas of course - going sightseeing US with the instruments ;) for a weekend (risk of being send back on a spot), work visa cost is in thousands for just one band
- bands to hotels, venue, well, if you want to save money you do it yourself, or have dependable fans do it for you
- the quick in & out weekend will save you time in hotels, food, entertainment, etc.,
- of course bands/label must aggree to all of the terms and you to theirs, and the more established ones want written contracts
-have some kind of deal going on with band's label to help cover the cost
- and of course you need people to show up by having the right city, venue, line-up, etc., perhaps include Trivium to draw some more crowd ;), afterall it's all about $$$$$$$$$
 
Cool, that's some good info. For some reason, I didn't even think to get in touch with the labels. Well that's a good bit off anyways.

We have our "wish list" of 8-10 artists right now, so we're going to see just how well we can work this out. The headliners are the most important, since they're the draw (of course).
 
Tomasz hit it right on the head. I will talk with you more in Minneapolis, but here are a few thoughts...

I did the work visa paperwork all by myself (did not use one of the visa services) and saved myself alot of money there, but it still cost a little under 1K per band. There are ways to work around the multi thousand dollar cost if you are willing to invest the time and if you are very attentive to detail. I thought about just having the bands come over on tourist visas but decided against it because it is too easy to get denied entry. And if they get denied, they usually cannot come back for 5-10 years. I did not want to run the risk.

It is very hard to get any real substantial $$ support from labels, at least in my limited experience. Maybe when they know me more it'll be different. I can tell you more about my experiences offline.

The transportation can get a little complicated if you have alot of people to be moving around. You can rely on friends for some of it, but you should still cover their gas and stuff.

Hotels...you just have to find one you like and then try and work out a deal with them. Negotiated rates for a block of rooms. That type of thing. If you have some good friends in the area, have them stay at their houses/apartments.

Bands, booking agents, labels, contracts...there are so many variables here it'll give you a headache!

And if you want to video record the performance then you'll need contracts for that too.

Anyway, thats just a few thoughts. We'll talk more in MSP.
 
Also, I would like to point out that this is the first Festival I have ever put together, in fact it is the first show I have ever been a promoter/organizer for.

I am sure I am making some mistakes, doing some things that other people would not do, that type of thing. But I partnered up with someone who has experience in this area (Mayhem Productions - MisterMayhem) and that has been of immense help. I could not have done this without him.

So I just hope you all are happy with the results and we accept any suggestions/criticisms you want to give.
 
I am open for any questions or concerns that you may have. I will not beet around the bush and I will give it straight to the point.
 
MadeInNewJersey said:
Well hell man, you guys got me flying out from NYC, so you're doing something right! \m/

Thanks for the words, looking forward to meeting you in MN.


and I'm flying into NYC tomorrow for the Finntroll and Sodom show on Sunday,

if you're there look me up, I'll be looking all redneck and stuff
 
Tomasz said:
and I'm flying into NYC tomorrow for the Finntroll and Sodom show on Sunday,

if you're there look me up, I'll be looking all redneck and stuff

Are you really? Damn! I was going to go to that show too, but I have Anthrax tomorrow night and I just don't have the cash to swing both shows this weekend. Who knows though, maybe.

edit: if I do go, is that you in your avatar?
 
MadeInNewJersey said:
Are you really? Damn! I was going to go to that show too, but I have Anthrax tomorrow night and I just don't have the cash to swing both shows this weekend. Who knows though, maybe.

edit: if I do go, is that you in your avatar?


yup, should be easy to spot with my little "GIANT" brother and my native american looking hindu wife and of course me looking all metal and stuff

the blegian redneck is seeing them as I type in VA