Melodic Rock Fest 3

From melodicrock.com:

My great friend and musician, singer, songwriter Brett Walker has passed away. There will be a statement in the next 24 hours.

I hadn't heard Brett before he was announced for the fest, but I was really looking forward to his set. Nevertheless is a great AOR disc. RIP man.
 
From melodicrock.com:

My great friend and musician, singer, songwriter Brett Walker has passed away. There will be a statement in the next 24 hours.

I hadn't heard Brett before he was announced for the fest, but I was really looking forward to his set. Nevertheless is a great AOR disc. RIP man.

Yes, that was some sad news to hear. They're going to do a tribute set with his band and some guest singers.
 
Yes, that was some sad news to hear. They're going to do a tribute set with his band and some guest singers.

Yea... not sure how I feel about that. An hour-long tribute the middle of a festival to the singer who was supposed to play that slot? No matter how good the guest singers are it seems like a real downer. I understand the desire, but not sure it makes the most sense as far as keeping the crowd engaged goes.
 
So I now have a hotel booked. I'm bummed I'll miss ProgPower but looking forward to meeting some of the PP regulars at MRF3. Should be a cracker.
 
Just over a week away. It's going to be a most un-metal weekend!

And you will be in one of the most un-metal parts of Chicagoland to boot!

FB message me when you get to the area.
As I had said before, I work really close to this area.

Is this the weekend of Sept 27?
If so, you should stay through Monday and go to Helloween @ MoJoes.

Stay Tuesday and you can see Raven @ Reggies

Live in Chicago and you will get a headache trying to keep all these damn shows straight!!!!
 
And you will be in one of the most un-metal parts of Chicagoland to boot!

FB message me when you get to the area.
As I had said before, I work really close to this area.

Is this the weekend of Sept 27?
If so, you should stay through Monday and go to Helloween @ MoJoes.

Stay Tuesday and you can see Raven @ Reggies

Live in Chicago and you will get a headache trying to keep all these damn shows straight!!!!

Yes, it's that weekend. I'd love to stick around, but I have to get back to work. I'll see Raven in November.
 
Eclipse is going to be the last band of the night Sunday....which blows for me because I have a 6am flight back to KC on Monday.

FRIDAY:

Doors: 3pm

- The Radio Sun 4.00 - 4.30 (30)
- Line Of Fire 4.45 - 5.20 (35)
- Gary Schutt 5.35 - 6.30 (55)
- Ferreira 6.45-7.25 (40)
- Robert Tepper 7.40 - 8.35 (55)
- Glen Burtnik 8.40 - 9.40 (60)
- Kelly Keeling 9.50 - 10.40 (50)
- Eric Martin 11.00 - 12.30 (90)
- Bonrud 12.45 - 1.45 (60)

SATURDAY:

Doors: 11.30am

- The Radio Sun 12.00-12.30 (30)
- Evolution Eden 12.45-1.20 (35)
- 7th heaven 1.35-2.15 (40)
- Newman 2.30 - 3.15 (45)
- Brett Walker Tribute 3.30-4.15 (45)
- Tango Down 4.30 - 5.15 (45)
- Adriangale 5.30 - 6.30 (60)
- Heaven & Earth 6.45-7.25 (40)
- Mecca+ 7.40-9.10 (90)
- W.E.T. 9.30-10.40 (70)
- Harem Scarem 11.00 - 12.30 (90)

SUNDAY:

Doors: Midday

- Loveblast 12.30-1.00 (30)
- Inner Siege 1.15-1.55 (40)
- Crossing Rubicon 2.10-2.50 (40)
- No Love Lost 3.15-4.00 (45)
- ColdSpell 4.15-5.15 (60)
- Bombay Black 5.30-6.30 (60)
- House Of Lords 6.45-7.55 (70)
- Ted Poley 8.10 - 9.20 (70)
- Steve Augeri 9.35-11.00 (85)
- Eclipse 11.15-Whenever! (75)

Also recently posted on the promoter's Facebook page: "I just don't think MRF3 is quite big enough yet. Perhaps we can add a surprise special last minute mini-set to end the event on Sunday?" and also commented with "I'm not flying in any more acts. You'll see".
 
Quick review:
Fri Night, I got there right before Eric Martin. That guy is a class A performer. Great set, good mix of solo and Mr Big. Great to see Jeff Scott Soto join for a couple tunes. I'll try to post a couple clips later. I also got to see the Baton Rouge singer, Kelly Keeling, very good set as well.

Sat night, got there to see Tango Down. They were pretty decent. I really wanted to catch Heaven & Earth, not stoked for an acoustic set, to my surprise, they changed it to a full electric set. That was awesome!!!! WET and Harem Scarem put on one hell of a show. Both sets were killer. Polished. Also got to meet the guys, really cool and very nice. Worth every penny just see those two bands. If I can, I'll try to post a couple clips.

Sun night, being pretty burnt out from being out till 2am, I got there for House of Lords, very good set....I was just too burnt out. We'll see if I can make it to Eclipse or not.

In general, the venue is very cool. Nice setup, you can see from everywhere. Nice to have seats around the perimeter to rest. Hopefully they'll have it back here. Nice to be only a couple miles from home.
 
Okay, so I ended up staying for 4-5 Eclipse songs.....they sounded pretty awesome, the singer seams cool as heck and a lot of energy on stage, fun to see. Just with the fest running approx 45min-1hr behind schedule, no way could I make it to the end. Maxx Explosion was still to play after them and they had something special lined up after that. Anyone know what that special act was?
 
Maxx Explosion was the last band of the evening. InnerSiege set was awesome, but I'm in the band so I guess that doesn't count. I proudly wore my Progpower USA shirt from 2006 on Saturday
 
What a fun weekend. It's a great venue, the fest was run (mostly) without issues, and the bands were right up my alley.

Friday's acoustic night was a lot more fun than I expected. Eric Martin's set, which included guest appearances by Jeff Scott Soto and Erik Martenssen (among others) was the highlight of the evening, and the debut by Line of Fire stole the show as far as the rest of the bands that night.

On Saturday I really got into the catchier, poppy 7th Heaven and The Radio Sun, Adriangale and Tango Down were tight, and WET was just incredible. I've never seen JSS live before, and he's really a perfect frontman. It was great to hear a couple Talisman hits mixed in the set.

Saturday was all about Eclipse for me, and they did not disappoint, despite the band members consuming superhuman amounts of alcohol all weekend. I have almost no voice left from singing along. Coldspell was also really good, and Steve Augeiri sounded great even if his set did go on much longer than it should have.

Attendance was not good. My guess is 350 people, and I have no idea how that works as a business model. I think I met about a quarter of my Facebook friends this weekend, and a surprising number of ProgPower folks, which was cool.