Midweek Mayhem - Your input requested

[SwordLord]

Hello all,


First of all, I would like to offer my personal thanks to all the fans who showed up on Wednesday night, 9/08/2010, for the first Midweek Mayhem that I have had the honor of being a part of. I tried to thank all of you as you were exiting but I'd like to offer public thanks this time -- it was wonderful to have such an enthusiastic crowd for our line-up!

An evening that great could not have gone on without a great collaboration. I would like to thank Claus, Hoyt, Nathan Smith, Brent "Annihilator" Erwin for their help in running the evening. Thanks to Seven Kingdoms and Vangough for their amazing performances. Also extra special thanks to Seven Kingdoms for providing the gear that was used for the entire evening. Thank you to Ross the Boss for playing his ASS OFF and giving everyone a taste of what true heavy metal is all about. Very special thanks to the incredible staff of The Loft for making my first production out of my home state smooth and painless. And of course, thank you to Glenn for allowing me to share in the official ProgPower festivities!

IF YOU WERE IN ATTENDANCE --

Please take a minute to share your feedback - good or bad - about Wednesday evening. Tell me what worked for you, what didn't and any ideas you'd like to share for future shows. Please don't get too specific with band names, rather let me know if you'd like more power or more prog or if you'd be interested in having a Wednesday show that focused on something else - for instance, black metal, thrash or death.

IF YOU WERE **NOT** IN ATTENDANCE --

I am very interested to hear from those of you who did not attend. I would appreciate constructive criticism. If the line-up did not interest you, the cost was prohibitive, 4 days of music is too much ... let me know. All feedback received is going to go towards making next year's Midweek Mayhem show bigger and better than ever!


Again, all the Wednesday attendees have my sincerest thanks for showing up! I had more fun than I can adequately express in words and I was touched by many of your comments over the weekend. ProgPower truly is one amazing family!


More good times ahead,
Uncle Swordzy

 

[GoRillaBoy76]

I thought the show was great, I myself like the up and coming bands compared to the, lets say more experienced bands. I liked the one power, one prog, headliner format, and i would come for a trash band.

 

[Thorn23TX]

Dear Uncle Swordzy,

I did not attend because I had the opportunity to have dinner with two beautiful women Wednesday night and my sincere apologies to you, but they will win that battle 9 times out of 10. (That 10th time being if Evergrey, Kamelot, Sabaton, or Seventh Wonder were playing a special set.)

For whatever it's worth, I did purchase a ticket to Wednesday and had planned to attend despite not being a Manowar/Ross fan - I was willing to check it out because some bands just bring it live and win me over (case in point: Leprous on Thursday. What I heard on the internet didn't resonate with me, but seeing them play had me buy the CD.)

 

[nomisofsiman]

I don't have too much to say. Unfortunately I was unable to go. I actually had ordered a ticket just like the other nights but due to being unemployed which i had hoped to have gotten resolved, I just couldn't make it out to Atlanta this year. Personally I loved the lineup. From what I've heard Seventh Kingdom is pretty good. Vangough was actually the reason for me buying the ticket as I love their disc, so I thought they were a very good act to have in order to counterbalance the power. Ross the Boss I was interested in, though I must admit I was iffy on the singer beforehand. Overall though like I said I think the lineup was good, it just didn't work. I'm guessing there were others that didn't attend due to financial issues, too many days, etc. as well as some that just in my opinion may have thought Ross the Boss was going to be too much like Manowar karaoke. Good job though. I hope and look forward to possibly going to next year's midweek.

 

[AngraRULES]

Hey Nathan,

I didn't make it down to Atlanta this year unfortunately. Had I been to Atlanta, however, I will be honest and say that the only reason (and really, the sole reason) I would have attended this year's MidWeek Mayhem, would be to support you. The lineup didn't do it for me at all. The only band that I knew the material by was Vangough (and barely). I have less than zero interest for anything Manowar related, while I checked Seven Kingdoms in the past, but for some reason I have a hard time with female-fronted power metal (unless you're After Forever). I wonder what your criteria was for picking the lineup, though. I noticed all bands are from the US, which is probably the way to go for now. There are so many awesome US-based smaller bands that would go over so well (or so I think) in the show. Futures End comes to mind, they slayed last year and I would pay the admission price based on them alone.

Looking forward to attending the show next year!

 

[Yippee38]

Yardleybates and I did not attend for a few reasons. I'll try to list them here.

Cost: It wasn't too expensive. It's just that with our financial situation, we had to choose to cut back in places, and we chose to skip that and the SW special show. Not only is there the cost of the show, but there is the cost of beverages. $4 beers at the venue vs. roughly $1.70 for beers I had in my fridge adds up quickly. Water, which we were drinking is quantity is cheaper from a tap than buying a bottle.
Line-up: Having never been a fan of Manowar (or that type of power metal in general), I had no interest in seeing Ross the Boss. (Just not my thing.) I was somewhat interested in the other two bands, but not hugely so. I listened to some of their stuff from their MySpace pages and YouTube - as I did with all the bands that I hadn't heard of - and I thought they had some potential to be good. However, I wasn't blown away by it either.
Fatigue Factor: The main fest was 13 bands, plus 4 on Thursday. Friday ended up being about 12.5 hours of standing. Saturday was a bit less. I knew that would be a problem because it was last year. By not going, I had a chance to take it easy, spend some time off my feet, and get to bed early.
Time: We got in mid-afternoon on Wed, checked in and headed out for lunch and a bit of socializing right away. Lost track of time and didn't get back to the room until part-way through Seven Kingdoms' set. Missing the first of two of the bands I had any interest in seeing played a part in the decision.
Social: We spent Wednesday night catching up with a ton of friends. We used to do that during the karaoke night, which used to be on Weds.. Since that's gone away, there isn't an opportunity for a casual social gathering, so we made our own. BTW, the first time there was a formal Wed. night show (or maybe it was when the Thurs. night show was up in The Loft) there was a special room for the Gold Badge holders. It was a bit quieter, but had audio and monitors. That was a good time to catch up too. Now, we've got neither. It's just not practical - or polite to the bands - to socialize during the show.

So for us, we went down Wed. not knowing if we would, or would not go on Wed.. However, the factors I listed above all played a part in our decision. The last one listed - Socializing - is the straw that broke the camel's back. To be honest, I had such a great time on Wednesday night just catching up with people that I don't know that I'd even consider going to future Midweek Mayhem unless the line-up was really strong. Being a pre-pre-show, I'm guessing that your budget won't allow that.

That's probably not what you want to hear, but it's the truth for me.

 

[SwordLord]

That's probably not what you want to hear, but it's the truth for me.

Quite the contrary, my fine friend, that's exactly what I wanted to hear - constructive criticism! I appreciate the time you took to write that post and the feedback was very helpful.

the only reason (and really, the sole reason) I would have attended this year's MidWeek Mayhem, would be to support you.

Thanks man, what a kind thing to say! Hopefully I'll pick a line-up next year that you'll be more excited about. :Spin:


Thanks to everyone else who has responded thus far! I am tabulating everything and your feedback IS being heard!


Uncle Swordzy

 

[SkiBumMSP]

I did not go for the simple fact that 4 days would be to much for me. I just could not afford the additional time from work to make it. Also, it is nice to not have to pay for the extra night at the hotel as well. I guess I am also in the other camp that if there is a truly compelling lineup, I may try to make it.

 

[TheLongshot]

I was there, but to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that I was going to be there no matter what since I was making it a week vacation with my family (doubleheading ProgDay and ProgPower) I probably wouldn't be there. I only have a mild interest in Manowar, and it is more the later stuff rather than the early stuff that interests me so Ross The Boss didn't do much for me. Outside of that, Vangough was really the only band I had an interest in, and I was kinda underwhelmed by the performance. It makes me wonder if it was the band or something with the setup that was bothering me, since I had a similar reaction to Seven Kingdoms.

To be flat honest with you, ProgPower is expensive. For me to come on a Wed for a show, it better be a kickass lineup to be worth paying for an extra night of hotel and the cost to get in. Plus, you are dependent on if I think the preshow is worth coming to. If it isn't for me, getting me to pay up for Wed would be an even tougher argument.

 

[Rezz]

I didn't really even consider coming for Wednesday's show. The line-up didn't do anything for me and the costs would've been enormous for me since the rest of my group wouldn't arrive until Thursday or Friday so I would be stuck with the whole hotel bill for that night. It makes for an awfully long week too. I was so glad that things got started later on Saturday so I had a chance to go out and do things besides sitting in Center Stage, but I was still exhausted as I boarded my flight home today. 12+ hour days at the main fest are going to wipe me out, so it would really take something special for me to add in another night of metal.

 

[booB]

Social: We spent Wednesday night catching up with a ton of friends. We used to do that during the karaoke night, which used to be on Weds.. Since that's gone away, there isn't an opportunity for a casual social gathering, so we made our own. BTW, the first time there was a formal Wed. night show (or maybe it was when the Thurs. night show was up in The Loft) there was a special room for the Gold Badge holders. It was a bit quieter, but had audio and monitors. That was a good time to catch up too. Now, we've got neither. It's just not practical - or polite to the bands - to socialize during the show.

So for us, we went down Wed. not knowing if we would, or would not go on Wed.. However, the factors I listed above all played a part in our decision. The last one listed - Socializing - is the straw that broke the camel's back. To be honest, I had such a great time on Wednesday night just catching up with people that I don't know that I'd even consider going to future Midweek Mayhem unless the line-up was really strong. Being a pre-pre-show, I'm guessing that your budget won't allow that.

I will back up Mike 100% on these comments. I was at the show, and I certainly enjoyed it (my band comments are in the "Initial ProgPower thoughts" thread), but if I had the choice, I personally would prefer Wednesday night to go back to being "social night". Ever since I started coming in on Wednesday (2004 or so?), one of my favorite parts of the weekend was just shooting the shit with people in Vinyl during Meet & Greet, or Metal Karaoke, or whatever was going on that year.

For me, PPUSA is a social event first, and a concert event second. The past couple years, there were a great deal of people that I didn't get to see much, if at all, because there just wasn't much time for socializing. Of course, there was the Artmore courtyard, but not everyone comes to the Artmore after the shows let out. Granted, we could always do something on Tuesday night. However, the earlier the festivities start, the fewer people will be available to show up -- getting Tues-Fri off work is harder than getting Wed-Fri off. I'd prefer to do something like this as close to the main fest as possible, just for that reason.

So what would I like to have happen? It's not as glamorous as putting together a prog/power metal show, and I know that's your bread-and-butter... but I would prefer a return to a metal karaoke night. Or maybe have ONE band, playing a special accoustic show or something (similar to the Jon Oliva show from a bunch of years back), which then allows plenty of time for us hard-core PPUSA-ers to get together and mingle without loud music blaring in our ears all night.

Or -- I don't know if this would be a possibility or not -- how about booking metal karaoke for the Loft? I remember that karaoke wasn't too expensive in Vinyl -- Glenn paid for it based on contributions of a few bucks per head, if I recall correctly. I don't know how much more expensive it would be to book the Loft, but I imagine it would be cheaper than having three bands play. You could still sell tickets to this event, to recoup costs. For a lot of people, being able to sing karaoke from a proper stage, in an actual "venue", would be the ultimate rock star experience. The sound wouldn't be as loud as a concert, which would allow people to either listen, or socialize, or both. Not to mention, there are a couple of people from this very forum who might be in a position to run metal karaoke by next year.

Lastly, I can't help but wonder if the lower-than-expected ticket sales for Wed and Thurs was due to the fact that there was simply too much music this year for what is intended to be an intimate festival experience.

 

[Kazi]

I didn't attend because the line-up didn't interest me too much and it's tough for me to make it out on a Wednesday night with school going on. Price point wasn't prohibitive and I'd rather come out to see a few bands perform than spend time socializing. Personally I think it would be awesome to have a Midweek Mayhem show that focused on Folk or Viking metal.

 

[King Lek]

While attending, it was the first year I considered not.
Had it not been for the Seven Kingdoms booking I would have taken a pass.

I too fall into seeing Wed. fall back to the Social/Karaoke night format at Vinyls....do miss that...it was the original intent for us heading down on Wed.
In all honesty not sure I would attend next year unless completely blown away by a line up, and even then, a pretty good chance we will pass.

 

[DarkOne]

SwordLord -

Thanks for the efforts in putting everything together this year. Even though I am huge Manowar fan, I originally wasn't thrilled with the Wed lineup. However, I bought a ticket anyway to support the overall fest. I know you aren't asking for band reviews, but I really enjoyed RtB - they were a lot of fun. I, and the crowd loved the Manowar covers. Which leads me to:

I don't like Wed being "just one more night of music". I've always thought that the PP fest is more elite than other festivals, and I've always preferred the special showings rather than a band playing as if it were any other tour. Jon Oliva at a piano playing Eleanor Rigby? Incredible. Orphaned Land or DC Cooper playing an acoustic set? Really cool. Those are the things you can't get anywhere else.

Wed night branched out from Glenn's intimate karaoke to become the pre-pre-party show. Along they way, it lost the intention of Wed night being a lead-in to the fest. In the last few years, the Queensryche (Mindcrime) and Manowar (Ross the Boss) covers went over very well. Mindcrime especially was a blast, as was the QR karaoke that followed. The crowd was so into it, and I think the audience spent the evening singing along. We also go to hear our PP regulars get into the act (I recall Met-Al slaying on his song).

I think the Wed night event should remain something more of a get together and fun event. Let the audience sing some songs. Bring in quality tribute bands to sing songs that EVERYONE knows. I'd lay odds that: "A tribute to Iron Maiden, with Maiden fan karaoke following", would both cost less to put on AND bring out more people.

PP is special, and it's a long enough concert as it is. Let's go back to an evening hang out with some special events.

Steve in Philly

 

[adaher]

I just didn't dig the lineup except for Seven Kingdoms. I'd pay good money to see Theocracy though.

 

[manowarfan1]

Hey Nathan - thanks for all the work you and the rest of the crew put into making this happen. I went to see RTB, had some interest in seeing our fellow forum member (SK) rock out (and they were good) and had no experience with VanGough.

The show itself was good, but mostly until RTB came on it was spent socializing. One of the previous posters stole my thoughts - Wed nite was traditionally a night for us hard-headed early arrivals to socialize with friends and then witness some sort of a "wow" or a :wtf" type of event (an hour or so in duration) then get back to socializing.

That said - I know you can pull off just such a thing. If you can pull off a full slate of bands that I am interested in - great, but I would be more than happy with just a "an evening with..." type of thing.

Thanks again for all the work in putting this thing together, I now think I have heard from every member of manowar past and present that they dont even have a Hail to England shirt anymore If you end up booking any more Manowar related bands. it's gonna take a couple of rounds of P90X to be able to break that shirt out again

 

[kellsco]

I'll steal some lines from Yippee38.....

Cost: I had a ticket already purchased, and had every intention of trying to go depending on how I felt.

Line-up: Having never been a fan of Manowar (or that type of power metal in general), I had no interest in seeing Ross the Boss. (Just not my thing.) I was somewhat interested in the other two bands, but not hugely so. I listened to some of their stuff from their MySpace pages and YouTube - as I did with all the bands that I hadn't heard of - and I thought they had some potential to be good. However, I wasn't blown away by it either.

Fatigue Factor: The main fest was 13 bands, plus 4 on Thursday. Friday ended up being about 12.5 hours of standing. Saturday was a bit less. I knew that would be a problem because it was last year. By not going, I had a chance to take it easy, spend some time off my feet, and get to bed early. Without going into a lot of details, I knew once I got to Atlanta on Wed that my health was better served by not going.

Social: I spent Wednesday night catching up with a ton of friends. I used to do that during the karaoke night, which used to be on Weds.. Since that's gone away, there isn't an opportunity for a casual social gathering, so we made our own. BTW, the first time there was a formal Wed. night show (or maybe it was when the Thurs. night show was up in The Loft) there was a special room for the Gold Badge holders. It was a bit quieter, but had audio and monitors. That was a good time to catch up too. Now, we've got neither. It's just not practical - or polite to the bands - to socialize during the show.

I have to agree with Yippee38, in that I had such a great time on Wednesday night just catching up with people that I don't know that I'd even consider going to future Midweek Mayhem. Of course, a must see band could change that.

*Thanks Yippee38 for not making me type it all out again....

And edited to clear up any confusion I had between Mike and Shannon...

 

[Diamond45]

I did not go for the simple fact that 4 days would be to much for me. I just could not afford the additional time from work to make it. Also, it is nice to not have to pay for the extra night at the hotel as well. I guess I am also in the other camp that if there is a truly compelling lineup, I may try to make it.

I agree on all accounts.

The lineup just doesn't appeal to me. In fact, this year's kick-off didn't appeal to me that much either. It was that we were in town and decided to go anyhow. To me, if the Wednesday show went away and the Thursday show was cut back to The Loft (as it was originally) that would be fine with me. I support Nathan and of course Shane for all the hard work they do, but there is sometimes too much of a good thing.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I really wanted to make it for this, Nathan. But, I would've had to pay for the Wednesday hotel day myself. I couldn't afford it, unfortunately. I left Thurday morning with $646.00 in my wallet. I walked into my house Sunday afternoon with $.83(Damn you Glenn and Kenny! LOL!). The lineup killed and I wanted to go in the worst way, but unless God decides to smile upon me financially, it's gonna be rough. But, hopefully somehow, the door will always be open.

 

[RGiles]

I enjoyed the show. I mainly went to see Seven Kingdoms since I heard them before but enjoyed Vangough. Ross the Boss didn't interest me to much so I left 30 min into their set. Living in the Atlanta area I had to get up for work on Thursday morning so staying much later was out of the question anyways.