my reply, cut and pasted from another forum, with a few additions... maybe people here will actually read mine.
John Frank said:
I always end up frustrated over metal festival lineups, as they usually consist of 10-20% bands I'd love to see and the remaining 80-90% is uninteresting to me.
This is not surprising to me, because, by your own admission, this same ratio seems to apply to the number of bands you like in general. Those people who are enthusiastic most bands are, on average, going to enjoy most of the roster, and those who like about 10% of bands will enjoy, on average, 10% of a fest roster.
I am wondering if I am too picky for fests. Maybe I am not enough of a genre fan. Maybe I am not enough of a fan of live music in general.
Possibly. I know that I hardly ever go to shows anymore -- last year, I only went to CPF and PPUSA, and no local shows. But that's more because I don't really know anyone locally who likes the same music I do, and because I get annoyed with the general crowd at Cleveland shows. I love live music, but, as with almost any bar-related activity, it's more fun with company.
To answer your main question... it depends on the fest. Year after year, Chris and Rob {Chicago Powerfest} cease to amaze me by getting bands I love, and few or no bands I don't enjoy. Last year, I liked every band on the roster. This year's CPF lineup contains the largest number of bands that I'm unfamiliar with, but from what I've heard so far, I'm going to like those bands -- plus I've been begging for Solitude Aeturnus for... how many years now? This CPF will mark the first time I've ever gotten to see ANY classic doom band live.
ProgPower USA, on the other hand, at least for the past three or four fests, has been very hit-or-miss, lineup-wise, for me. This year in particular, there is ONE band that I really want to see, that I haven't already seen... a few bands that I enjoy, that I've already seen... and the rest I either dislike or they don't interest me. {When PPUSA first got started, I remember liking about 80% or so of bands on the roster, and 100% of the bands on the PP1 roster. Out of 12 bands so far this year, I like four, which is just above 30%, but I
dislike four as well.} However, I keep going to PPUSA a) for the social experience, because it's the only time of the year I get to see many of my friends, and it's the only time I ever feel like "Mr. Popular" (I need that ego boost once in a while); and b) because it's such an amazing, one-of-a-kind event. I honestly believe that, even if there were NO bands that really caught my fancy, I'd still go to PPUSA.
But then again, I have no wife or kids, so I can spend my money on whatever the hell I want.
