Newbie to Metal

[Diamond45]

Hi everyone! I just recently discovered metal and I cannot get enough! I would love to go to ProgPower next year but I'm not having any luck getting any of my friends to go with me. My question is: Would a 26 year old female enjoy going by herself? I am pretty outgoing but I've never even been to a concert except for Carrie Underwood. lol

You will enjoy yourself. Be sure you talk to other people. Before long you'll have a long list of friends you'll want to see next year. And if you're the Facebook type, you'll be on there chatting with them all year long! (If you are on Facebook, be sure you subscribe to the ProgPower USA group.)

Serously - there are a lot of single women I know who attend this fest. In my opinion it's one of the safest concerts/festivals you can attend. We are family here. We take care of each other. I've been attending since 2005 and consider my PP USA friends my second family.

If you attend - you will become addicted and want to come back the next year! So don't worry about it and make your plans now!

And in the meantime, you can start listening to the bands that will be playing next year and introduce yourself to their music. After that there are MANY bands we can recommend you listen to. There's a lot of this stuff out there - it just doesn't get played on American radio.

 

[Arabianhazard]

Carrie Underwood and Progpower have a lot in common, you'll have a blast.

 

[jaimek]

Jeri: of course you will. I've been going to ProgPower since I was ~25 myself. Come find the chicks and introduce yourself - we will welcome you!

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Wow, so in other words, you believe in the heavy metal community, as long as its only the community you choose to associate with?

That really goes against a LOT of what has made heavy metal the long lasting form of music with really RABID fans.

Sorry, this comment REALLY struck me the wrong way and was VERY elitist.

It can strike 6 ways from Sunday, but he's right. The vast majority of metal forums are full of racist dipshits and pretentious hipsters who think their opinions are law. This one is is a legitimately cool place and is an exception to the rule. In fact, I can't think of any other metal board where someone could even start a thread like this without getting harassed - but there are legitimately helpful responses here.

there are MANY close minded folks on this forum. It is absurd to think otherwise.

There may be people who are closed minded on here, and of course nobody is perfect, but compared to what else is out there this is like paradise.

 

[Met-Al]

Hi, Jeri!

Welcome to the forum! As an attendee of every U.S. edition of ProgPower, I can concur with these folks that it's worth every penny to come to Atlanta next year. I would agree with the recommendations made above. Getting yourself familiar with the bands on next year's roster would be the best move to make first in deciding whether or not this fest is right for you. Based on the bands you've listed, you should find enough bands that you'll enjoy right away.

As for any worries about attending the fest alone, I would recommend testing the waters by attending a metal show in your local scene alone. If you mention your hometown area on this forum, you're bound to encounter someone from your area who can recommend a band that's coming to one of your local venues in the near future. From there, you can even meet up at the show and find that you'll have your first ProgPower buddy. You'll also find that a number of folks on this forum will travel to various spots in the country to see their favorite bands, so you could end up meeting one of us even if we're not originally from your neck of the woods. You'll find that metal fans, especially fans of the bands featured at this festival, are a rather tight-knit bunch.

One warning before you tread the waters any further: once you start digging into this music, you may never stop. For a genre of music that receives little to no publicity, metal is everywhere. It's the kind of music that you may not notice right away, but once you do, it's all you notice. Addiction runs rampant in these parts!

Anywho, enjoy your new discoveries, and feel free to pick our brains about anything you'd like to know.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

 

[mel_progson]

You never know which progpower attendee you'll meet at a local show. Just ask Albert here lol. Good to meet ya bro. Sorry for chewing your ear off hehe.

 

[Jasonic]

There may be people who are closed minded on here, and of course nobody is perfect, but compared to what else is out there this is like paradise.

No doubt this is a good forum and most importantly, it is active all year long.
It's the main reason I have been posting here ever since I first joined UM in 05, I think....

I agree though. Lots of good suggestions, and starting out by going to a gig in your own area would be a good first step.

 

[Jasonic]

As an attendee of every U.S. edition of ProgPower,

No way!!!!!!
Are you serious?

Hey, did you hear Bob went to Germany this year?

 

[Met-Al]

I did, Jason. That's quite impressive! Even more impressive, though, is that I heard that YOU went to ProgPower this year!

It was nice to meet you, too, mel_progson. That Vicious Rumors show was great! I hope you're having a blast at the Melodic Rock Fest. I'm all sorts of jealous!


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

 

[nomisofsiman]

As others have said, try to be as social as you can with people on the forum, especially those in your area. I've been to four progpowers, but the first two I admit I didn't really talk to anyone and I'll be honest in saying that the last two have been much more enjoyable due to being more social.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

This is one of the best places you could go to wet your whistle on metal. 2014 has QUITE the lineup, the "extended family" atmosphere, and a good location in Atlanta all add up to what is probably THE best festival for this genre of music. You will make friends, and you'd have to try really hard to NOT have a good time there. There are threads in this forum regarding lodging, places to go, places to eat, etc. There are a lot of locals on here, and a lot of festival veterans who will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Hope to see you there in 2014, i'ts going to be a blast! :Spin:

 

[jerithompson]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. I am definitely social enough to meet new people. I have been listening to the lineup next year and I am really liking what I am hearing. Of course I have my favorites but lots of cool bands. This years bands and I REALLY like are Ashes of Ares, Circle II Circle and Sabaton. To be honest I like most of what I heard which makes me even more excited to listen to the bands that are going to be there next year. I am pretty close to Chicago so I don't think finding shows to go to will be a problem. I can easily drag a friend to Chicago to see a show.

 

[Yippee38]

There are lots of PPUSA Chicago people. Hell, most of the people I know when we go to a Chicago show I met at PPUSA. Look for PP T-shirts and say, "Hi."

 

[booB]

As others have said, it's a highly social atmosphere with plenty of camaraderie. I have been to every ProgPower USA, and despite being an incredibly introverted and socially inept person, I am at least acquainted with about 25% of the attendees in any given year, and I would consider roughly 10% to be good friends of mine.

As has also been mentioned, there is a pretty big Chicago-area contingent here, so if you go to enough local shows, you'll probably have a group of friends before you even get to ProgPower. (Damn, I miss the Chicago scene. The Cleveland scene is bollocks.) If not... well, if an eccentric, introverted dude can make so many friends, then a young, single girl should have no problem.

 

[J. Golden]

Hi everyone! I just recently discovered metal and I cannot get enough! I would love to go to ProgPower next year but I'm not having any luck getting any of my friends to go with me. My question is: Would a 26 year old female enjoy going by herself? I am pretty outgoing but I've never even been to a concert except for Carrie Underwood. lol

I knew Jason would mention Manilla Road. One of my all time favorite metal bands.
You are close to my fiance' age, she is quite the metal fan. If you do come to a Progpower I'm sure you could met her. She is certainly a ladyy who knows her metal and the good stuff too like Angel Witch, Warlord, Grim Reaper, etc.
I have known younger ladies that have come to the festival by themselves. And I believe Megan who is a regular (well not this past one) usually comes down herself. Hell she travels to many metal festivals herself.

 

[J. Golden]

Thank you for the info. I am really hoping I can meet a few people before I get there to kind of soften the blow. I have checked out the pictures on Facebook and it looks like a blast. At this point I have discovered Carcass, Iced Earth, Accept, Death (just checked them out today) and Slayer. I have many more I need to check out. Any other females have an opinion?

That is a fine start right there.

 

[OrbWeaver]

There are lots of PPUSA Chicago people. Hell, most of the people I know when we go to a Chicago show I met at PPUSA. Look for PP T-shirts and say, "Hi."

This is true. There's a whole "Chicago Crew" of ProgPower attendees. We're all pretty cool people. You'll like us if you meet us.

Are you going to the Helloween show in Joliet Monday? There will be a fair few of us there.

 

[compurocker]

Yep Helloween, then Fates Warning in November and Jon Oliva in December. Hope to see you at a show soon.

 

[gilpdawg]

Thank you for the info. I am really hoping I can meet a few people before I get there to kind of soften the blow. I have checked out the pictures on Facebook and it looks like a blast. At this point I have discovered Carcass, Iced Earth, Accept, Death (just checked them out today) and Slayer. I have many more I need to check out. Any other females have an opinion?

Boy, you jumped in with both feet didn't you? Most people get into the lighter stuff first and then slowly work their way up to the heavier stuff. How did you discover that you liked metal? Seems like there could be a story there.

I'll be attending the festival for the first time next year myself. Can't wait.

 

[metalprof]

Yep Helloween, then Fates Warning in November and Jon Oliva in December. Hope to see you at a show soon.

More Chicago-land people in the house here .

Jeri, I'm sure several people will be wearing their ProgPower shirts at these shows, so if you attend one of them, just step right up and say Hi. I will be at the Fates Warning show for sure.

Compurocker, maybe I will finally meet you too, or at least finally have met you enough times to remember who you are You are one of the posters I know is from this area, but to whom I can't put a face. Maybe I have before and it's just not sticking, in my old age.

Ken