NJ Metal Meltdown?

[prog-guardian]

I remember some years back, this was a HUGE festival
in NJ., but looking for it recently; a site for it; I found nothing! And only recent news about it dated
back to '03! Does anyone here know what ever happened to this festival? And why it seems to have disappeared of the radar?

 

[TheGraveDigger]

You mean the March Metal Letdown? These festivals were only okay to me. Half the bands would cancel or get announced prematurely and not be there. From morning till late at night it would just be a bunch of generic death metal bands. The guy Jack Koshik who runs it is just a complete douchebag and never ends up paying any of the big bands properly that he gets. The last one I went to was in 2004. I saw Attacker, Twisted Tower Dire (minus the vocalist), Raven, Fozzy, Seven Witches, and Symphony X the first night. Symphony X was by far the high light but by the time they came on half the place was empty. The rest of the sets were decent.

Raven were not that great but it was nice to hear "On and On" live. I saw Raven a year later at the Brave Words fest in Ohio and they are just a bunch of assholes who went well over their time, they did not sound that great and they had the plug pulled on them. Give it up guys you aren't Iron Maiden.

Night 2 was ok. Crappy death metal all day long and then you had Trivium (unknown at the time), Vital Remains (garbage to me, just because you had Glenn Benton in a Darth Vader mask or whatever the fuck it is he wears they still sounded like every other band playing since 10am), M.O.D. (who were just annoying), Testament (who fucking kicked ass), and Obituary who put on a decent show and got a great reaction.

This fest had some good draws but overall it was negative and im kind of happy its gone.

 

[TheGraveDigger]

Oh yeah back in 2003 at a King Diamond concert in Randolph, NJ I remember Koshik telling my friend "I got Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody confirmed for 2004 and I am working on Running Wild"... yeah yeah my ass.

 

[prog-guardian]

Oh, um, ok. That DOES suck ass! Man, I wasn't quite aware of the bands that had played there, nor of the details about how it was all handled & whatnot.

That is fucked up! No wonder it is gone. Too bad someone else wouldn't make something similar again, but do a better job at it!?

Thanks for the info man. I was just wondering what ever happened to it is all.

 

[FatesFan]

Raven were not that great but it was nice to hear "On and On" live. I saw Raven a year later at the Brave Words fest in Ohio and they are just a bunch of assholes who went well over their time, they did not sound that great and they had the plug pulled on them. Give it up guys you aren't Iron Maiden.

That's a shame about Raven. I saw them back in the day open up for Slayer and Wasp and they were great.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I went in 2001 and 2002. The first time I ever saw PRIMAL FEAR was the 2001 Meltdown. 2002 was the year headlined by MANOWAR. They were fucking excellent! The room was so full, not long before the show started, the room was closed to anyone else trying to get in. Those two years were pretty good. I saw ANVIL, EINHERJER, ARCH ENEMY, RAVEN, ROB ROCK, HOLOCAUST, JACK STARR's GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, DIAMOND HEAD, VIRGIN STEELE, and some others I can't recall right now.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

The March Metal Meltdowns are extinct now because Jack Koshick's reputation killed the whole thing.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

He was also responsible for the Midwestern version of his extreme douchebagginess, The Milwaukee Metal Festival. I went one year, and actually got to see Soilwork, Primal Fear, and Jag Panzer. After that, it went downhill in a hurry. If you google around a bit, you'll find all kinds of messed up stories about the fest, from fans & bands alike.

 

[BlackRoseMetalHeart]

He was also responsible for the Midwestern version of his extreme douchebagginess, The Milwaukee Metal Festival. I went one year, and actually got to see Soilwork, Primal Fear, and Jag Panzer. After that, it went downhill in a hurry. If you google around a bit, you'll find all kinds of messed up stories about the fest, from fans & bands alike.

Just in case anyone is interested in entertaining themselves with this guys pathetic promotional/booking tactics and the legacy he has left behind, here's one thread from the forum that I remember from last year:
So... any first-hand accounts of the Milwaukee Metalfest?
and another from the previous year ...
Milwaukee Metalfest
and one from the year before that ...
Question Metalfest rumors/news?

I was a little surprised when SwordLord offered free admission to anyone showing a Milwaukee Metalfest ticket at FotV last year and not a single person showed up with an MM ticket for the free admission offer. I guess FotV just caters to different audiences.

 

[Pellaz]

Nahhh, it's just that no-one actually attended Milwaukee Metalfest. (Sun and Steel, anyone?)

As nasty as Jack Koshit is, I hafta say that dealing with his sidekick Rob "did I mention I'm Dave's brother?" Grohl was the worst. ("No, guys, you can't buy into ProgPower USA, not that I own it or anything....." Those were weird phone calls. I'm still not sure how they got my number. )

 

[Formerly known as Chris F5]

Basicly every fest of his had his butt buddies Macarbe always in the best time slot,taking double the time,and generally ruining the event

 

[TheGraveDigger]

That is so true about Macabre. I remember them playing that Saturday night Testament played. I went back by the bar, fell asleep, woke up what felt to be like an hour later and they still played for an eternity. Would have rather been walking the dangerous streets of Irvington throwing up blood and crip signs then sit there and watch them like I did.

 

[Sumeet]

Oh yeah back in 2003 at a King Diamond concert in Randolph, NJ I remember Koshik telling my friend "I got Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody confirmed for 2004 and I am working on Running Wild"... yeah yeah my ass.

Lol... I was at an Iced Earth show in Randolph NJ in 1998, and either Koshick or one of his idiot buddies was telling me he had Blind Guardian, Running Wild, and Gamma Ray all lined up within the next year. What a piece of shit. I went to the Koshick fest in NJ in 2000... what a fucking disaster that was... 4 stages, but only 3 rooms... so there were 2 stages in one room, separated by a curtain. And a bunch of crappy, pay-to-play bands overran their slots by so long that by the time the headliner, Sentenced got on stage, they only had time to play 4 songs, then some guy jumped up on stage and told them they had to leave. There was a near-riot after this, and then, when I spoke with one of Koshick's ass-clowns later, he had the gall to tell me that the police forced them to close the show, which was a complete lie. Needless to say, I never again attended a Koshick-run festival, and was glad to see that his reputation apparently caught up with him within a few years and most bands are no longer willing to deal with his horseshit.

 

[eaeolian]

Lol... I was at an Iced Earth show in Randolph NJ in 1998, and either Koshick or one of his idiot buddies was telling me he had Blind Guardian, Running Wild, and Gamma Ray all lined up within the next year. What a piece of shit. I went to the Koshick fest in NJ in 2000... what a fucking disaster that was... 4 stages, but only 3 rooms... so there were 2 stages in one room, separated by a curtain. And a bunch of crappy, pay-to-play bands overran their slots by so long that by the time the headliner, Sentenced got on stage, they only had time to play 4 songs, then some guy jumped up on stage and told them they had to leave. There was a near-riot after this, and then, when I spoke with one of Koshick's ass-clowns later, he had the gall to tell me that the police forced them to close the show, which was a complete lie. Needless to say, I never again attended a Koshick-run festival, and was glad to see that his reputation apparently caught up with him within a few years and most bands are no longer willing to deal with his horseshit.

That was easily the biggest disaster I've ever attended. I felt really bad for several of my friend's bands that got stuck playing on the "curtain" stage. Of course, one side of that was the Relapse stage, so you've got grind on one side and NWOBHM and Power metal on the other - and , of course, the Relapse side had more PA.

I remember Testament walked off on Saturday night because the monitors were so bad, and they were late because it took Shadows Fall slightly more than an eternity to get finished...

 

[RagePSV]

I attened 3 Milwaukee Metalfests, primarily because my uncle lives in Racine and I had a free place to stay. The only good bands I recall seeing were Mercyful Fate, Iced Earth and Emperor. One year I had tickets to a Maiden show (not at metalfest, but in Milwaukee) that was supposed to be on Saturday night, but it got cancelled a few weeks before the show. The most memorable thing about all 3 shows was the sheer magnitude of drunken passed out people everywhere!

 

[Dr. Pete]

Those were disasters. I'm simply glad that I never spent a dime on any of Koshick's events.

 

[Warthog]

I went to the Koshick fest in NJ in 2000... what a fucking disaster that was... 4 stages, but only 3 rooms... so there were 2 stages in one room, separated by a curtain.

HAHAHAHA, yeah I was there too, trying to watch Virgin Steele and Holocaust while Nocturnus were on the left stage drowning them out. Last shitfest of his I went to. This is why I'm so glad festivals like Progpower exist... proof that a metalfest can run a tightship and be a worthwhile venture for fans, artists, vendors, and promoters alike.

I heard Koshick was notorious for charging ricockulous prices for vendor tables too... $1000ish?

I have to take issue with the talk on Raven... the Gallagher bros are class dudes and put on a tight set every time I've seen 'em - even when Mark was in his wheelchair (and for that show, it was clear he'd spent his convalescence working on his shred because he was AMAZING). Hasselvander's a bit of a space cadet (not that I'm one to talk) but a genuinely nice guy and a great drummer. I'd go anywhere to see them. Give 'em another chance.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

I'm on the west coast and even I have heard about this Koshik assclown through blabbermouth and stories passed on by artists. Dude's famous for all the wrong reasons. Seriously, fuck him and people like him. Normally i wouldn't base an opinion just on rumor or someone else's personal feelings, but i've heard so much negative and absolutely no positive that i think it's safe to say this guy is a shitbag.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

It's safe.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

I just went back and read some of the stuff that Blackrose posted. I knew this guy was a douche, but fucking WOW! The thing that got me was this pic from the headliner last year:

I've never seen anything that pathetic. You really feel for the guys on stage