I just got back from 3 days of music in Mokena, IL. I will be writing a review for each night and band later. But for now I am going to review the event as a whole.
Paganfest is a seperate entity than the Powerfest and did a good job lining up bands with complementary styles and for the most part, scheduling the lineup in a way that it flowed well. Powerfest on the other hand, while having many good bands, also threw in some real trash and styles that didnt mesh with the headlining style. Still was a great program over all though...
Now to the venue...The Pearl Room... This is a great place for small concerts. Wonderful setup with lots of room on the floor for a pit, as well as overhead walkways that are great to stay out of the crowd, offer great views, and are good for pictures. Other than that, the place sucked. Thurs. and Fri, they had ONE fucking bathroom per gender open for SOLD OUT crowds...The lines were horrible, finally Sat. They opened a SECOND bathroom when the crowd was complaining about hour long lines to take a piss. There was food and drinks, but at a crazy price. We know you are trying to make money, but balance it out...$3 for a $.50 bottle of water...come on. You could sell more if you lowered it a little, lots of ppl went without or with minimal because of the prices.
All of this wasnt bad in comparison to the security. These guys were ridiculous. If ppl started moshing, the guards would stand around and try to contain it by shoving and throwing ppl that got close to what the security felt should be the edge of the pit. In many cases, the security guards were rougher on ppl than the pit itself was. Then there were the body surfers. Someone would get lifed up (maybe not by choice) and start their journey across the crowd. As soon as one of the gorrila's they call security would see it, they would shove and run towards the person, knocking down anyone and everyone on the densly packed floor that stood between them and the surfer. Upon reaching the crowd surfer the security would reach up and yank them down to the floor, usually holding onto a foot and allowing the surfers head to smack against the concrete...Yes there is a "no crowd surfing" rule, but this is for safety since crowd surfing can result in injury, but the only injuries cause by it at this show were the ones the security caused in trying to stop it.
At the end of the show, some ppl would hang around at the back of the venue where the bands would come out. You naturally have to walk past it in order to get to parking anyway. Each night fans would stand back there and hang out with some of the bands and talk, show their appreciation, and get autographs. Not all bands came out, but a few did, and those that did enjoyed spending time with their fans (Thanks Ion Vein) Eventually, the security that works WITH THE BANDS would come out and say something along the lines of "we dont know when xxxx (headliner band) will be out, but you guys are more than welcome to wait out here for them, they would like to meet their fans" then shortly after, the security that caused all the problems on the floor would come around and tell everyone they had to leave. Saturday night, they went as far as calling the cops to clear out the fans who wanted nothing more than to show their appreciation AND had already been told they were more than welcome to stay out there and wait for the bands...
Overall, I loved the show, I just hope that next time they find a better venue. THE PEARL ROOM SUCKS...not only that but, the place has a legal capacity of 1400 and fri. and sat. nights it was double that and more....
In the last few days since returning home from Powerfest, I have been in contact with several of the bands (from all 3 nights of shows) and quite a few of them have expressed their displeasure of the Pearl Room security and the fact that they didnt get to meet fans after the show. If this continues, it wont just be lack of fans, but lack of bands willing to play there that will make it hard for Powerfest to be as great as it has the potential to be.
My reviews of the bands will come later...
Paganfest is a seperate entity than the Powerfest and did a good job lining up bands with complementary styles and for the most part, scheduling the lineup in a way that it flowed well. Powerfest on the other hand, while having many good bands, also threw in some real trash and styles that didnt mesh with the headlining style. Still was a great program over all though...
Now to the venue...The Pearl Room... This is a great place for small concerts. Wonderful setup with lots of room on the floor for a pit, as well as overhead walkways that are great to stay out of the crowd, offer great views, and are good for pictures. Other than that, the place sucked. Thurs. and Fri, they had ONE fucking bathroom per gender open for SOLD OUT crowds...The lines were horrible, finally Sat. They opened a SECOND bathroom when the crowd was complaining about hour long lines to take a piss. There was food and drinks, but at a crazy price. We know you are trying to make money, but balance it out...$3 for a $.50 bottle of water...come on. You could sell more if you lowered it a little, lots of ppl went without or with minimal because of the prices.
All of this wasnt bad in comparison to the security. These guys were ridiculous. If ppl started moshing, the guards would stand around and try to contain it by shoving and throwing ppl that got close to what the security felt should be the edge of the pit. In many cases, the security guards were rougher on ppl than the pit itself was. Then there were the body surfers. Someone would get lifed up (maybe not by choice) and start their journey across the crowd. As soon as one of the gorrila's they call security would see it, they would shove and run towards the person, knocking down anyone and everyone on the densly packed floor that stood between them and the surfer. Upon reaching the crowd surfer the security would reach up and yank them down to the floor, usually holding onto a foot and allowing the surfers head to smack against the concrete...Yes there is a "no crowd surfing" rule, but this is for safety since crowd surfing can result in injury, but the only injuries cause by it at this show were the ones the security caused in trying to stop it.
At the end of the show, some ppl would hang around at the back of the venue where the bands would come out. You naturally have to walk past it in order to get to parking anyway. Each night fans would stand back there and hang out with some of the bands and talk, show their appreciation, and get autographs. Not all bands came out, but a few did, and those that did enjoyed spending time with their fans (Thanks Ion Vein) Eventually, the security that works WITH THE BANDS would come out and say something along the lines of "we dont know when xxxx (headliner band) will be out, but you guys are more than welcome to wait out here for them, they would like to meet their fans" then shortly after, the security that caused all the problems on the floor would come around and tell everyone they had to leave. Saturday night, they went as far as calling the cops to clear out the fans who wanted nothing more than to show their appreciation AND had already been told they were more than welcome to stay out there and wait for the bands...
Overall, I loved the show, I just hope that next time they find a better venue. THE PEARL ROOM SUCKS...not only that but, the place has a legal capacity of 1400 and fri. and sat. nights it was double that and more....
In the last few days since returning home from Powerfest, I have been in contact with several of the bands (from all 3 nights of shows) and quite a few of them have expressed their displeasure of the Pearl Room security and the fact that they didnt get to meet fans after the show. If this continues, it wont just be lack of fans, but lack of bands willing to play there that will make it hard for Powerfest to be as great as it has the potential to be.
My reviews of the bands will come later...
