This year was by far the most challenging for me in terms of roster selection. I wanted to change my strategy up and not book the obvious headliner with lesser unknowns in the opening/second slots. I wanted to balance the roster from start to finish. I relied heavily on forum suggestions this year more so than in the past. While I’m a happy with the results, it obviously did not go over as well as I had hoped because the show is not sold out yet. Whether that is the result of the overall roster or the Neveragain fiasco, I do not know. I do think that negated the quick sell-out though. I’ll go into more details further down on how that really effected me.
The first thing I had to address was “repeats.” With only one repeat last year, I felt comfortable possibly bringing back a few bands. When I look to do this, I first try to look at the lower slots that went over huge in the past. I try to factor that in with the band’s current status that revolves heavily around any new release. Evergrey was my first choice as they have never headlined the fest. Shocker eh? I knew that I was going to catch shit for booking them *again* and guess what, so what? They are the house band, my favorite band, and the band and the fest has grown together. They have not been here since 2003 and will have released two studio albums plus a live dvd since their last performance. That said, I knew it wasn’t going to be enough shut up some of the bitching. Thus, the idea was born to recreate the magic of the dvd with the choir and string quartet for part of their performance. It honestly didn’t take much persuasion as the band wants to be here just as much as they want to be on stage at Wacken in front of 40,000 people. It’s home.
The other band that came to mind quickly was Mercenary. They had a new album coming out this year, shocked the crowd last time as an unknown, and had the “heavy factor” working for them (as I always try to book at least one). With the new strategy of balanced booking, I went with another controversial choice and booked them in a fourth slot. As well as Orphaned Land and Therion went over in 60-90 minute sets, I see no problem with Mercenary doing 75 minutes of ass-stompin’ music. Two down, eight to go……
Things got tricky here. I traditionally look to book a big power band in one headline slot and was going to do the same this year. However, I was less enthusiastic about it than in the past. I really wanted to mix the formula up to keep things from getting stale. Plus, at some point I needed to take the risk and see how the festival sold based on the festival name just as much as the headliner that pulls in the guy/gal that normally could care less about the rest of the roster.
Helloween was my first choice. The timing was right and they were the only big name that I hadn’t had booked that I wanted. I contacted them and they were very slow to respond because they didn’t know their schedule for North America. I stayed after them for two months and they still could not commit. Reluctantly, I had to move on. The funny thing is that they contacted me in February saying they wanted to do the fest. It was perfect timing because Nevermore had just bailed on me again. I spoke to their booking agent and learned they were going to do the Brave Words fest in October in Montreal (Hey Gromen, I can keep a secret eh!) as well as build a North American tour around that date in October. However, they were going to have to treat PP as a one-off because it was earlier than they wanted and it drove the price through the roof. Pass.
I then did what I swore I wouldn’t do again. I went after Within Temptation. For those that don’t know, they had blown me off for two consecutive years. They either never responded or never got back to me once I did get through to someone. This year, I sent a detailed proposal and got a very positive response from the manager. I had a chance! I waited a few weeks and emailed them again. Silence. I emailed again a week later. Silence. Fuck it. I don’t care who you are, you either show me simple courtesy or I move on. I can honestly say that I do not believe that I will ever book Within Temptation unless they come to me first.
Gamma Ray was an option looked at early on as well. However, they had booked the New England Fest about the same time and were looking at a North American tour as well. There was no way to know the extent of that tour at the time, so I declined that as well. I wanted Sonata Arctica this year also. Once again, I was bitten by the tour bug. If they would have done a limited tour, then I was still going to book them. However, they played everyfuckingwhere and I backed off again. Rhapsody was an option, but I’ll be honest and say that dealing with their management based on reputation alone gave me pause. Guardian was doing their own thing so they were out. Iced Earth is on hiatus. There were a couple of more good power bands out there that I do want, but they just aren’t at a headline status yet and that hurt them. As for Dragonforce, who the fuck knew they would blow up like they did? Not me.
I also need to include the hardest decision I had this year although it didn’t involve the headliner. Repeats are always hell to do because *EVERYONE* (ok..maybe not Rage or Devin), wants to come back. It’s tough to say “no” from a professional standpoint as my personal relations with the bands have the potential to be effected. The hardest thing I had to do was exclude Redemption this year. They released one of the best discs of the year last year and they fit the criteria perfectly. The problem was that when you book too many repeats, people start to bitch and I did fear a backlash. Also, I had a problem with the slotting. This was their first disc with Ray so they deserved to be bumped up. However, it’s hard to bump a band up to a slot like the third slot without a larger discography. The competition is too tough. Let me say that Redemption is on my want list for next year provided the new disc doesn’t suck.
I won’t say that I got desperate, but I really had to start thinking outside the box for a headliner at this point. The idea to book Nevermore came from simply looking at my cd shelf and seeing who had the most discs that I hadn’t booked that I loved. My history of bad blood with them goes back to their former booking agent, not directly with the band. Thus, I had no real hesitation to book them based on that. I discussed it with my inner circle and they idea began to get momentum. To my knowledge, they had not done a huge headline set other than a few one-offs over the past few years in the States, and even then the sets concentrated on the new material. I wanted them to go old-school, but I never tried to nail them down with specifics. I told them what the idea was and they confirmed within a week. As the weeks went on, I really thought about trying to get them to do something special. I offered them more money if they did a special “Dreaming Neon Black” set. I’m not talking about doing the song, but the entire album ala Mindcrime. I even went ahead and confirmed Simone for the female vocals on the title track if they would do it. This was never confirmed by Nevermore before they pulled out. I can’t help but wonder how huge that would have went over.
After the headline situation was settled, I looked to the rest of the roster. I will fill you in based on slots, not timeline in terms of discussions.
Pyramaze was a band that I really wanted. They had good crossover appeal to both prog and power circles. Lance also went over well at PPII and really worked the crowd. Little did I know how popular the choice would prove to be and this was before the second album was even released. This goes to show that perception is always different and sometimes you cannot figure things out no matter how hard you try. I then looked to Sensory Records for Wastefall. I make no apology for booking one of Ken’s bands every year because he releases quality stuff. I had heard “Soulrain 21” a long time ago and really loved it. I actually attempted to contact them prior to them signing with Sensory. It worked out perfectly without me even knowing it.
Savage Circus was another on the want list as the buzz was really good for them at the time of the release. I needed a good power band in a lower slot and having the Blind Guardian fans behind the band made this a no-brainer. Easy booking. Vision Divine was a forum selection. They were not #1 on everyone’s list, but they were on everyone’s list. That says a lot. Olaf had actually contacted two years earlier about the fest and I had turned them down. However, he stayed in touch was totally professional about things. I always remember bands like that and it does make a difference for them in the future.
That leads me to Epica. I wanted a female vocalist band. I had three personal choices after getting the cold shoulder from Within Temptation: After Forever, Epica, and Delight. Delight was crossed off the list early because it is damn near impossible to get a visa from Poland. I did contact After Forever and they were interested. However, I never made a specific offer once I heard back from Epica. That may hurt my relation with them in the future, but they had done the same to me last year. Mark Jansen of Epica had contacted me two years earlier about the festival and I turned him down. However, he was so nice about it and tried again the next year. I turned him down again. The third time was the charm. For the record, I knew full well that they would tour with Kamelot given the opportunity of being in the States. I spoke to Youngblood about it in advance of confirming the band. Some will ask why I gave them a fourth slot. My rationale is that I believe they are on the verge of breaking it big and it would really help diversify the roster in terms of slotting.
The middle slots are the toughest to fill based on reputation. This is always the slot where a band decides to make a name for themselves as a future headliner: Angel Dust at II, Edguy at III, Circle II Circle at IV, Brainstorm & Tad Morose at V, and Orphaned Land at VI. I had several options and decided to roll the dice. I love Thunderstone and I needed a more traditional power band. I realize that at the time, not too many people had heard them. However, “Tools of Destruction” totally kicked my ass and received approval from the inner circle while sitting around the fire drinking beer at a cabin last fall. After doing a bit of research, I found that they have an excellent reputation as a live act. Two plus two equal four as *I* wanted to see them. Freak Kitchen got the spot because I need to prog up the lineup and folks had been hollering for them for several years. I’ll be honest and say that I was not that familiar with them until last year. Once I did check them out, I laughed. They were a fun band and that guitarist was unreal. I needed an “oddball” and I didn’t think I could get any more odd than that. Confirmed.
I was done. Time passed and the lineup was announced. It goes over as expected: some bitching, some ecstatic, and other “meh.” I was happy though. And then D-Day (as in Disturbed hit). Nevermore pulls out so they can do the European tour with Disturbed. I honestly cannot blame them at all from a business standpoint as it would be stupid to pass that up. That said, I was still pissed based on previous circumstances with them. Will I book them again the future. I honestly doubt it. Do I think they give a fuck? Not one damn bit. Life goes on….
The scramble was on. Replacement ideas were few and far between. Masterplan was a thought, but I really wanted a third album from them so I can put them in a true headline slot. Sometimes, you have to show patience instead of booking a band early regardless of popularity or you start repeating yourself later on. That did lead to me to the Jorn thought, but I didn’t think his solo stuff would be appropriate for a headliner slot. However, once I spoke to a friend of mine who is actually good friends with Jorn, the idea of a special set was born. If he would do that, then I would roll the dice and give him the opportunity to prove himself that he would not get anywhere else in the world. Without too much discussion, he agreed. After getting an idea of the setlist, I really got excited. Jorn confirmed.
I am undoubtedly leaving out some details that I may have mentioned earlier on the forum in various threads. It happens. I also do not anticipate that some of you will agree with my rationales on the band selection. I say to you that I understand. It’s a burden that I shoulder alone and stake my financial security on. Thankfully, it has worked out well this year.
Glenn H.
The first thing I had to address was “repeats.” With only one repeat last year, I felt comfortable possibly bringing back a few bands. When I look to do this, I first try to look at the lower slots that went over huge in the past. I try to factor that in with the band’s current status that revolves heavily around any new release. Evergrey was my first choice as they have never headlined the fest. Shocker eh? I knew that I was going to catch shit for booking them *again* and guess what, so what? They are the house band, my favorite band, and the band and the fest has grown together. They have not been here since 2003 and will have released two studio albums plus a live dvd since their last performance. That said, I knew it wasn’t going to be enough shut up some of the bitching. Thus, the idea was born to recreate the magic of the dvd with the choir and string quartet for part of their performance. It honestly didn’t take much persuasion as the band wants to be here just as much as they want to be on stage at Wacken in front of 40,000 people. It’s home.
The other band that came to mind quickly was Mercenary. They had a new album coming out this year, shocked the crowd last time as an unknown, and had the “heavy factor” working for them (as I always try to book at least one). With the new strategy of balanced booking, I went with another controversial choice and booked them in a fourth slot. As well as Orphaned Land and Therion went over in 60-90 minute sets, I see no problem with Mercenary doing 75 minutes of ass-stompin’ music. Two down, eight to go……
Things got tricky here. I traditionally look to book a big power band in one headline slot and was going to do the same this year. However, I was less enthusiastic about it than in the past. I really wanted to mix the formula up to keep things from getting stale. Plus, at some point I needed to take the risk and see how the festival sold based on the festival name just as much as the headliner that pulls in the guy/gal that normally could care less about the rest of the roster.
Helloween was my first choice. The timing was right and they were the only big name that I hadn’t had booked that I wanted. I contacted them and they were very slow to respond because they didn’t know their schedule for North America. I stayed after them for two months and they still could not commit. Reluctantly, I had to move on. The funny thing is that they contacted me in February saying they wanted to do the fest. It was perfect timing because Nevermore had just bailed on me again. I spoke to their booking agent and learned they were going to do the Brave Words fest in October in Montreal (Hey Gromen, I can keep a secret eh!) as well as build a North American tour around that date in October. However, they were going to have to treat PP as a one-off because it was earlier than they wanted and it drove the price through the roof. Pass.
I then did what I swore I wouldn’t do again. I went after Within Temptation. For those that don’t know, they had blown me off for two consecutive years. They either never responded or never got back to me once I did get through to someone. This year, I sent a detailed proposal and got a very positive response from the manager. I had a chance! I waited a few weeks and emailed them again. Silence. I emailed again a week later. Silence. Fuck it. I don’t care who you are, you either show me simple courtesy or I move on. I can honestly say that I do not believe that I will ever book Within Temptation unless they come to me first.
Gamma Ray was an option looked at early on as well. However, they had booked the New England Fest about the same time and were looking at a North American tour as well. There was no way to know the extent of that tour at the time, so I declined that as well. I wanted Sonata Arctica this year also. Once again, I was bitten by the tour bug. If they would have done a limited tour, then I was still going to book them. However, they played everyfuckingwhere and I backed off again. Rhapsody was an option, but I’ll be honest and say that dealing with their management based on reputation alone gave me pause. Guardian was doing their own thing so they were out. Iced Earth is on hiatus. There were a couple of more good power bands out there that I do want, but they just aren’t at a headline status yet and that hurt them. As for Dragonforce, who the fuck knew they would blow up like they did? Not me.
I also need to include the hardest decision I had this year although it didn’t involve the headliner. Repeats are always hell to do because *EVERYONE* (ok..maybe not Rage or Devin), wants to come back. It’s tough to say “no” from a professional standpoint as my personal relations with the bands have the potential to be effected. The hardest thing I had to do was exclude Redemption this year. They released one of the best discs of the year last year and they fit the criteria perfectly. The problem was that when you book too many repeats, people start to bitch and I did fear a backlash. Also, I had a problem with the slotting. This was their first disc with Ray so they deserved to be bumped up. However, it’s hard to bump a band up to a slot like the third slot without a larger discography. The competition is too tough. Let me say that Redemption is on my want list for next year provided the new disc doesn’t suck.
I won’t say that I got desperate, but I really had to start thinking outside the box for a headliner at this point. The idea to book Nevermore came from simply looking at my cd shelf and seeing who had the most discs that I hadn’t booked that I loved. My history of bad blood with them goes back to their former booking agent, not directly with the band. Thus, I had no real hesitation to book them based on that. I discussed it with my inner circle and they idea began to get momentum. To my knowledge, they had not done a huge headline set other than a few one-offs over the past few years in the States, and even then the sets concentrated on the new material. I wanted them to go old-school, but I never tried to nail them down with specifics. I told them what the idea was and they confirmed within a week. As the weeks went on, I really thought about trying to get them to do something special. I offered them more money if they did a special “Dreaming Neon Black” set. I’m not talking about doing the song, but the entire album ala Mindcrime. I even went ahead and confirmed Simone for the female vocals on the title track if they would do it. This was never confirmed by Nevermore before they pulled out. I can’t help but wonder how huge that would have went over.
After the headline situation was settled, I looked to the rest of the roster. I will fill you in based on slots, not timeline in terms of discussions.
Pyramaze was a band that I really wanted. They had good crossover appeal to both prog and power circles. Lance also went over well at PPII and really worked the crowd. Little did I know how popular the choice would prove to be and this was before the second album was even released. This goes to show that perception is always different and sometimes you cannot figure things out no matter how hard you try. I then looked to Sensory Records for Wastefall. I make no apology for booking one of Ken’s bands every year because he releases quality stuff. I had heard “Soulrain 21” a long time ago and really loved it. I actually attempted to contact them prior to them signing with Sensory. It worked out perfectly without me even knowing it.
Savage Circus was another on the want list as the buzz was really good for them at the time of the release. I needed a good power band in a lower slot and having the Blind Guardian fans behind the band made this a no-brainer. Easy booking. Vision Divine was a forum selection. They were not #1 on everyone’s list, but they were on everyone’s list. That says a lot. Olaf had actually contacted two years earlier about the fest and I had turned them down. However, he stayed in touch was totally professional about things. I always remember bands like that and it does make a difference for them in the future.
That leads me to Epica. I wanted a female vocalist band. I had three personal choices after getting the cold shoulder from Within Temptation: After Forever, Epica, and Delight. Delight was crossed off the list early because it is damn near impossible to get a visa from Poland. I did contact After Forever and they were interested. However, I never made a specific offer once I heard back from Epica. That may hurt my relation with them in the future, but they had done the same to me last year. Mark Jansen of Epica had contacted me two years earlier about the festival and I turned him down. However, he was so nice about it and tried again the next year. I turned him down again. The third time was the charm. For the record, I knew full well that they would tour with Kamelot given the opportunity of being in the States. I spoke to Youngblood about it in advance of confirming the band. Some will ask why I gave them a fourth slot. My rationale is that I believe they are on the verge of breaking it big and it would really help diversify the roster in terms of slotting.
The middle slots are the toughest to fill based on reputation. This is always the slot where a band decides to make a name for themselves as a future headliner: Angel Dust at II, Edguy at III, Circle II Circle at IV, Brainstorm & Tad Morose at V, and Orphaned Land at VI. I had several options and decided to roll the dice. I love Thunderstone and I needed a more traditional power band. I realize that at the time, not too many people had heard them. However, “Tools of Destruction” totally kicked my ass and received approval from the inner circle while sitting around the fire drinking beer at a cabin last fall. After doing a bit of research, I found that they have an excellent reputation as a live act. Two plus two equal four as *I* wanted to see them. Freak Kitchen got the spot because I need to prog up the lineup and folks had been hollering for them for several years. I’ll be honest and say that I was not that familiar with them until last year. Once I did check them out, I laughed. They were a fun band and that guitarist was unreal. I needed an “oddball” and I didn’t think I could get any more odd than that. Confirmed.
I was done. Time passed and the lineup was announced. It goes over as expected: some bitching, some ecstatic, and other “meh.” I was happy though. And then D-Day (as in Disturbed hit). Nevermore pulls out so they can do the European tour with Disturbed. I honestly cannot blame them at all from a business standpoint as it would be stupid to pass that up. That said, I was still pissed based on previous circumstances with them. Will I book them again the future. I honestly doubt it. Do I think they give a fuck? Not one damn bit. Life goes on….
The scramble was on. Replacement ideas were few and far between. Masterplan was a thought, but I really wanted a third album from them so I can put them in a true headline slot. Sometimes, you have to show patience instead of booking a band early regardless of popularity or you start repeating yourself later on. That did lead to me to the Jorn thought, but I didn’t think his solo stuff would be appropriate for a headliner slot. However, once I spoke to a friend of mine who is actually good friends with Jorn, the idea of a special set was born. If he would do that, then I would roll the dice and give him the opportunity to prove himself that he would not get anywhere else in the world. Without too much discussion, he agreed. After getting an idea of the setlist, I really got excited. Jorn confirmed.
I am undoubtedly leaving out some details that I may have mentioned earlier on the forum in various threads. It happens. I also do not anticipate that some of you will agree with my rationales on the band selection. I say to you that I understand. It’s a burden that I shoulder alone and stake my financial security on. Thankfully, it has worked out well this year.
Glenn H.
