Glenn, thanks again, I know I told you in person along with 100s of others, but THANKS.
I think this year's experience was much better than last years.
Having some autographs in the downstairs area was the best thing that happened. Last year was a mob scene in the vendor area trying to get some signatures. All the bands should sign in there, it makes it easy for people to know that ALL the signings would be in one place. I know a lot of people mentioned that after last year here, myself included, and am glad it happened (for the most part).
My major complaint about the whole experience was the temperature Saturday night. It was unbelievably cold, so cold that we left 3 songs into Rage cause we couldn't stand it. One in our group got sick, and talking to others some other people weren't feeling too good because of it either. Forcing our group to buy LS t-shirts to put on in addition to what we were wearing is an evil marketing ploy by the vendors... have them spanked.
One minor complaint, GB people were being told that in order for us to do a re-entry we would have had to get back in the long line as the regular ticket holders were waiting to get in. A lot of people were upset with this because that's why we paid the extra moolah, to not have to wait in line. No one could understand why if you flash the GB to the door people you just couldnt go in one of the other doors, made no sense.
I thought all the bands that I saw were GREAT.
I didn't see Redemption.
Mercenary was incredible. The sound was perfect. They were everything that I was expecting them to be.
Vanden Plas was pretty cool, although the bass seemed to dominate the mix in their set. I found myself trying to listen too much to hear some guitar or vocals at times while they played. I only had 2 albums from them and was glad I knew a good portion of their set.
Nightwish.... ummm... performance of the festival. I DID miss the first 4 songs I think because I was too busy hanging out with Jon Oliva.. "Costa Rica" (those of you who were down there will know what that means, and I couldn't believe he yelled it out during C2C's set :Spin
. Meeting some of the guys in Nightwish at the pre-show was very cool, and getting to meet all the rest was great. I've never heard them live before and have only recently (about a year or so) been listening to them and was totally blown away.
Symphony X... too loud of a mix for my tastes comparing sounds to every other band. I only got to see the first 4-5 songs because I kept falling asleep - YES asleep. I was operating on about 6 hours sleep for the past 2 days and it all caught up with me, so I went back to the hotel for some much needed rest. The first part of the set I did see though, was GREAT. I can't wait for the chance to see them again.
Pagan's Mind I really enjoyed alot as well as Secret Sphere. Both had a great sound and I thought both were fantastic.
Circle II Circle... 2nd place after Nightwish for stealing the event. Where was Glenn on stage singing Chance???? heheheh
We all knew that they were gonna play some Savatage songs, but I would have never guessed Follow Me and Taunting Cobras at all. I can't wait to see them again in a couple weeks. !!!
Evergrey was pretty damn good too, first time I've seen them. I have all the albums and love every one of them but I think my opinion on their performance was distorted a bit after seeing C2C. They were great, don't get me wrong. Also by this tiume the arctic temperatures in the place had me shivering and turning blue.
Rage I really wanted to stay and see especially after wating the first 3 songs of thier set but it was too frickin cold in that place to stand it. the 1st three sounded great though and I'm mad that I couldn't stick it out to see the whole set.
---
As usual all the attendees that I met were extremely cool. The only person I met that posted on the forum though was the guy from C2C.
Glad to see the bartender back from last year (wink/nudge), hope to see her again next year as well as the girl that worked the private area at the Riveria, she made some of the best kamikazes I've ever had.
I think this year's experience was much better than last years.
Having some autographs in the downstairs area was the best thing that happened. Last year was a mob scene in the vendor area trying to get some signatures. All the bands should sign in there, it makes it easy for people to know that ALL the signings would be in one place. I know a lot of people mentioned that after last year here, myself included, and am glad it happened (for the most part).
My major complaint about the whole experience was the temperature Saturday night. It was unbelievably cold, so cold that we left 3 songs into Rage cause we couldn't stand it. One in our group got sick, and talking to others some other people weren't feeling too good because of it either. Forcing our group to buy LS t-shirts to put on in addition to what we were wearing is an evil marketing ploy by the vendors... have them spanked.
One minor complaint, GB people were being told that in order for us to do a re-entry we would have had to get back in the long line as the regular ticket holders were waiting to get in. A lot of people were upset with this because that's why we paid the extra moolah, to not have to wait in line. No one could understand why if you flash the GB to the door people you just couldnt go in one of the other doors, made no sense.
I thought all the bands that I saw were GREAT.
I didn't see Redemption.
Mercenary was incredible. The sound was perfect. They were everything that I was expecting them to be.
Vanden Plas was pretty cool, although the bass seemed to dominate the mix in their set. I found myself trying to listen too much to hear some guitar or vocals at times while they played. I only had 2 albums from them and was glad I knew a good portion of their set.
Nightwish.... ummm... performance of the festival. I DID miss the first 4 songs I think because I was too busy hanging out with Jon Oliva.. "Costa Rica" (those of you who were down there will know what that means, and I couldn't believe he yelled it out during C2C's set :Spin
. Meeting some of the guys in Nightwish at the pre-show was very cool, and getting to meet all the rest was great. I've never heard them live before and have only recently (about a year or so) been listening to them and was totally blown away.Symphony X... too loud of a mix for my tastes comparing sounds to every other band. I only got to see the first 4-5 songs because I kept falling asleep - YES asleep. I was operating on about 6 hours sleep for the past 2 days and it all caught up with me, so I went back to the hotel for some much needed rest. The first part of the set I did see though, was GREAT. I can't wait for the chance to see them again.
Pagan's Mind I really enjoyed alot as well as Secret Sphere. Both had a great sound and I thought both were fantastic.
Circle II Circle... 2nd place after Nightwish for stealing the event. Where was Glenn on stage singing Chance???? heheheh
We all knew that they were gonna play some Savatage songs, but I would have never guessed Follow Me and Taunting Cobras at all. I can't wait to see them again in a couple weeks. !!!Evergrey was pretty damn good too, first time I've seen them. I have all the albums and love every one of them but I think my opinion on their performance was distorted a bit after seeing C2C. They were great, don't get me wrong. Also by this tiume the arctic temperatures in the place had me shivering and turning blue.
Rage I really wanted to stay and see especially after wating the first 3 songs of thier set but it was too frickin cold in that place to stand it. the 1st three sounded great though and I'm mad that I couldn't stick it out to see the whole set.
---
As usual all the attendees that I met were extremely cool. The only person I met that posted on the forum though was the guy from C2C.
Glad to see the bartender back from last year (wink/nudge), hope to see her again next year as well as the girl that worked the private area at the Riveria, she made some of the best kamikazes I've ever had.
(joke) I was in a Ramones shirt, Evil Dead and a Night of the Living Dead shirt for the events. Although I did see someone in an Evil Dead hockey jersey ?!?! never saw one of those before.
It was simply an observation which was based on experience. Bring your friends, we need more exceptional death metal fans at the show! 
