ProgPower USA: Where the Magic Happens...

[Yippee38]

If it weren't for ProgPower USA I never would have met so many cool people that I now consider good friends.

 

[booB]

I just realized...ProgPower falls on my birthday this year. My birthday will be extra-awesome because I'll be at ProgPower. WOOHOO!!!

*getting my spanking hand ready*

 

[Andy Laudano]

I went to my first ProgPower (IV) just to see Circle II Circle. I was introduced to and became a fan of a bunch of other bands including being blown away by one band I didn't think I'd like, Nightwish. At the time I thought it was a little strange when a fan got onstage and hugged Tuomas during their set but didn't really give it too much thought. It was later on this forum when I learned the story of Marc Brueland. There's been a lot of special moments at this fest but that one was pure magic.

 

[mattbrood]

I've met some super-cool people thanks to ProgPower USA.

It's also pretty amazing that you can meet musicians who are just randomly wandering around. I've also found that you can really get a feel for a band/musician outside of the limelight based on how much they interact with fans off stage. I think HammerFall was pretty amazing in that they were CONSTANTLY wandering around the festival, watching other bands, hanging out with fans, and generally behaving like fans of metal, themselves.

I think ProgPower just provides a safe, intimate environment that makes the bands (and fans!) feel comfortable.

I feel the same way! I met so many cool people last year at my first ProgPower, that's why I'm hooked!!

 

[5150]

Agreed, there are some very special moments and when it works, its a once in a lifetime event. My favorites are:

Ark
Balance Of Power
Circus Maximus
Conception
Dreamscape (both shows)
Edguy (1 and half)
Gamma Ray (both shows)
Redemption (their last show)
Pagan's Mind (both shows)
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Jorn (the man has the golden touch along with a golden voice)

But just to add flavor to this post, what about those moments when things didn't go as planned or expected. Sometimes sad but many times funny.

Dan Swano (of Nightingale) singing with lyric sheets on a music stand and sitting on a bar stool. What was he thinking?
Ark - guitar problems throughout the set. But still pulled off a great show.
Jon Oliva's acoustic performance with the interuptions by a loud-mouth drunk fan.
Edguy's last performance - maybe I am getting too old or their music is getting stupid. But the cheese-rate on the songs with the bathroom humor was off the charts. Yet their first performance at PP remains a classic.
Rage - half the audience left the venue. Sadly I was one of those people that didn't stay. I won't make that mistake again.
Freak Kitchen - vibators and cell phones as musical items for entertainment. Funny as hell.
Threshold with Damien Wilson and the strippers. Made for a fun and enteraining show.
Vandan Plas - twice they cancelled. Luckily I did see the one time they performed. I am hoping the third time is the charm.
Midnight's solo performance.

 

[nailz]

Jon Oliva's acoustic performance with the interuptions by a loud-mouth drunk fan.

Now who could've THAT been? Hahaha!

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

Now who could've THAT been? Hahaha!

I have no idea

 

[5150]

Now who could've THAT been? Hahaha!

The same one afraid of sausages.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

The same one afraid of sausages.

dont remember that part, suppose thats to be expected

 

[AeonicSlumber]

I have always said that it is because of PP that we get power and prog tours in the US. If that 3rd year did not happen I think it would have been many years later for lots of the bands we see now to even get here. I think that was a benchmark year for metal in the states. It showed bands and people that metal is alive and people are here who want to see it. I honestly think that if that huge line up didnt happen...lots of bands would have taken longer to eventually get over here. Even though I have not been to the fest....I thank thee.

Yup.

 

[J-Man]

I went to my first ProgPower (IV) just to see Circle II Circle. I was introduced to and became a fan of a bunch of other bands including being blown away by one band I didn't think I'd like, Nightwish. At the time I thought it was a little strange when a fan got onstage and hugged Tuomas during their set but didn't really give it too much thought. It was later on this forum when I learned the story of Marc Brueland. There's been a lot of special moments at this fest but that one was pure magic.

Marc Brueland and Nightwish will always be one of the most special moments ever at PPUSA, just sad I didn't get to see it.

 

[Pellaz]

I went to my first ProgPower (IV) just to see Circle II Circle. I was introduced to and became a fan of a bunch of other bands including being blown away by one band I didn't think I'd like, Nightwish. At the time I thought it was a little strange when a fan got onstage and hugged Tuomas during their set but didn't really give it too much thought. It was later on this forum when I learned the story of Marc Brueland. There's been a lot of special moments at this fest but that one was pure magic.

This.

As one of Nightwish's two sponsors for that US debut performance, I'll never forget that night as long as I live. It remains one of the things of which I'm most proud in this life...helping to make Marc's dream come true.

 

[JenniferLynn]

Circus Maximus' 80s cover tunes Wednesday night

I don't know who enjoyed that more - us or them

PP is my yearly vacation and I go knowing full well I'll have the time of my life with great friends, hear great music, get intro'd to new music, make new friends and leave with severe sleep deprivation and a huge smile on my face..

 

[NVARAS]

Glenn... after a list like that, what's left to be done? (Just trying to pick your brain for clues...)

You should be proud indeed... many thanks!

 

[Orion Crystal Ice]

Well, this one will be my entry to the PP event, I missed the Rage/Nightwish bill because of things I couldn't control, haven't gotten to see Pagan's Mind, now Labyrinth is playing, no way could I not splurge. Certainly Glenn's done an amazing job. Looking forward to all the quicks and promotional opportunities. And meeting the spouse through the PP festival? Talk about a fantasy, how does that work.................

 

[PowerFreak]

This is a chosen family reunion. Family is, well, family. ProgPower family, is, well, people who share the same passion for music and metal that your day-to-day friends and family just don't get.

Highlights for me:
Announcing so many great bands
Tad Marose and Hurricane Urban, err, Ivan. Ivan was actually responsible for my first cell phone dieing from moisture. Work was pleased.
Brainstorm and Andy
Damian and the fetish stripper chick from the fetish art show in the Loft. Those heels were nuts as was the whole dealio. The uproar afterwards was even better. My kids saw that! Guess what, it's metal, and it was great to see, mostly because I'm a male and, therefore, a perv, but it was metal being metal.
Midnight at 6am, where we actually got to see the magic that Midnight could bring when sobriety happened, which was next to never.
Giving Devin Townsend my Make 7, Up Yours shirt. Sigh, I still wish I had it, but Devin loved it too. and he said the C U Next Tuesday word, which again, caused an uproar. LOL.

Mostly though, I have lifetime friends that PPUSA was/is responsible for.

Bonus... Voyager this year for reasons Glenn and Danny know.

Prost!

 

[Orion Crystal Ice]

I just read up on the Brueland story, very cool that something like that got to occur during the festival.

 

[BenMech]

If it weren't for ProgPower USA I never would have met so many cool people that I now consider good friends.

Sorry it took so long. Just wanna plus one to this point