Hello all,
It's time for me to take my annual sabbatical for a few months. I will continue to lurk and post every now and then. I ask that you understand that I cannot respond to every email sent to me. A few final comments:
1. Thanks to my crew. I am nothing without you. You make the engine work.
2. Thanks to my sponsors. I hope it was worth it for you this year and my wallet hopes it worth it for you next year.
3. As with every festival, I know there are problems and room for improvements. I do read every comment and try to fix things as best I can. I hope you understand that somethings are out of my control (such as the stair lights- venue, not me).
4. The sound complaints are basically a repeat of every year. In a FESTIVAL situation, you will never get a sound like you would at a regular tour show. We do change-overs in 30 minutes (save the headliners). Would you rather wait an extra hour between bands or have us adjust the sound as we go. That is what EVERY festival does. The difference is that I am indoors as compared to the normal festival situation outdoors. People get spoiled at times and expect the same sound as tour show where they had all day to perfect the sounds. I do as well. Also, what sucks to one person is fine to another. Location, mood, individual band members, preparation by bands for available backline and a multitude of factors influence it. Yes, my guy can simply miss it every now and then. However, I hired the same guy that mixes Wacken, Bang Your Head, and does sound for every major band in Europe. He goes out on tour with Helloween in just a few weeks. I can tell you that the bands at the show loved him and respected him completely. I will not respond to any follow-ups to this subject.
5. I may as well piss everyone off right now and give you a year's worth of advance warning. ALL DIGITAL CAMERAS ARE BANNED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. I simply cannot keep up with the technology. I was amazed at some of the shit. One guy had a recorder going straight to disc that was no bigger than the palm of my hand. I caught 17 bootleggers. That is triple the amount of any previous year. I annoyed at least another 20 that were innocent but their cameras were so advanced that you couldn't tell the difference. I would also expect that for every single person I caught, 5 got away with it. I'm so tired of having my hospitality taken advantage of. Regular flash photography will be the only thing allowed. Period. End of discussion and I will not change my mind. I will not respond to any follow-ups on this subject.
6. I will place order information on the website for the remaining DVDs within a week.
7. Conception ruled.
Take care and see you next year.
Glenn H.