The outsider opinion?

Harvester

The Promoter
Sep 16, 2001
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www.progpowerusa.com
What's the word *OUTSIDE* of this forum in terms of this year's roster vs. last year's roster. Let's limit responses to the actual question instead of comparisons of previous years or overall opinion of the festival in general. Your opinon doesn't count. :)

Thanks.
 
Nothing but good comments from MP.com so far, not that many people get into the discussions though, only the few that are in the know :Smug::)
 
What's the word *OUTSIDE* of this forum in terms of this year's roster vs. last year's roster. Let's limit responses to the actual question instead of comparisons of previous years or overall opinion of the festival in general. Your opinon doesn't count. :)

Thanks.

a good number of people on the Ozzfest forum like the lineup this year, and at least 5 people from that forum are coming to ProgPowerUSA this year.

Looks like I got beat to it, but I'm a member there to spread my love of metal to people who don't know the bands I love, so I thought to post about it.
 
Among the friends it's a mixed bag. Very few are going crazy for the lineup, and very few are saying it's a weak lineup. I guess that would average out to being solid.

All of these people are multiple Prog Power attendees. I think the excitement level among the friends ..on a whole .. was higher last year than this year. A couple have decided to skip this years festival, but the majority will still be in attendance.

The headliners don't have my friends all that excited, and really if you aren't into the headliners it's hard to get totally psyched about the festival. Personally I could care less about Sonata Arctica, but I dig After Forever.

Vanden Plas was probably the top draw for a lot of my friends, but they are technically not on the Prog Power bill. The other bands that are generating the most buzz are Threshold, Virgin Steele, and maybe Redemption I guess.

******

The three message boards I check out the most are PM:X2, Braveboard, and PM Rising. PM Rising still seems to get pretty excited about Prog Power, but the other two don't buzz much in regards to Prog Power. I haven't really been able to gauge whether those boards as a whole prefer this years lineup over last years.

Britt
 
The people I know who were at previous festivals who skipped VI will be there this year. Primal Fear has gotten their attention in a big way.
 
I guess part two of the question is:

Based on having six tickets remaining last year and your feelings *outside* of this forum this year comparing the two rosters, do you anticipate a sell-out this year?

Personally, I feel this roster is much stronger than last year in terms of name recognition, albums sales, debuts, and proven draw (including tour & previous appearances). Obviously, my financial investment dictates that I remain positive about things. I don't think the pace of tickets sold can be a true indicator of success any longer. There are simply too many options at the present compared to the past.
 
You're not really worried about this are you? I anticipate it will sell out and fairly quickly.


I will be honest and say that a single negative comment reads like 25 positive comments the closer the date gets to ticket sales. When you have such a huge financial stake in things, you cannot help but be a bit nervous until you reached the break even point in ticket sales.
 
Heard mostly good things on the outside. Some questions about the band orders/placements, but overall good things.

As for sell out. I think so. I honestly don't think that AF will pull any more than Jorn. Not saying that they won't have a great performance, but I don't think that they will pull any more to show. That said. They don't need to. People seem excited enough about the general lineup.

From what I can tell, comments about the weakness of the lineup are really all about taste, and not about a constructive criticism as if you are losing your mind for which bands are good.

Add oddly. I think that the showcase will -increase- the sell out time of the main show. Though it might have helped a bit last year too for any die hard Savatage/CIIC fans.
 
Meh. You're letting 6 tickets rattle your confidence. Even if it didn't sell out quickly, which I find doubtful, you could still generate more local interest closer to the date. A couple pairs of tickets as "prizes" to Rock 103.7 in Athens and Project 96.1 (formerly 96rock) would get the word out. This fest happens every year without a large part of the local metal community knowing about it.