As several of you know, I posted about the possiblity of the return of the mystery band/performance the other night. I proceeded to delete it a few hours later without much explanation. Allow me to explain....
After a decade of doing this, I am a promoter first, fanboy second. That's the only way to survive in this business. That was backwards the other night. I have been wanting to pull something like this off for a while, but various factors always squashed it. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I knew I couldn't do it on my own though with the current budget already in place. I'm not raising ticket prices either. I circled back to the success of the mystery band donation last year that originally brought us Turisas. Their booking agent ended up fucking us over at the last minute, but that was not the point. You guys stepped up to the plate because you love the festival just as much as I do. I proceeded to post about the feedback and dance around the room with the wife because I thought I had a shot at it.
I deleted the post a few hours later before most had a chance to even read it.
Why? I got in touch with the booking agent that night and discovered there were some legitimate expenses involved that I had not anticipated. They were beyond what I felt comfortable doing based on donations and money out of my own pocket. Thus, I pulled the plug.
Fast forward to the next day....
A few close friends emailed me about the post that disappeared. I told them everything. They both got excited and offered to kick in to make it happen. It still wasn't enough though. I sent out a few more emails to a few hardcore fans that I knew I could trust. They didn't hesitate as well. Between those individuals, my own loss I could tolerate, the blessing of my wonderful wife, and my trust that the mystery band donation process would work, the fanboy in me roared back to life.
So here we are...
Update:
Goal has been reached so I have removed the paypal link. I'm not a greedy bastard. Please see current sticky post.
After a decade of doing this, I am a promoter first, fanboy second. That's the only way to survive in this business. That was backwards the other night. I have been wanting to pull something like this off for a while, but various factors always squashed it. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I knew I couldn't do it on my own though with the current budget already in place. I'm not raising ticket prices either. I circled back to the success of the mystery band donation last year that originally brought us Turisas. Their booking agent ended up fucking us over at the last minute, but that was not the point. You guys stepped up to the plate because you love the festival just as much as I do. I proceeded to post about the feedback and dance around the room with the wife because I thought I had a shot at it.
I deleted the post a few hours later before most had a chance to even read it.
Why? I got in touch with the booking agent that night and discovered there were some legitimate expenses involved that I had not anticipated. They were beyond what I felt comfortable doing based on donations and money out of my own pocket. Thus, I pulled the plug.
Fast forward to the next day....
A few close friends emailed me about the post that disappeared. I told them everything. They both got excited and offered to kick in to make it happen. It still wasn't enough though. I sent out a few more emails to a few hardcore fans that I knew I could trust. They didn't hesitate as well. Between those individuals, my own loss I could tolerate, the blessing of my wonderful wife, and my trust that the mystery band donation process would work, the fanboy in me roared back to life.
So here we are...
Update:
Goal has been reached so I have removed the paypal link. I'm not a greedy bastard. Please see current sticky post.
(credit Andy on that joke! 
