What drew you to ProgPowerUSA the 1st time?

[TwizstedJesus]

The 1st time you decided to come to ProgPowerUSA, what drew you in?
I remember hearing Nightwish for the 1st time, bought 2 cd's at Media Play (Wishmaster & Century Child) and I was sitting in the car waiting for my wife to get out of Kohl's. Totally hooked on the band after a few spins!Later, I was surfing the internet searching for info on the band when I came across the ProgPower info. I asked my wife if she wanted to go to Atlanta since CircleIICircle were playing and she was infatuated by Zak, Symphony X and Evergrey were other selling points to me. She said, "sure" you buy the tickets and I'll go".

How many years later, and I can remember almost everything about that 1st time. The Pagan's Mind table and the incredible mindblowing show they put on. Secret Sphere and Ramon, the singer. He was so thrilled to be there, as was I. Redemption before they were the great band that they are. I can't remember who sang with them though. Mercenary ripping our faces off! I bought duplicates of 2 of their cd's to take back to a friend at home. Watching Michael Romeo play...so many great memories! The bartender!!! Yum!

Ok, back on topic. What brought you there? Any special memories from that 1st time?

 

[sccaldwell]

It was primarily three bands that drew a friend and I to PPUSA I in Chicago.

Pain of Salvation
Power of Omens
Zero Hour

Symphony X was also a draw (wasn't a big fan at the time)
I'd never heard of Evergrey before, but enjoyed their set a lot
Also enjoyed Reading Zero and Etheria's show.

I've been to all editions of PPUSA except for 2007 (brother's wedding), so too many memories to list, but tons of good ones!

Thanks, Glenn!!! (and, more recently, Jen!)

Craig

 

[Mardoch]

I found out about the fest via BraveWords when I was still a poor college student and I salivated at the prospect of going one day (for years this was the case).

In '08 when IE got booked with Barlow my buddy and I made it happen. So worth it. I remember going stupid in the vendor area, the great shows from S.U.E., Andromeda, and the awesome Riverside tuning exercise. Mustasch melting our faces off. JoP stomping on my melted off face. And the unforgettable IE set ending.

It's a no-compromise event for me now.

 

[AngraRULES]

Angra at PP3. Found out about the fest through Angra's website, when they announced the show. Then as a broke high school student at the time, I hopped on a Greyhound bus with 4 other friends and made it one of the most unforgettable weekends of all my life.

Never looked back since. Will be there until the end.

 

[TheLongshot]

Pain Of Salvation and Symphony X for PP1. At the time of the announcement, Symphony X had not played a US show, despite being a US band. So I teamed up with Glenn Fitzgerald (some of you know him as the T-Shirt guy.) to drive up to Chicago for the gig.

I actually wondered for a while how long I was going to do this, given the expense. It is why I was only a gold badge member for PP2 and gave it up when I wasn't sure if Glenn would deliver on bands I must see. All these years later, I've only missed 3 and I've been a Gold Badge since 10.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

The 1st time you decided to come to ProgPowerUSA, what drew you in?
I remember hearing Nightwish for the 1st time, bought 2 cd's at Media Play (Wishmaster & Century Child) and I was sitting in the car waiting for my wife to get out of Kohl's. Totally hooked on the band after a few spins!Later, I was surfing the internet searching for info on the band when I came across the ProgPower info. I asked my wife if she wanted to go to Atlanta since CircleIICircle were playing and she was infatuated by Zak, Symphony X and Evergrey were other selling points to me. She said, "sure" you buy the tickets and I'll go".

How many years later, and I can remember almost everything about that 1st time. The Pagan's Mind table and the incredible mindblowing show they put on. Secret Sphere and Ramon, the singer. He was so thrilled to be there, as was I. Redemption before they were the great band that they are. I can't remember who sang with them though. Mercenary ripping our faces off! I bought duplicates of 2 of their cd's to take back to a friend at home. Watching Michael Romeo play...so many great memories! The bartender!!! Yum!

Ok, back on topic. What brought you there? Any special memories from that 1st time?

Yep....this was my first PP as well....Nightwish and Symphony X were the main draws for me. I had a friend/co-worker who was into the same music as me, and since Tampa wasn't too long a drive to Atlanta, we thought that this might be our only chance to see some of these bands. I walked away really blown away with some of the other bands as well....VandenPlas, Evergrey, Rage, Pagan's Mind were all amazing.
Oh....and it was Corey Brown (Magnitude 9) who sang with Redemption.

 

[DarkOne]

Saw some info on one of the metal boards about some big names playing the USA for the first time. Blind Guardian. Gamma Ray. Wow.

Looked into some of the other bands. Angra. Edguy. Threshold. Wow.

I don't travel for festivals. I mentioned how amazing it was to my wife that all these bands were debuting, but wasn't planning on gong.

The fest used to be in Nov. Right around my birthday. The wife decided to send me for my bday that year.

That was PPIII. It was a one time thing.

14 years later, I haven't missed one since.

Steve in Philly

 

[adaher]

The first PP I heard about was PP2, when melodicrock.com reported on it. Right after PP2, Glenn was quoted as saying he was gonna get Blind Guardian next year. My thought was that that would really be something. He got them and quite a bit more too for PP3, which I still didn't go to for lack of funds. PP5 was when I finally made it, to see Edguy and Kamelot for the first time.

 

[Justin G]

It was first-hand reports from PPUSA II that convinced me to go to III (and kick myself for not going to II). The fact that III had an insanely amazing lineup didn't hurt.

And I haven't missed one since.

 

[eppst1]

I believe I saw an advertisement for PPII on-line or in a magazine somewhere (can't remember exactly). Been to everyone since then. Would have definitely went to the first one if I had known about it.

 

[General Zod]

For me (PP II), I was just getting back into the metal scene. I had been taking part in discussions on a newsgroup called rec.music.artists.queensryche. I believe the festival generated some talk amongst the group (Britt, Shaye, Bryant, Harley). That led me to check out a few of the bands (Ark, Evergrey, Kamelot, etc.), I liked what I head and decided to go. Luckily, Gold Badges were pretty easy to come by back then.

 

[Rezz]

Some friends tried to get me to go to III but Edguy was the big draw for me that year and a friend and I had just traveled to France to see them three times (Lyon, Paris & Lille) the previous November. I first attended at PPIV mostly after listening to them talk about what a great time they had at III. Nightwish was the biggest draw for me that year, but honestly I wasn't a huge fan until after I saw their set. I have missed a few fests since then (mostly due to having young children) but I have attended the majority of them. The friends who talked me into going have long since quit and that almost ended it for me, but I managed to find a new crew to hang out with, so hopefully I'll be going until the end.

 

[labrekk]

Pretty Maids.

Last year was my 3rd year in a row, hopefully this year will be the 4th...

 

[Soundscape]

curiosity to see Pain of Salvation in December of 2000. Ordering TPE and pretty much believing the $25 + travel/hotel/merch would be more than worth it, and it was.

 

[NVARAS]

PP III... that lineup was enough...

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Just the lineup for PP 1.0, Was looking forward to Nevermore., Evergrey, Jag Panzer and that turned into their first PPUSA fest cancellation, but they were replaced w/ Sy-X of whom I was a raging fanboi of (and still am). Sy-X, getting a chance to meet folks from the mailing lists, best fricken decision I ever made. The friends that I travelled with to 1.0 never came to Atlanta, and honestly, the fest experience grew by leaps and bounds in a (mostly) warmer, better locale environment.

Ask Pierpont about the weekend long party in our room. :Smokedev:

Soooooo much fun, and sooooo many memories and stories from that weekend....Like friend from Arizona afraid of the ice in the parking lot between the venue, the KMart, and the Red Roof Inn... So I had to drive it geezed, with the area being heavily patrolled by law enforcement....
From the beginning, its been all about the overall experience!

 

[TlalocFJCV]

I wanted to be at PP VIII but it was sold out when I tried to buy my ticket but next year I saw ELVENKING, IRON SAVIOR, ROB ROCK, ICED EARTH, AMORPHIS all on the bill at PP IX so I coud not wait to buy mi ticket and since then I have attended every year.

SEE YA AT PP XVI

FALCONER RULESSSS

 

[March Hare]

I had considered going in, I think it was in 07 when Helloween and Gamma Ray did the kick off show, but never went. Finally pulled the trigger when Pretty Maids came and have been every year since. And kick myself repeatedly for not coming down sooner.

 

[johnfrank1970]

A bunch of friends I had met through another metal forum regularly attended PPUSA. One of my real-life friends went to PPUSA III and had a blast. So I went to PPUSA IV, and my on-line friends became real-life friends. It is more of a social event for me, but I watch some of the bands on occasion.

 

[5150]

I am pretty sure it was Balance of Power and Symphony X that drew me to PPII. I believe BOP made reference to it on their website. So I mentioned it to a friend in a another state as a wild-hair idea ... and he bite. So the rest in history. Been going ever since with the exception of a European trip in 2010 that same month.