Why has no one attempted to organize a thrash fest in the US?

AngraRULES said:
:rolleyes: and then you wonder why I question you every time you give your sunlight-filled opinions on the business... No offense, but do you also tell your bands "Hey guys, let's release a CD, but don't play live shows as nobody is going to attend them. In fact, nobody's going to buy the albums either, but let's just go ahead and do it anyways..." ??

That being said, I agree with you if you're talking about the festivals that:

a) are stuck with bands from 20 something years ago that are completely irrelevant, save for the half dozen guys who like them.

b) small, DIY type of festivals with bands that are as obscure as a black hole and a bunch of high-school locals.

However, if you have the know-how, balls and a bit of a "CAN DO" attitude, it is doable. I think ProgPower, MDF, New England Metal & Hardcore Fest (to cite a few) have proven you wrong big time.
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One thing I love about this forum is how most of the people who speak up use Progpower and those bands as a representation of heavy metal in a whole.
But you are so right my bad.
 
J. Golden said:
Sure they are successful but there are more "attempts" at festivals that go unnoticed. But to be fair it is also all they are promoter or in most cases not promoted.
I had a couple of conversations with the guitarist from Anacrusis last year; he told me he had tried to contact Progpower but never heard anything back from anyone. If that were the case seems unfortunate because they are one of the few truely progressive metal bands in the U.S. and the bands range could have mass appeal.
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You mean there are some festivals that do very well...some that do ok....and some have more rats than people? That is surprising. Must be because the US sucks and nobody here likes metal.
 
Harvester said:
I never received any contact. Even if I have no interest in booking the band, I always reply and thank the band for their email. It's a matter of professional courtesy.
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I would think that you would reply. Still that is what I was told. Now he could have very well contacted someone else associated or saying they were, who knows.
 
J. Golden said:
One thing I love about this forum is how most of the people who speak up use Progpower and those bands as a representation of heavy metal in a whole.
But you are so right my bad.
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It surely is a good example of a success story in the CURRENT heavy metal scene in the country. I never implied that ProgPower is a representation of heavy metal in the United States. In fact, I can almost guarantee that my notion of heavy metal in the United States is actually broader than most people's, but that's besides the point.

Seriously, do you think I would be that stupid to think that heavy metal is ProgPower ONLY? Come on dude... I may not have been involved in the scene for as long as you, but I'm not a retard or a newbie in it either.

So back to the post...

Do you care to prove me wrong, preferably with examples?

Even if I chose not to use ProgPower... I also mentioned two other prime examples of successful festivals, that are NOT RELATED WHATSOEVER with the styles at ProgPower. Why did I do that? Simply to showcase a WIDER representation of heavy metal in a whole.

So.... ???
 
I'd guess it's because most of the 'big' thrash bands -- from Metallica to Kreator to Destruction to Overkill to Exodus -- tour the US all the time. Off the top of my head, the only band that's big enough to headline a festival that is kinda exclusive would be Sodom. Also, most of the festivals have some genre variation. MDF has never been only a death metal festival, ProgPower isn't only a power metal festival, Rites of Darkness isn't a black metal festival, etc. They all pull from other genres and always have. Just a thrash fest would kinda limit the pull.
 
johnfrank1970 said:
I was getting shit at the MDF forum for attending the fest for only four bands: Exhorder, Nuclear Assault, Voivod, and Coroner. What can I say - I am a huge fan of classic thrash.
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Mistake number 1: going on the MDF board saying you only went for the bands that everyone on there hate (they're mostly into hardcore, grind, and only oldschool or brutal dm). Those guys are mega assholes.

Mistake number 2: I really hope you didn't only SEE those four bands. Going to a fest with like 40 bands playing everything from oldschool classic 80's style heavy metal to powerviolence to punk/hardcore to black metal in addition to thrash. Kind've a waste of all that money no? :D

To each his own though!

But I'd think that nobody put an exclusively thrash festival on because there simply isn't a promoter who cares enough about doing a thrash festival to do it.
 
AeonicSlumber said:
Mistake number 1: going on the MDF board saying you only went for the bands that everyone on there hate (they're mostly into hardcore, grind, and only oldschool or brutal dm). Those guys are mega assholes.

Mistake number 2: I really hope you didn't only SEE those four bands. Going to a fest with like 40 bands playing everything from oldschool classic 80's style heavy metal to powerviolence to punk/hardcore to black metal in addition to thrash. Kind've a waste of all that money no? :D

To each his own though!

But I'd think that nobody put an exclusively thrash festival on because there simply isn't a promoter who cares enough about doing a thrash festival to do it.
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Mistake #1: True.

Mistake #2: Only saw those four. Not a waste of money at all. Had a blast. I have never been to a fest with greater than maybe a 33% hit-to-miss ratio for my tastes.

Yeah, I don't see a thrash fest happening in the US.
 
johnfrank1970 said:
Mistake #1: True.

Mistake #2: Only saw those four. Not a waste of money at all. Had a blast. I have never been to a fest with greater than maybe a 33% hit-to-miss ratio for my tastes.

Yeah, I don't see a thrash fest happening in the US.
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So you were at MDF for Saturday and Sunday only? When I was watching Exhorder and Nuclear Assault (the bands playing when the sun went down) I did think to myself how someone could still enjoy themselves without seeing the earlier bands if they're not into them. Actually for Sunday one of the guys in our room did the same thing. He didn't come out til like 6pm and rested up all day.
 
ratanda said:
So you were at MDF for Saturday and Sunday only? When I was watching Exhorder and Nuclear Assault (the bands playing when the sun went down) I did think to myself how someone could still enjoy themselves without seeing the earlier bands if they're not into them. Actually for Sunday one of the guys in our room did the same thing. He didn't come out til like 6pm and rested up all day.
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That still seems like a missed opportunity. Who knows, a potential new favorite could have played while that person was cooling his heels. Hell, Ghost's set alone would have been worth at least trying.
 
Justin Gaines said:
That still seems like a missed opportunity. Who knows, a potential new favorite could have played while that person was cooling his heels. Hell, Ghost's set alone would have been worth at least trying.
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exactly....when I went to a few of the Milwaukee Metal Fest....Jason insited on getting their later in the day....we ended up missing Twisted Tower Dire. But we did see lots of bands that later ended up liking. Why would anyone go just for a few bands...you are already there...just kick back and watch some bands.
 
ratanda said:
So you were at MDF for Saturday and Sunday only? When I was watching Exhorder and Nuclear Assault (the bands playing when the sun went down) I did think to myself how someone could still enjoy themselves without seeing the earlier bands if they're not into them. Actually for Sunday one of the guys in our room did the same thing. He didn't come out til like 6pm and rested up all day.
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We showed up on Friday evening because my friend wanted to see Neurosis, as they had impressed him in previous concerts. Said they had a cool stage show. He was not impressed with their performance, so we left after a few songs. I am not a fan, so I was more than willing to leave.

As far as not seeing other bands, I will copy and paste what I wrote on the MDF forum in response to that concern.

I watched only these four bands because they were the only bands that interested me. I came to MDF (my first) because of Coroner. No More Color is my favorite album of all time, and Punishment for Decadence is #5 on that list. Seeing three other classic bands I never saw back in the day was a nice bonus. I like Ghost's album and it would have been cool to see them, but I did not want to stay at the show that late.

I am a fan of all sorts of metal from hair metal to brutal death. I like very few traditional death bands though. I am a huge fan of complex death in all its forms, but standard goregrind does nothing for me at all. So I am not part of the main target audience for MDF. In past years, I wanted to see the few tech death bands playing (would have loved to see Gorod, for example), but the one or two bands I liked were not enough to get me to the fest. Coroner was a different story.

I spent most of my time hanging out with a good friend at his place in Philadelphia. We drove in for the show Saturday and Sunday night. I had a great time.

I do not care for hardcore, black metal, punk, and powerviolence. Actually, I do not even know what the powerviolence genre is. I love thrash, however, and I own hundreds of death metal albums. I am pretty on top of music I enjoy - I bought over 200 albums in 2010. I did not see any thrash (other than those I mentioned) or death bands I liked in the roster. I do not find the live environment to be a very good way to try bands out or find out about new bands. I constantly seek out new bands on-line. I find that to be a more efficient and useful expenditure of my time.
 
johnfrank1970 said:
We showed up on Friday evening because my friend wanted to see Neurosis, as they had impressed him in previous concerts. Said they had a cool stage show. He was not impressed with their performance, so we left after a few songs. I am not a fan, so I was more than willing to leave.

As far as not seeing other bands, I will copy and paste what I wrote on the MDF forum in response to that concern.

I watched only these four bands because they were the only bands that interested me. I came to MDF (my first) because of Coroner. No More Color is my favorite album of all time, and Punishment for Decadence is #5 on that list. Seeing three other classic bands I never saw back in the day was a nice bonus. I like Ghost's album and it would have been cool to see them, but I did not want to stay at the show that late.

I am a fan of all sorts of metal from hair metal to brutal death. I like very few traditional death bands though. I am a huge fan of complex death in all its forms, but standard goregrind does nothing for me at all. So I am not part of the main target audience for MDF. In past years, I wanted to see the few tech death bands playing (would have loved to see Gorod, for example), but the one or two bands I liked were not enough to get me to the fest. Coroner was a different story.

I spent most of my time hanging out with a good friend at his place in Philadelphia. We drove in for the show Saturday and Sunday night. I had a great time.

I do not care for hardcore, black metal, punk, and powerviolence. Actually, I do not even know what the powerviolence genre is. I love thrash, however, and I own hundreds of death metal albums. I am pretty on top of music I enjoy - I bought over 200 albums in 2010. I did not see any thrash (other than those I mentioned) or death bands I liked in the roster. I do not find the live environment to be a very good way to try bands out or find out about new bands. I constantly seek out new bands on-line. I find that to be a more efficient and useful expenditure of my time.
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Whatever works for you. I keep coming back to all of the bands over the years at PPUSA that I was either unfamiliar with or thought I knew all I needed to know about that totally won me over when I saw them live.
 
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