ProgPower USA XII Roster Discussion

Well, there's all sorts of comments floating around about this band or the next...but all I gotta say is ProgPowerUSA rocks no matter who's playing, sure I've got my favorites and some more than others, but Glenn has provided more glorious memories than I can count and given his track record, as far as I'm concerned PPUSA has been, is, and always will be an annual pilgrimage no matter what, finance and business obligations extant...so, say what you will, all I gotta say is...thank you again Glenn (and yes, Jen too!) for yet again another precious opportunity to celebrate the best and most interesting progressive and power metal from all over the globe performing today. Rock On as long as we all can together and forever.

 

He has the mind of a frigging Promoter Genius, but have you noticed Milton, no matter what he does there is always some nay-sayers, in the past it has been, "too much Prog" or "to much Power", gues the old saying is true, "you can't please all the people all the time". I too only got 2 right, and that sucks, I remember the first year they did the video, there was no contest, but a guess the line-up post and if i remember correctly I got like 9 right, but those days are gone, my mind drawsa more blanks than ever before.

 

Yes I do, and I don't want to ba anywhere near you and Brent durning that set.

It is so much fun to read the remarks everyone has posted, but the one that gets me is the "IF it ain't broke don't fix it" Glenn is not fixing a proven formula he is just adding more avaiable options. As he has said in the past, with all the big name bands touring regularly it is hard to get a line-up that is withing budget and will conform to his proven formula. With that said, also his loyal fanbase will come, though it has taken a hit over the past years, not because of line-ups, but because of life, changes in people's lives are keeping some away, case in point Milton who has been to damn near all of them missed this year because of a life changing event in his life, but he will be back next year, and with someone new in tow. I personnaly love this line-up and am famailar with all bands, and think it is the most diverse and appeal to all lineup every. So before you complain, Remember FREK KITCHEN, most everyone complained and what happened? Crowd favorite. Just my $.02 worth.

 

Just out of curiosity, why did anyone think that? I know people speculate about it and campaign for it, but was there some reason to expect it this year?

I know exactly what you're saying and I'm not at all trying to give you crap. However, I can't help but find the phrase "traditional prog" somewhat amusing. That said, hopefully we get Vanden Plas at the Thursday night show.

The line up I was least familiar with, at time of announcement, was PPII. To this today it remains my favorite.

Care to place a wager?

 

Stupidly and I hate to admit to falling for it as well, people thought that based only on the fact that Glenn came to Chicago, had his picture taken with James at the Maiden show.

 

Glenn keeps his cards pretty close to his chest. The fact that Labrie was so blatantly telegraphed told me that he was not going to be in the lineup this year.

Zod, I'll consider a wager: 100 unsold assuming a decent year economically. 250 unsold if the economy is still in the stinker. Unless I'm vastly underestimating the draw of Arcturus, since I admittedly don't know much about them, this one isn't selling out.

As for how to pay the wager, we'll have to discuss that. I won't be there this year, but maybe we can discuss something for PPXIII. Like if I don't like the lineup I buy you a ticket so you can go, or if I do like it, I go and buy you all you can drink.

 

Hey y'all, I'm Jim, bassist for While Heaven Wept. I appreciate all the positive comments on the band and I'm looking forward to playing next year! It will be my first time visiting the fest, though I'm ancient enough to have gone to/performed at the Powermad Fests in Baltimore back in the day. Anyone remember those?

Cheers!

 

These types of threads always crack me up! You have all the lovers, haters, and armchair quarterbacks at their best. Let's see, we are going onto PP 12, not the beginning. We can all sit back and say how we would put together a festival, but at the end of the day we have Glenn with 11 successful festivals behind him -- I think he has proven that he knows what he is doing by now.

The whole argument for: I've never heard of these guys therefore they suck and will not sell tickets is ludicrous! I got made fun of in the 8th grade (1982-83) for saying that Accept was my favorite band. Yeah, this was before Balls to the Wall came out. In fact, people told me exactly that: "I've never heard of them, they must suck." Funny how after Balls to the Wall came out, the haters all flipped around and all of a sudden people loved them. I grew up on the underground scene and unknown bands. Bands like Metallica (who played to a crowd of 20 in Baltimore on Kill 'em All), Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament... They all went on to become quite bigger and it's hard to find someone who hasn't heard of them these days. BTW, Sanctuary was also one of these bands and I even used to cover Mirror Black in a band back in 1992.

So have I heard of all these bands? Hell no! But now I have and have a year to research and see who I might like. I also have the opportunity to check out their live show and have them win me over. I HATED Freak Kitchen before they played. The only reason I went into the venue for them because a very good friend (JayDub) was in his glory with them there and never stopped talking about them. I went in to see him have the time of his life. By the end of the set, I was a huge fan and immediately went to Laser's Edge and purchased 6 FK CD's.

This genre/community was founded on the unknown, so why is it that so many have stagnated and refuse to give new bands a chance? Seems kinda crazy to me. As a guitarist in a relatively unknown band, I think its GREAT that Glenn is giving newer bands exposure and a chance at gaining some fans. Especially in such a great venue!

ANother thing, when I attended PP1 in Chicago, I had never even heard of Evergrey and the first time I heard them at all was there. I think we can all safely admit that these guys went on to be quite well-known (at least in this community).

To me this festival has always been bigger than the bands. It is also a place where I get to be around many like-minded individuals that have come to be friends once a year and is a reunion of sorts. So between that and enjoying some (not all) of the bands, it is clearly worth the price of admission and related expenses. Yes, it can be costly, but I have long viewed it was a vacation and they are NEVER free. OK, so now I started working as a guitar tech at the fest three years ago and it has helped in subsidizing my trip. However, working with 17 bands in three days, 17 hour work days with not a lot of sleep is hard work - but I find GREATLY rewarding. It is way different than my full-time job as a software engineer and LOVE being part of this great festival and using my skills to help it out.

Personally, I look forward to learning about these new bands and working with them next year. They tend to be hungry and willing to give 110% at their show - sometimes the veterans are just going through the motions.
Give the new blood a chance and screw all this negativity!!!!

 

Hey Jim,

Welcome to the forum and to the festival! Congrats on your band's hard work that landed them a spot in this prestigious event!

And yes, I live 40 minutes from where that was formerly held and went to the last two. I can assure you one thing, PP is NOTHING like that. Ok, maybe the good music part... But PP is infinitely more polished and run MUCH better. I think you will be blown away if you haven't attended before and know what to expect. I assure you that you and your band will have a great time!

 

Well said bro!

 

There is hope for our youth!

Usually about once or twice a year, I discover a student in one of my classes who likes this sort of music. A week or so ago, I discovered one such student. I admitted to my class that I would not be there this past Friday not because of a math conference or something like that, but for ProgPower. This student asked about it, so I sent him the links to this year's line up and also next year's. He wrote back,

"That looks like a sweet lineup. Pretty neat that Accept was there. I saw the lineup on there for next year and I see that Dream Evil and Eldritch are on it; that's awesome. I usually do about 2 weekends a year where I take a vacation and check out a concert, so I"m going to shoot for Progpower USA for next year. I had no idea there even was a festival like this. "

So next year's line-up isn't just appealing to the old farts, it appeals to multiple generations

Ken

 

I think determining what is and what isn't a good economy could be tough. I'd hate to try and tie a wager to the employment rate, as that would just be bad taste. And tying it to GDP would just be odd.

That said, if we can figure something out, I'm up for it.

My drinking bill is way more than a cost of a ticket (Grey Goose and Red Bull aint cheap). So we may want to just come up with something more flat.

By the way, you should really reconsider accepting this bet until you know who the Wednesday night and Thursday night bands are. Would anyone be shocked if it's Nevermore on Thursday, given that the whole band will already be in town? Many, many Nevermore fans would make a special trip for a Thursday/Friday back to back. How about Vanden Plas or Sabaton? Or both?

Although I'm very confident this line up will sell out on its own merit, I also believe that the eventual Wednesday and Thursday announcements will only serve to ice this cake.

 

Thanks, I was psyched when I first heard about the offer to play! ProgPower definitely seems alot more happening than Powermad (first off, there's more than 40 people that show up haha!). Looking forward to meeting and hanging out with everybody!

 

I know it seems convenient, but I would doubt Nevermore playing Wednesday or Thursday. I just think if they did it would overshadow Sanctuary. Just my point of view. I do agree with you though that Thursday tends to bring more people in not just for that show but for the fest in general. I know the first year I went (IX) I was on the fence until Helloween/Gamma Ray were on the bill, same goes with Primal Fear last year. Wednesday I'm not so sure about unless there is quite a good headliner.

 

One of the most astute observations yet in this thread. Shane and I talked about his lineup at the sametime I was planning mine.

 

Amen Rick!

 

So are you saying there is a chance for Nevermore??????

 

I think determining what is and what isn't a good economy could be tough. I'd hate to try and tie a wager to the employment rate, as that would just be bad taste. And tying it to GDP would just be odd.

We could just do sellout or no sellout.

You mean we can't base this on the growth of M3?