Cheers and Jeers 2014

Perfect fest experience as usual. Pretty much all the bands I was interested in met or exceeded my expectations. Top 3 sets for me: Orden Ogan, JOP, PoS. Hibria and Angra for next year make it my most anticipated fest since my first year attending in 2008 (Gamma Ray/Helloween).

Enough whining about pizza. Nobody is making you pay $5 for a slice of pizza or $5 for a beer. There are far worse issues in the world to worry about than pizza. Focus your energy on the positive.
 
TwizstedJesus said:
Security...never had a problem after Fridays debacle, but what a clusterfuck for the 1st few hours! To have to throw away a handful of Starburst is just plain fucking wrong! 3 Subway sandwiches had to be run back to the car which ruined lunch/dinner since there was no cooler in the car, so...obvious
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This. I know Glenn dealt with the problem, but I hope awareness of this goes up to the highest levels of management to ensure that it never happens again instead of being swept under the rug. Between the bag of cough drops and the 3 power bars he made me throw away I probably dropped $12 into the garbage can at the door. He even made me throw away the EMPTY water bottle I had brought in to fill up at the fountain.

However, I hope they also know that, as far as I could tell, it was just that one guy who was causing all the problems. The rest of the security personnel were every bit as awesome, courteous and professional as they are every year.
 
I'm just going to pepper with a few and think of more later.

Jeers:
Was there a policy this year for insuring that no guitarist had picks? This to minimize throwing/scrambling to get stuff?
Whenever Daniel has to ask the crowd to get him some picks, IT IS A PROBLEM.
I remember years past each Mic stand pick holder being packed.
I really enjoy catching the things that the bands thow out, it is great, and one of the major perks of being close.
Aside from the few that guitarists passed out at the end...there was marked reduction in swag throwing. Sticks generally went out, that was good, and Rick Altzi's Mr T. Neck chain, but what was the deal?

I got make-out moshed for the 2nd year in a row! 2 Planetoid-shaped chicks just coptering around the crowd in a lip/lick lock. And their goal was to awkward themselves all the way to the rail...One slipped a fishnetted hand under my arm and tried to pry between me and a buddy who had been there ALL DAY. We had to politely say, please don't do this, and they ended up leaving. I think this was during Remedy Lane.

There's always gonna be the gnarlers. During Overkill a guy with no deodorant nor spatial depth perception starts going to town on my back... and he has the audacity to reach past me and smack one of the sponsors on the back to tell him to put his hands down. I said, hey man that guy is the reason you're currently seeing Overkill. My only defense remaining was noxious gas (sorry innocent bystanders, had to be done), and it was super effective. He stayed back and mellowed out for the last 1/3 of the set, and left after Overkill went off. Blerf.
 
Cheers:

- Bands overall were some of the best I've seen. Probably one of my favorite lineups of the years I've gone. Top three for me were JOP, Orden Ogan and Stratovarius/Pain of Salvation
- As always, everyone is friendly
- Also as always, venue is great. I love the fact that there is not a bad place to go during the show.
- Vespucci's. Love those guys and especially when Pat and Chris had them prepare surprise drinks and shots for us.
- Trying Vortex for the first time. Will definitely be back.
- Seeing Jeremy Golden going nuts during Hall of the Mountain King
- Finally meeting Mardoch

Jeers:

- The massive amount of stink bombs near the front of the stage during headliners and co-headliners.
- I love Pain of Salvation, they put on two great sets, but no way in HELL should it take that long for a band to start, especially when it was already getting late.
- Not being able to find as many people from the forum this year
- Still got some good stuff in the vendor room, but it seemed there was less variety from some of them this year. Though my wallet probably appreciated that fact.
- Me being an idiot for scheduling my flight out on Monday instead of Sunday, thus having to spend more coin to switch it.
- Relating to the one above, having little time to sleep after JOP before flight.
 
I'll probably come back with more later, but:

Cheer - The Chicago Posse are far more enjoyable in person (it was good to see you guys around finally) :D
 
(Labarum - we were sitting right behind the rail... Those two were so rude and obnoxious.. Ugh)

The only thing that gave me a sad face was the venue denying even small snacks. We brought a few breakfast bars, since my wife is diabetic, and had to throw them away. Disappointing.

Everything else was greatness:

I expected Need and Withem to blow my socks off, and they did.

Having Simone Mularoni take my Corgi hat and wear it Thursday night was priceless. I'm never going to forget that. :)

All of the performances, especially JOP, Pagan's Mind, Seventh Wonder, Masterplan, and Orden Ogan.

Great times with great people. :). Thank you all so much, and thanks to Glenn, Jen, and the whole crew!
 
modernwizardry said:
Enough whining about pizza. Nobody is making you pay $5 for a slice of pizza or $5 for a beer. There are far worse issues in the world to worry about than pizza. Focus your energy on the positive.
Click to expand...

Amen. This is not abnormal pricing for shows. Secondly, what you people should do is leave the venue and go to Vespuccis. Better and cheaper and still quite close.
 
Cheers:

This is my ninth ProgPower, and the sixth one I got to sponsor.

Getting to sponsor STRATOVARIUS!!!! Whole original intent for me to go to ProgPower in the first place was to see Stratovarius and here, nine years later, I get to friggan SPONSOR them! Got to very briefly see them backstage after the set, and Timo and Lauri still fondly remembers that. I even showed them a picture I had of them back then and Lauri wanted to "recreate" that picture! To bad they pretty much had to "pack and run" as they had like a 6 AM flight. But still, even if I never went to another ProgPower, I am happy to finally get to "complete the circle" so to speak.

Of course, the major cheers in Glenn and Miel in being able to pull-off what has to be some serious work in putting this crazy thing together, and to think they have been doing it for nearly 15 years. No wonder he was all about ready to hang it up. Still, it seems to just get better and better.

Nathan Block for doing a kick-ass job with the Thursday kick-off show. Jesus Christ - a THREE HOUR Pagan's Mind set, and on top of that friggan DGM! Hell, Draekon kicked-ass as well and I kept pestering them all weekend about getting their full-length album out!

Milton for also doing a kick-ass job for the Wednesday mid-week mayhem show. I've always wanted to see Theocracy plus it was cool to see a another PoS show.

The bands for putting on some really awesome sets, despite some of the technical issues cropping up. Yes, we can all make an issue about the Pain of Salvation "restart", but looking back at it, would rather they did that then continue with what I could saw was a fairly lackluster start. I will also admit that although I like Jon Oliva and have nearly all his output on CD, but I am not one of those die-hard fans, but holy shit, that performance was just unbelievable! Also, awesome to see Bill Hudson again, and we still talk about those crazy days when he was still in Celladore, like that time when they invited me over to their hotel room after a Jaxx show they did and we hung out until like 4 in the morning until I had to leave and drag my ass into work. I also told him Saturday night that was some of the best damn guitar playing I've ever see come out of him. He replied back that was probably some of the best damn guitar playing that he has ever done!

The crew and staff for doing a bang-up job again, despite some of the issues that came up (the security misunderstanding, the technical issues for some sets, etc).

All my fellow sponsors again. It is so much fun to get to hang with you guys up front and around all weekend.

My good friend Dave 'Diamond45' Perrussel - always glad and an honor to have you as a co-sponsor and somebody to attend this with instead of just going by myself.

Seeing my metal friends again for another year! No way can I remember everybody's names of whom I saw, including some that come a long way away, including from Japan!

Getting to play with my new camera that I just bought in July and ending up with some truly fantastic shots! Going from a Canon PowerShot G3 to a Canon 70D - geez talking about going from a Fiat to a Ferrari!!! I am NOW going to have to create a facebook account and setup a fan page for my photography. I've had numerous people, including members of the bands themselves ask me where they can view my photos. Thus I am going to have to spend some time getting that all sorted out. Along the same lines, was also cool hanging out a little bit with the DVD crew (who are really cool) and chatting up the "staff" photographers and getting tips from them. Really looking forward to eventually getting to see the DVD.

The weather, for the most part, staying the rain, although the humidity for most of the weekend was BRUTAL, especially Friday. However, I did end up getting drenched before the Overkill set. It decided to just open up as Dave and I was leaving Vespucci's to go back to the venue. Saturday evening was really nice, though.

Having the guys from the bands that were there at previous ProgPower actually finding me and remembering me! Hell, DGM ended finding me, and they were STILL gushing about how awesome it was that Dave and I sponsored them for ProgPower XI back in 2010! Those guys are a real class act and just awesome all the way around. Hell, I thought they put on one hell of a set for XI, but they really did turn it up a notch for this one.

Getting to hear the new Evergrey album! Holy shit, I so cannot friggan WAIT until my copy comes in so I can crank it up on my high-end rig! Awesome that Tom and Jonas hung out all weekend.

Glenn for dealing with the issues as they occur, especially with the security issues.

Flights both there and back staying on time and no fuck-ups at the airport.

To both Sousolitos and Vespucci's for staying open when they are normally closed to cater to the ProgPower crowd! Hell, Sousolitos even had both flyers and a sign explicitly welcoming the ProgPower crowd! How friggan cool was that. I actually saw one guy who was clearly NOT a "ProgPower attendee" looking at that sign, and then going in the place and order food! Not only that but the owners of both of these businesses immediately recognized and remembered me! I don't recall his name, but I told the Sousolitos owner that I was actually looking forward to going there as I just LOVE that chicken nachos that he has there!

Me scoring another huge haul at the vendor tables this year. I really did not buy that many albums during the year, so I had a shit-ton of new releases that I wanted to catch up on. And speaking of vendors, always looking forward to seeing Lance, Zane, and the others each year.

Jeers:

Me, for loosing my damn voice Saturday. Sucked majorly that I was not able to talk and socialize. Pretty much just mingled and hung out Saturday without being able to really interact. Rick Pierpont actually made me go to bed and I was pretty much spent anyways so I had no problems obliging.

Me for accidentally leaving my damn "swag bag" in the venue after the Stratovarius set! I was hoping that I could either find it in lost-n-found or get another one, but no dice! It probably ended up getting thrown away as trash when the venue was cleaned up. So for the first time after nine years, I do not have a CD or book as a really nice "official" memento of the show. Any possible way I could get an actual CD and book sent to me as I would really like to have an actual, physical copy of each (instead of just downloading the MP3s and PDF off the internet) to keep my collection complete. I'll even pay for shipping if necessary.

The usual cast of douches that seems to try to go out of their way to ruin the experience for everyone else near them. I've heard about that jackass harassing/assaulting some of our womenfolk although I did not personally witness the act(s).

Also, to that bitch in a black Mercedes that nearly ran me over in the crosswalk when I clearly had a green light and "walk" signal (which meant that she blatenly ran a red light) as I was crossing 17th street while taking merch back to my room.

The really long as wait before Pain of Salvation came on, but there is a Cheer inside that Jeer - allowed me to get to hang with Masterplan backstage - what an awesome bunch guys there!

Wishing that I did go and walk up Vespucci's on Saturday before Masterplan instead of buying the pizza in the venue. Ended up with two cold slices. Figured I'd try to same time buy just getting the pizza there.

Some of the technical issues during the Seventh Wonder set. I saw that candle fall off the table and laying against the curtain around the drum riser. Fortunately, it was enclosed in glass, but if that started catching fire, I was ready to personally jump on stage myself to put it out.

The Artmore screwing up our room reservation. A room with two queen beds was booked, but for some reason, they "overbooked" and we ended up two separate rooms on opposite ends of the hotel. Admittedly, it was kinda nice to have "my own room", but it sucked for coordinating things together such as checking out each others pictures. Thank God for text messaging!

Me for sleeping through the Seventh Wonder gold-badge show. I heard they put on a really kick-ass show. I wonder if we had the room we were supposed to have, Dave may have woken me up enough to let me drag ass over there.

And yes, having to wait another year for the next ProgPower, plus the ever present specter that "could this be the last one".

Overall, this was another really kick-ass weekend and so glad I got to attend, let alone sponsor the thing. It was also cool that I got to "VIP" the whole weekend as well. And speaking of VIP, I've already paid Nathan for next year's Thursday VIP. And yes, I am finally going to get with the times and setup a damn facebook account!
 
SkiBumMSP said:
Overall, this was another really kick-ass weekend and so glad I got to attend, let alone sponsor the thing. It was also cool that I got to "VIP" the whole weekend as well. And speaking of VIP, I've already paid Nathan for next year's Thursday VIP. And yes, I am finally going to get with the times and setup a damn facebook account!
Click to expand...

We paid Nathan for next year as soon as we walked in the door Thursday. :)

Great to see you again, my friend! Thanks for helping with my camera. :)
 
mattbrood said:
The guy who got so drunk on Wednesday he had to sit on the floor against the bar in The Loft, got kicked out on Thursday and Friday for being too intoxicated..major douchebag
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I stood right next to this guy during DGM. I remember everyone cleared a hole around him just because he would not stay still. I'm ok with people getting into bands, but when I spend more time looking at the beer in your hand to avoid it spilling on me than I do actually watching the band, there starts to be an issue.
 
Cheers
-Glenn, Jen, & everyone else involved with the festival.
-Milton for a kickass Wednesday show.
-Nathan for an off the hook kick-off
-All the people I met (new and old). Scott, Guillaume, Jimmy, Lane, Kimberly, et al.
-All the great fucking performances. With the exception of one Voodoo Circle song I watched and enjoyed every single note.
-The vendors who brought stuff that I can't find in the local record shop.
-The vendors who kept the prices reasonable and who had some killer sales and specials.
-All of the killer PP exclusive band shirts. I can't remember there ever being that many!
-The killer SW Saturday show!
-Evergrey!!
-Getting to share this with my beautiful wife.

Jeers
-Everyone complaining about the POS do-over. Lighten up it was 5 extra mins and they made it worth the extra wait.
-The problems that have already been mentioned with security.
-$5 slices and the lack of other food options inside the venue.
-No Masterplan merch. WTF???
-CDs that were way overpriced. Wonder why the merch room was quieter than the norm?
-Dumbass seat police wannabes.
-My seatback breaking within 5 minutes of sitting down on Thursday. I thought these were new seats? Lol
-The awful mix for the Seventh Wonder Friday show.
 
Cheers:

- The people that run and maintain this festival work their asses off. No question there.
- Social media presence by official PPUSA: this includes Facebook, and Twitter. Y'all have really stepped it up this past year with interaction with fans, and consistent posts. Very good job there.
- There was a guy who went on a beer run for some of us on the rail one night. That was killer!
- Jorn Viggo Lofstad for being an amazing guitar player and having a handsome smile.
- Any band that played for 2+ hours. That's some serious preparation, folks. And it paid off big time.
- Seventh Wonder for the early morning performance. That acoustic medley was amazing, and hearing some deep cuts off of non-Mercy Falls albums was great as well.
- Leprous for impressing everyone with their intensity, and then just being the coolest guys while hanging out with their sponsors.
- Jon Oliva for being the most entertaining person to ever be on the ProgPowerUSA stage. Holy shit.
- The Evergrey guys for sticking around all weekend to talk to people while selling merch. That was really cool of them.
- And perhaps the biggest cheer for me: I was feeling off on the way down to Atlanta, dealing with some personal stuff and just not really feeling up for coming...yet spending time with my ProgPower family, as I have for the past 10 years now, was just the best thing ever, and made the trip so worth it. I cannot possibly name everyone that made my weekend so special, but if you saw me and hugged me and fist bumped me and made fun of me for being a weatherman, you are truly good people and good friends and I love you. Can't wait till next year.
- So yeah, I definitely cheer that there will be a next year.

Neither a cheer nor a jeer:

- The mosh pit during Overkill. It was small, and very courteous. That seems like a good thing...but don't you like a pit with some danger to it? Haha, I like that some people were letting loose during that set! I had fun!

Jeers, few and far between:

- Anyone who got too drunk for their own good. Drinking is fine, but know your limits. I won't tell specific stories, but I know things got criminal, embarrassing, and idiotic for some folks both at the fest and afterward and I just gotta say that it's best to moderate that and not let situations get out of hand.
- Daniel Gildenlow. Sorry, I have to throw that one out there too. My take is that while I get that he wants perfection, at the end of the day the show was already way behind and it's time to just shut up and play. Remember what it was like playing in clubs that were a fraction of the quality of Center Stage. Suck it up and be more professional.
- I had some minor issues with security. In years past I was able to carry some snacks and a water bottle into the venue with me, to save money on food and drink (and ostensibly spend that money on merch). Maybe it's my fault that I didn't know there were new rules but that kinda sucked. Guess I'll prepare differently next year?
- The roster for next year. I mean all those bands are great and the show is going to be very very good, but so far at PPUSA we have had thrash metal, doom metal, and legitimate black metal on stage. We need some death metal up there! CARCASS for 2016! WHO'S WITH ME?! :lol:
 
Cheers:
Overall solid lineup! With ONE exception, I would go see any of these bands if they came to Ft Lauderdale Fl.
G and J. Can't find nicer promoters on the planet. I know a few. Have worked with a few. Most of them are money grubbing assholes who do not give a shit about the fans. Major exception here.
Video for next year!!!! ANUBIS GATE!! RIVERSIDE!!! SWEET JESUS!

Jeers:
The people complaining! My god, ONE drunk guy? ONE guy harassing women? ONE bad security guard? Microphone problems? "Expensive" pizza (trust me the price is not bad compared to a lot of places)?
If that is the scope of the "problems" in this festival, then thank your gods...
I have seen bouncers beat someone half to death. I have seen people get broken noses and worse in mosh pits. I have seen bands leave after a single song (or not shown up at all!). I have seen people get mugged, both outside the venue and inside during a show! My car has been broken into and all the CDs stolen, hubcaps stolen (way back in 79 when cars still had them). I have paid 3x the ticket price for this whole show to see one band perform one set (more times than I care to admit). I had to assault a guy once who would not stop harassing me. I got in a fight with another guy who was hitting his gf...the list goes on and on.
If you have proper perspective, you would not have a problem with any of these "jeers".
Appreciate what you have folks. It will not be around forever.
.
 
jem777az said:
Cheers -Glenn, Jen, & everyone else involved with the festival. -Milton for a kickass Wednesday show. -Nathan for an off the hook kick-off -All the people I met (new and old). Scott, Guillaume, Jimmy, Lane, Kimberly, et al. -All the great fucking performances. With the exception of one Voodoo Circle song I watched and enjoyed every single note. -The vendors who brought stuff that I can't find in the local record shop. -The vendors who kept the prices reasonable and who had some killer sales and specials. -All of the killer PP exclusive band shirts. I can't remember there ever being that many! -The killer SW Saturday show! -Evergrey!! -Getting to share this with my beautiful wife. Jeers -Everyone complaining about the POS do-over. Lighten up it was 5 extra mins and they made it worth the extra wait. -The problems that have already been mentioned with security. -$5 slices and the lack of other food options inside the venue. -No Masterplan merch. WTF??? -CDs that were way overpriced. Wonder why the merch room was quieter than the norm? -Dumbass seat police wannabes. -My seatback breaking within 5 minutes of sitting down on Thursday. I thought these were new seats? Lol -The awful mix for the Seventh Wonder Friday show.
Click to expand...

The mix was the result of an unintentional and unknown action that took place on stage, not FoH. Once the crew and band discussed it, we had a fantastic mix on Saturday morning with the exact same crew.

No worries on the actual mix to the studio for recording.
 
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