Cheers and Jeers

[Magius]

Cheers:
First and foremost as always: Glenn. You are The Harvester!
Jenn.
Crew and Staff.
Bands.
Sound. As close to perfect as I've ever heard at PPUSA.
Security. Those guys are usually overlooked, but they run a tight ship in a respectful, courteous, and sometimes fun manner. TSA should take notes.
Vendors. A special nod to Zane for CDInzane's $8 Saturday sale.
A super special "Thank you," to Heaven and Hell Records and Blacksmith for the guitar raffle. You made the Grand Old Lady of ProgPower VERY happy.


Jeers:
A fucked DVD player. That is all.

 

[Will Bozarth]

Cheers:
'holy shit' chant during Ihsahn

Jeers:
The cdinzane guy telling me that he brought the Anathema cd i requested from him on this forum, but he sold it. It would've been nice for him to let me know that he brought it. Thanks.

 

[Rider of Theli]

everything Magius posted above, plus:

Cheers to:

• Keith Lawley for making PPUSA 'look' even more professional this year with the idea of the vinyl banners. Nothing short of AWESOME!
• members of Therion for being humble and so cordial & appreciative of their fans (especially me)
• members of Sanctuary for being humble and also cordial & thankful to their fans (especially me)
• Warrel Dane for remembering me from the Nevermore forums circa 1999. hah hah.
• Mother Nature for giving us the most pleasant ProgPower weather ever.

Jeers to:

• the Nuclear Blast people for not having the forethought to bring some Therion shirts. You could have made a killing! I alone would have bought at least two styles if you'd have brought them.
• the former tenants who wrecked our rental property, leaving my bank account in serious hurting status and me without extra funds to spend at PPUSA!

 

[AeonicSlumber]

:

[*]the Nuclear Blast people for not having the forethought to bring some Therion shirts. You could have made a killing! I alone would have bought at least two styles if you'd have brought them.

They might not have any % ownership of the band's merch rights.

 

[PureXul]

They might not have any % ownership of the band's merch rights.

To further this point, NB USA/CMDistro.com have no Therion t-shirts in their web shop...the lack of merch was disappointing, but I'm not sure it's accurate to lay the blame at NB's feet.

 

[freakchylde]

Cheers:
First fest without any major issues that couldn't be handled quickly.
The rest of my crew brothers and sisters for being so awesome.
The bands, seriously, no queens on any side of the equation. Nothing but really cool folks who provided amusement or wonderful conversations.
Voyager, Haken, Creation's End and someone else whose name escapes me, for making the drive highly amusing!!!! Oh yeah...WARRELL DANE!
The drunk folks at the Courtyard for giving me new stories to tell.
Danny, from Voyager, for the wine I will drink tonight Luuuuuuuuuuuuurve Yewwwwwwwwwwwww!
Alex, from Voyager, painkillers are good and apparently better when from down under.
The fans, for paying attention and getting out of the way when backing up. You have no idea how much I reaaaaaaaaally appreciate that.
Glenn, for letting me up front for Voyager and Tommy for letting Pastry up front for Therion.
The staff at the Courtyard and the housekeeper who overstocked me with coffee.
Dinner with Ihsahn and Leprous.
ALL THE BANDS FOR HELPING TO MAKE TRANSPORTATION RUN SMOOTHLY!!!!
ALL THE FANS WHO WERE TEMPTED TO STEAL MY SIGNS, BUT DIDN'T (and Keith for making said signs).
JEN! JEN! JEN! JEN!

Jeers:
A very special person missing, his first ProgPower in all the years that I've been working the fest. It was not the same playing "which twin are you?"
Having a migraine all weekend and not being able to spend some chit-chat time with friends I haven't had a chance to talk to in a good while (yes, my dear - this means YOU! )

 

[Akumu]

CHEERS:
- Glenn and Jen, the bands, the crew, and security.
- The lovefest in front during Ihsahn and the aforementioned "HO-LY SHIT" chant.
- THERION.
- Mingling! Yay!
- Danny from Voyager for being ridiculously nice and having a great sense of humor.
- Next year's lineup. I was already sold when I saw Serenity's and Primordial's photos during the montage... and then I saw the rest.

JEERS:
- Grabbing the last Vanden Plas hoodie and then finding out it has a defective zipper. Oh, well. At least it's big enough to work as a pullover!
- Missing Voyager's set while in the Ihsahn signing session line. They sounded GREAT and I wish I had seen it.

 

[dcowboys311]

CHEERS
Glenn and Jen, eternally running a tight ship and being beyond helpful and kind.
Meeting one of my favorite musicians of all time and having his set nearly break my neck...and not one, but TWO Emperor Songs!!!
Voyager, Therion, and While Heaven Wept
Actually watching most of the bands this year instead of spending my time socializing -- every band I watched was fantastic! Any other year, every band would be a contender for 'band of the fest'...
Meeting many cool people who I'd never met before, whether from this board or not.
Lots of new faces with death/black metal shirts there for Ihsahn!
The sound was the best it's been in years.


JEERS
A few missing people
Forgetting what time Eldritch went on and missing their set completely :/
GA Alcohol Sales laws

 

[sava_freak]

CHEERS

Rob Fisher-Who was assisting in the signing tables, for introducing me personaly to Haken, made my night

Lance King/Nightmare-For always wanted to talk music with a smile and providing GREAT customer service

SwordLord-For helping me get rail space for Haken

The Almighty Glen-Thank you for such a great time, this festival means so much to so many, beyond music...its the fellowship, the fun, and the escape...Thank you for so many years of stewardship and heres to many more.



JEERS

HAKEN MERCH-For not bringing near enough shirts

 

[Malaena]

Cheers
-Therion. I have never in my life seen a better show. It was like God descended from heaven and let us bask in His light for 2 hours!
-Glenn and Jen! The lineup for next year is amazing; I bought my tickets saturday! Also, Glenn's "Danger Zone" speech before Forbidden...scenes from Top Gun immediately started rolling in my mind! No karate bullshit!
-The Artmore. Saturday night was the first time I bothered to go there! FRICKIN' AWESOME! I met so many great people!
-Holt. I will love you forever for that Therion setlist!

Jeers
-DVD evilness. Did you hear that scream of bloody murder when it went out? That was me.
-John didn't comeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
-I have learned that you cannot stay in the pit the entire time. Knees and back are KILLING ME! But I got 2nd row for Forbidden, Therion, and While Heaven Wept. 1st row for Haken! Oh well...I made up for only being in the pit for Oceans of Sadness last year.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Cheers
Also, Glenn's "Danger Zone" speech before Forbidden...scenes from Top Gun immediately started rolling in my mind! No karate bullshit!

Easily best quote of the fest.

 

[the rhythm]

Cheers
Every band for bringing it, even if I didn't necessarily like their music.
Silver Skillet Diner-it was right next to my hotel and their country ham platter was filling and delicious. To top it off, screen actor Dennis Quaid was eating in there at the same time.
Evergrey, Voyager, Ihsahn, Labyrinth, Forbidden and Therion for blowing the collective minds of my wife and I.
The unintentional comedy of the DVD malfunction Friday night. Glen looked ready to kill someone and I enjoyed making jokes about pissed off nerds with the security guards.
Even more unintentional comedy from the wardrobe choices of some of the bands and fans alike. Jerry Seinfeld doesn't want to be a pirate, but some of you guys do.
The bartender at the small cash bar on the far side of the venue. She was very friendly and knew exactly what I was going to order after 1 trip.
Everyone being respectful to one another and having the festival go on without any incidents.

Jeers
The set times were way behind Friday night. The sound was good, but everyone was off by about an hour by the end of the night.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Cheers

• Glenn and Jen! You guys are the heart and soul of this thing.
• The crew for doing an awesome job all weekend. You guys are the backbone.
• All my fellow sponsors, especially my co-sponsor Dave ('Diamond45')! We are the legs to help carry this thing. I cannot begin to count how many times I was told how appreciated it was to be a sponsor, by both bands (and not just the one I directly sponsored) and fans.
• And all the fans that are willing to come and support this.
• And of course, every band, and I mean EVERY band for putting on an INCREDIBLE performance! There was not a weak one in there all night. For me, the ones that really stood out were Haken, Voyager (YES!!!), Eldritch (It was so awesome to get to sponsor you guys!), and Therion! Of course, Vanden Plas slayed both during their regular set and the special Gold Badge/VIP set as well.
• Getting to see all my friends again and being part of this awesome community that pretty much built up around this festival. To many to even begin to mention names. I guess I really should get with the program and setup a damn Facebook account.
• Getting to meet and hang out with the bands themselves. All the guys from Voyager, Vanden Plas, Haken, and Eldritch were just so cool. Even got to see the singer from Leprous again as I remember getting to hang out with him quite a bit last year! Was really cool that Snowy Shaw and Thomas Vikstrom remembered me from the Jaxx show a couple of years back. What a great bunch of guys (and did I mention that show just SLAYED Saturday night? :Spin: ).
• Getting my name in the liner notes of the new Eldritch album!
• Getting to stock on all these awesome CDs, as well as getting to see Lance again. Shame that J-man was not able to come this year (Jeer). Hopefully next year. Now I got this nice huge stack of CDs that I can now get to listen to! I am so looking forward to checking out the new Haken on my big Klipsch rig!
• Overall, I honestly think this was most likely my best ProgPower. The line-up was really strong this year and every band delivered.

Jeers

• I have only one really serious Jeer here. I've heard about the incident regarding Christian, the Therion guitarist backstage. Holy shit, we came extremely close to having a real tragedy on our hands with that one. Cracking the back of one's head on a concrete floor is no laughing matter. I've personally seen fatalities on the ski slope as part of the ski patrol due to similar type of accidents. I know things can get crazy and the alcohol is flowing (I am not implying alcohol was involved here, but trying to make a point) and so forth, but damn. We still need to try to keep safety in mind during this thing. It can be dark and crowded and trying to move up and down those stairs can be tricky. And this is for everyone, Bands, Crew and Fans alike.
• That mosh pit was starting to get really stupid during the Sanctuary set. Seemed it got shut down pretty quick once it started to get stupid in there.
• The crowd surfer that nearly kicked me in the head during the Therion set as well. Didn't take long for Glenn to shut that down either (Cheer there).
• Not really a Jeer, but just plain suckage. Like any good thing, this did evetually have to come to an end. It was tough to say good-bye to all of these folks that I am or have become friends with. The Eldritch guys, the Vanden Plas guys, the Voyager guys, the Haken guys. All my friends here on the forum that I have known or finally got to meet. One of the very last memories of last night was saying good-bye to Andy Kuntz from Vanden Plas and walking back up the stairs to the door and seeing him standing there looking back at me as I went inside. It nearly brought me to tears seeing (and still thinking) of that. I already miss you man! You were awesome and I sure as hell hope I get to see you guys again!
• Coming back to reality including that miserable drive back up I-95 from Richmond. At least this time Dave did the driving (only because my own car decided to take a dump, which means I am now going to have to get that taken cared of (another fucking Jeer ). At least the flight was on time (if not slightly early) for once (Cheer).

My God, what an incredible weekend this was! You don't think the fest could get any better than it already is, but some how, Glenn and company manages to pull yet another rabbit out of the hat. This, to me, is the ultimate in terms of live music events. I am so fucking proud to be included as a sponsor for this incredible event. I am already stoked for next year! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every one involved, Glenn, Jenn, The bands, the crew, the other sponsors, and the fans, for such an incredible time.

Now the task of unpacking as well as dumping off these hundreds of pictures that I got. I am so going to get a new camera though as this little 8-year old Power G3 is just not cutting it anymore. Time to step up to DSLR and a good lenses.

I will definitely be there next year, God willingly!

 

[MetalRose]

What a list I have:

CHEERS:
-Glenn and Jen, awesome as always
-Nothing being put in my drink this year
-Getting a chance to really hang out with people I haven't in a long time
-Re-meeting people again
-Eldrich for laughing at my bad Italian dirty phrases and then assisting me with pronunciation AND new phrases.
-Anne Marie, The Su, Greg, Ian, Ripper, Taylor, Urban, Shaye, Matt, shit if I talked to you this weekend, you get a fucking cheer

Jeers:
-The fucking sidewalks
-Hospitals. We had at least 3 incidents this weekend where someone was at the hospital. I think this is a first EVER for ProgPower. I did say I wanted to ride in the rig here in Atlanta, I should've specified that I meant with out someone in the back!

Thank you:

And along that note a big thank you to anyone who listened to me go on and on about being an EMT, my current experience and my future plans with it. It means the world that I have so much support from every single person I talked to. I love you all!

 

[Heavenly Call]

Cheers
Glenn - You have no idea how much joy being a sponsor and this festival overall brings me every year. It truly is one of my favorite weekends of the entire year.
Voyager - FUCKING AMAZING set!!!!! It worked out that Dream Evil canceled so I could swap my sponsorship over to these guys. Super cool to hang out with and easily my favorite set of the weekend.
The Sound - It's been mentioned, but it really was killer all weekend.
Labyrinth and Therion - For being my two surprise bands of the weekend. I liked most of Labyrinth's stuff already, but the live show was amazing!
CD INSIDER SALE - A BRILLIANT concept.
CDInZANE - selection galore, knowledgable, and the $8 Saturday Night Special is the shit.
Glenn - again
The Pizza Place next to the Artmore - DAMN good food and open late!
Security - you barely know they're there, until you need them and then they handle business
Jen - Loved the interaction of the social media stuff, even if I didn't post much myself, it was fun to read
The Video Announcement - How fucking cool is that? What other festival even attempts that? C'mon
Vinyl's food
My wife - always being a trooper and supporting my crazy music addicition and sharing great moments with me


Jeers
Myself for not working harder to meet all the fine forum folks. Only met two new ones this year. I always say I'll do better....
A couple of bands were a snooze for me. I'm not "jeering" them so much as I'm asking for maybe a LITTLE more stage presence? Otherwise, I'll just play the CD. That said, the actual musical performances were spot on all weekend.
Running Late - Had to miss Sanctuary and most of Ihsahn Friday night due to babysitter arrangements
The fact that I have to wait another 360 some odd days to do it again!

 

[TribunalRecords]

Plenty of Cheers that many have already been mentioned. Sanctuary! Forbidden! Ihsahn!

JEER
- i have one major jeer and that is keeping the show running on time. I understand the complexity of this issue having done several smaller festivals of my own over the years, but this fest like any other is built upon a foundation and that is its schedule, from set ending times to starting of signing sessions to not ending at 3am. Once one band is off the rest of the show is off therefore getting to bands signing sessions makes people who paid good money to travel to have to choose between meeting their favorite band and seeing another of their favorite bands perform. It sucks to have to choose when if all things were going smoothly no choices would have to be made. Again, near death experiences aside just something that happened consecutive years i thought would be under better control by now with preventative measures. I am sure notes have been taken from this year to apply to next because with 14 bands on the bill it's going to be even more crucial.

- severely drunk dude in the pit during Forbidden who kept falling down and tripped me up allowing me to re-injure my wrist.

 

[MetalRose]

Oh yeah, adding a Jeer:
-For all those who bummed me smokes! Dammit just say no! (Ok I take full responsibility on this one)

And one more Cheer:
-The Artmore went above and beyond this year!

-Metal

 

[miel]

JEER
- i have one major jeer and that is keeping the show running on time. I understand the complexity of this issue having done several smaller festivals of my own over the years, but this fest like any other is built upon a foundation and that is its schedule, from set ending times to starting of signing sessions to not ending at 3am. Once one band is off the rest of the show is off therefore getting to bands signing sessions makes people who paid good money to travel to have to choose between meeting their favorite band and seeing another of their favorite bands perform. It sucks to have to choose when if all things were going smoothly no choices would have to be made. Again, near death experiences aside just something that happened consecutive years i thought would be under better control by now with preventative measures. I am sure notes have been taken from this year to apply to next because with 14 bands on the bill it's going to be even more crucial.

You're a prick.


~Jen

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Oh yeah, adding a Jeer:

And one more Cheer:
-The Artmore went above and beyond this year!

-Metal

Thanks for reminding me! Also, along that same line, that cool little BBQ/shindig put on by Mark 'M.E.' Edwards in the courtyard Friday morning/noon was a lot of fun. Also great to get to seem him again, along with Urban Breed.

Also cheers on Vespucci's and Sousolitos actually staying open both Friday and Saturday evening. Also, the food in Vinyl's was actually quite good and timely this year.

 

[mattbrood]

You're a prick.


~Jen

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