Cheers/Jeers

[Formerly known as Chris F5]

It's a Prog Power tradition

I'm currently having work related drama so I'll add mine later tonight
*spoilers* Probably all cheers for me

Ready ,set,GO!

 

[VenomGA]

Cheers all the way around on the lineup. IMO, the strongest to date. Only 2 bands I didn't enjoy, which is a record for me. I'm not a prog fan usually, so unless they can bring something different to the table, I will give them a couple songs to interest me before I bail. This year's lineup was just great. Cheers to Glenn and Jen!

On real Jeer is the the guy who constantly gets drunk and acts like an ass on the floor or in the seats and makes a constant spectacle of himself. Everyone around him gets annoyed.

 

[Corsair]

Cheers:
Of the now eight years that I've been coming, this was the strongest lineup to date. Fantastic performances all around, even during bands I don't really care for. Normally there's only one or two bands that really blow it out of the park for me, and leave a lasting emotional impact. Previously: Ihsahn, Primordial, DSO, Anathema, and a few others that I probably just can't think of at the moment because I am exhausted, but this year got me with no less than *6* capstone performances from Wednesday to Saturday, In no particular order: Devin Townsend, Green Carnation, Haken, Spock's Beard, The Gentle Storm, and Circus Maximus. Even with the technical issues.

Jeers:
Wednesday-Friday, it seemed like there were some mixing issues and I couldn't hear keyboards very well for most sets. Ordinarily this wouldn't bother me too much but some of the tracks on display are very keyboard driven so that definitely took away from it. Blaming the gremlins. Seems like they were exorcised for most of Saturday 'til Devin went on and they came back with enough ferocity to make up for their relative tame leading up to that.

@VenomGA - We call that guy "Big head."
He was by and away at his worst during Sanctuary a few years back, but it's hit a point where I have to consciously try to ignore it when he starts acting up, and it's sort of inevitable. I'm not one to shit on anyone's good time, but It's kinda pushing into "dangerous" territory and he needs to chill before he injures somebody with that shit.

 

[Diamond45]

Still formulating this in my head, so this may be edited once or twice as I remember stuff.

Cheers:

* Major cheers to the ProgPower crew, especially Glenn and Jen, Milton and Nathan. You folks are always top notch and it shows. ProgPower in my opinion is the best show on Earth when it comes to progressive and power metal. We are not worthy!

* The bands were phenomenal! I believe that in the twelve years of attending this show that this was probably one of the strongest lineups in the course of my attendance if not THE strongest overall lineup in many, many years.

* Anneke van Giersbergen deserves a special cheer for her special VIP/GB acoustic set. You just had to be there.

* The ProgPower family. Music brought me to the festival, but it’s the friends that have me coming back. You folks are the bulk of the reason why I love going so much. Yes, we talk a lot on Facebook during the course of the year, but we make the most of 5 days in Atlanta doing things together. I think that’s what it’s really all about. It’s a family reunion with a soundtrack!

* Davinci's pizza and the group who was selling BBQ at the venue. You both were lifesavers. I only left the venue once to go eat. HOWEVER it would be really nice that we could bring in outside food one of these days!

* The Artmore for not screwing up with my reservation AND having a pretty good room with a kitchenette! They kept the Saturday morning deal for making reservations for next year!

Jeers:

* Attendees who insist on looking at their phones during a set. Want to check Facebook or your texts during a break? No problem. During a set? Take it outside, please. Yes, we see the light from your screens and it’s annoying!

* Piped in instruments. What's up with the phantom keyboards, phantom bass, etc.? I came to see a LIVE show!

* What's up with all this crowdsurfing and mosh pit stuff? IMHO both should be banned. Neither one has a place at ProgPower and causes more harm than good.

* What's with vaping inside the venue? No smoking means no vaping as well. Take that shit outside!

* Jeers to the asshole who wouldn't shut up during Anneke's acoustic set.

* Not having to do with the fest, but most of you know of the incident that SkiBumMSP (Steve) had while going out for a run on Thursday morning. He and a car collided and banged him up pretty good. Fortunately he didn’t have to go to the hospital. MAJOR kudos to the ProgPower family for looking out for him! THANK YOU!

* Waiting another year for an awesome lineup for next year and seeing all of my friends!

 

[Reverend Su]

The Su will come back to flesh this out more later, but for now...

a HUGE thank you to everyone who heeded the call to CLEAN UP YOUR SHIT in the courtyard....and to those who were conscripted into the cleaning army, by simply being there when i needed them to help
seriously, THANK YOU all for your help.

more later, when my brain functions again...
xxx

brain is still not working, but i wanted to start adding in my cheers:

to my bosses, Glenn and Jen - thank you for everything. and this year, a particular shout-out to the crew shirts <3 i so seriously love them!!

to my crew family - you guys are the most amazing people a weirdo like me can ever hope to call family. i miss you guys like crazy every day. thank you for your love <3

to the family i have in the fan base - you crazy fucks. i love you so damn much

to Amanda and Kris and Patrick and all who continue to host Liquid Aristocratic Experience - thank you it's so much fun to enjoy a mimosa (or 3) and a bloody mary on a thursday morning, just because we can.

to the Frank and Laura Zaber, and Laura Wasserman for helping me with the memorial Kaddish for Kyle Sabel. and to all who stood by while we shared our stories of him. most folks didn't know him, but you know and love me, and i know you were there for me - and i can never thank you enough for that. Kyle meant a lot to me...more than most know. so his passing impacted me in a major way. even more than i thought. thank you <3

to Devin for being so ... i don't even have words. he is such a genuinely kind man, who took time to chat with me about my tattoos, our bald heads, and whatever random nonsense we could think of
and to let me rub his head while mid-set?! i'm dead. i legitimately have no words to explain how intense and surreal that was - it was not planned by either of us, i swear. we might be twinsies, but we didn't plan it.

i have so many cheers that i want to share, but again: brain exhaustion.
i have few jeers, and they're really not even fest-related (the lack of towels at Artmore being a huge jeer). and a self-jeer: for being old and tired and missing out on fun...

 

[Malaena]

Cheers:

*I was initially underwhelmed with the lineup and ended up enjoying more than I thought I would.

*The fam. I love you motherfuckers so much you just don't even know.

*Corset Heather. She makes my curves bitchin' every single year.

*Ken. Because of that dude I got to go to both Weds/Thurs shows. So glad I didn't miss CM!

Jeers:

*The dude that followed me to my hotel room. Seriously, I said I would hang out at the courtyard later. Hang out does not mean "let's go to my room and fuck." I had to yell at him and happily he backed right off.

*Crazy Mike/Big Head. Why isn't he banned? Seriously.

 

[DarkOne]

MUCH more later, but . . . .

Green Carnation

I don't think I need to elaborate.

Steve in Philly

 

[Yippee38]

The Cheers I have for this year are the same for every year. Awesome performances all around. Lots of great people. All that.

I didn't mind the mosh pits at all, except for the first night (during Dragonforce). There was one person who was stupid drunk and kept trying to pull people from the edges of the pit into the pit. Not cool. The people in the pit were, for the most part, pretty well behaved.

Big cheer to everybody who took place in cleaning the courtyard, and to the handful of people who reminded us to do so respectfully. Jeers to being yelled at to do it like children. Respect your family, don't berate them please.

Jeers to people creating drama where there was none. But that's gonna happen whenever you get a large group of people together, so <shrugs>.

Cheers to the guys who took care of the really drunk guy who was passed out in the Courtyard. Cheers to those people who helped out those who were injured or disabled.

I have to echo DarkOne's cheer: Green Carnation LoDDoD.

 

[NorseBlood]

Cheers:
Blind Guardian: simply awesome
Spock's Beard: an unexpected and very nice surprise for me
The soul food vendor at Center Stage. Please bring him back next year.

Jeers:
Edit: No jeers as the event CD and no PPUSA t-shirt are never available on Wed or Thurs.

 

[Fixxer315]

As others have said, cheers to the great lineup for this year. I didn't think that much of it on paper, mostly because I didn't know much about the bands, but I was blown away, even by the ones I never got around to researching.

Cheers to yet another great video package for next year--especially bringing in Angel Dust, a band I loved since the early 2000s.

Cheers to the BBQ company (I forget the name) for good and affordable food.

Cheers to all the staff at Center Stage who were always incredibly cool, which has to be hard to be for four days in a row of a sold-out crowd who are coming and going throughout the show.

Cheers to the vendors who had a great selection of CDs that made it impossible for me to stay with any planned budget. Cheers to the staff working the tables for providing good advice and suggestions about those CDs.

Cheers to Devon Townsend for his incredibly fun performance, even when the equipment wasn't working properly.

Cheers to the crew for keeping the changeovers between sets within a reasonable timeframe, so that the shows did not end too late.

A few minor jeers:

Jeers to the company running the parking lots across 17th street for not posting their rates, which I had to find out only after I entered my license plate numbers. They used to be $10 for event parking, and I had to pay between $13 and $16 depending on the day and how long I was staying. It still wasn't a bad rate (particularly compared to downtown near the Phillips Arean), but I would like some notice.

Jeers to the insane autograph lines (esp. for Gentle Storm), but that's pretty much par for the course. I decided to save my sanity and bladder and passed on almost all of them, except for Stream of Passion and Refuge.

Jeers to myself for waiting until after Refuge's set to try to get the $120 box set of Refuge era Rage songs, as it was sold out by then. Looks like I'll be doing an online search once I have more money (which is another jeer as I overspent yet again, even without that box set).

Jeers to the band's merch booths which rarely had anything worthwhile aside from the occasional CD and maybe one or two decent T-Shirt designs.

Finally, another round of jeers to me for accepting a teaching gig that would be at 5 PM on Thursday, thus causing me to miss Octavious Ghost Ship and most of Pyramaze's set list. Otherwise, I would have seen every band this time around. But its more money that I can use to spend at next year's festival

 

[VenomGA]

Jeers:
No event CD and no PPUSA t-shirt or for sale on Wed or Thurs. If you didn't stay for Fri or Sat you didn't get either one.

You don't get the CD until the REGULAR Fest starts on FRIDAY. This has ALWAYS been the case. Same with the T-shirts.

 

[dionysus11]

jeers , to the people that brought a little baby

 

[nailz]

Jeers to being yelled at to do it like children. Respect your family, don't berate them please.

Yes. Hi. That would be me. And my tone is tongue in cheek. You've been around long enough to know this. Come on dude.

jeers , to the people that brought a little baby

omg wtf was up with this? I saw the kid asleep without headphones during devins set...

 

[TheMatt317]

Cheers:

First of all, thanks to Joel Cassin for hooking me up with tickets.

Hands down the best batch of bands I have seen in my five trips to ProgPower. From seeing my favorite artist of all time(Devin) play the best I've ever seen him, to seeing bands I know and love it was great.

Being introduced to so many bands which blew me away. Green Carnation blew me away, Freedom Call were great, and honestly there were only two bands which disappointed. I can't say enough about how great the bands were.

Glenn and the entire crew for putting on a great, professional show. Also the center stage crew for putting up with us all and offering a welcoming environment. Best venue I have been to and perfect for the fest.

The BBQ folks for offering affordable food.

The best batch of people watching you can imagine.

Jeers
The sound during Pyramaze. I was looking forward to their set, but the sound was really bad and left me baffled.

The guy me and my crew call "water head," that constantly accosted folks and made people uncomfortable. Really vulgar obnoxious guy.

Bands running out of merch fast! Really wanted a Fates Warning shirt!

Next year's lineup so far. I'll be at the show, because I love the fest and will always try to support it, but I was a little let down with the lineup for next year.

All in all, I was blown away and had a great time!

 

[Azrael LenGraden]

Jeers to the House Sound Guy who had his head up his ass ... when he was mixing all we heard was bass and kick drums. The bands that brought their own sound man/woman sounded great.

Cheers to Kong for fixing the kick drum/mic during Ascendia's set ...after that they sounded great!

 

[PromisedLand]

Cheers:

Glenn, Jen, Milton, and Nathan for putting on another great festival. Even though I know you and the rest of the festival team were paddling like ducks to make it all happen the entire time, it came across mostly seamless to us, and that's an amazing feat. Also, Ralf - coordinator non pareil!

Serious Black for treating us so well - nothing was more awesome than that killer set followed by hanging out in their dressing room for an hour and listening to stories, telling jokes, and going out of their way to make us feel really special.. especially when Bob gave me his pick and Alex a well used stick from the stage.

Laura W. for arranging the get together to remember Kyle Sabel, and for everyone who participated - whether you said the Mourner's Kaddish with us, were part of our informal minyan, or just gave us the space and a few minutes to say it, thank you. It was a very important thing to do, and helped start the healing for some of his close friends. Thank you. Zikhrono livrakha.

The food options in the venue were amazing - its come a long way from the cold pizza a few years ago!

The vendors - great selections, great deals, and really friendly people all around.

Serious Black and Tom & Henrik from Evergrey for signing those CDs for that special young man - no details needed, but you all are going to make his day when he gets that package.


Jeers:

The unnamed people who got sloppy drunk and obnoxious and intruded on other attendees' good times - please consider your actions in the future and make better life choices. Thank you.

The folks who thought it was okay to smoke cigarettes and marijuana in the venue and in the non-smoking Artmore, where we could smell the reek in the hallways- please consider your actions in the future and make better life choices. Thank you.

Crowdsurfers who apparently thought that this was Warped Tour and managed to kick any number of people in the head- please consider your actions in the future and make better life choices. Thank you.

 

[oldboy]

Cheers:
-Great line up. Seeing Blind Guardian once more gracing the PP stage was a dream come true.
-Was able to get autographs from some of my favorite bands (including Guardian!)
-Discovered a couple of gems in Lord, and Savage Messiah

Jeers:
-It was one of those years when the sound was especially bad. Keyboards were consistently drowned in the mix. Even the guitars were drowned sometimes by the bass drums, and bass guitar. Only Blind Guardian sounded good, although other bands had decent sound (Fates Warning, Rage).
-Crowdsurfing/ mosh pit. I guess it's a lost cause at this point.
-Next year's line up. I would be happy if I was a prog metal fan. Hoping I can go for Wednesday/Thursday if it balances the lineup as a whole. I wonder if the festival is moving towards a Power Metal oriented Wednesday/Thursday, and a Prog Metal oriented Friday/Saturday.

 

[ratanda]

Had a great time overall. My only jeer is that the vocals during the Fates Warning set and Devin Townsend Project set were very quiet, especially since I could hear everyone around me singing along better than I could hear the actual singers.

 

[MelbCro]

-Next year's line up. I would be happy if I was a prog metal fan. Hoping I can go for Wednesday/Thursday if it balances the lineup as a whole. I wonder if the festival is moving towards a Power Metal oriented Wednesday/Thursday, and a Prog Metal oriented Friday/Saturday.

From what I can see 6 of the 12 bands are prog. So it looks pretty diverse to me.

 

[LunaTEKKE]

* CHEERS to Glenn and Jen for hosting yet another amazing event. Thanks for persevering when you could have chosen to shut the whole party down a couple of years ago. The blood, sweat, tears, and time that you invest to make PPUSA a one-of-a-kind experience for the fans is truly appreciated.

* CHEERS to Milton and Nathan – the combined Wed/Thurs format was a great addition to the PPUSA tradition, and being in Center Stage for Wednesday night was AWESOME!

* CHEERS to the crew – almost all of the changeovers ran like clockwork.

* CHEERS to security…everyone I encountered this year was polite and efficient.

* CHEERS to all of the bands. In particular, Stream of Passion, Fates Warning, Circus Maximus, Serious Black and Haken all delivered great sets as I expected. Ascendia, Vanishing Point, Devin Townsend, and The Gentle Storm were initially not on my radar, but absolutely kicked my butt. I even enjoyed Dragonforce more than I expected. Special shoutout to Anneke. How freaking fabulous is she? Loved the Gold Badge/VIP set - new fangirl here!

* CHEERS to friends old and new who make this event so special and to ALL the fans. PPUSA is pretty much the only place in the world where strangers will strike up a conversation in the elevator.

* CHEERS to the return of Myrath and the premiere of the Portnoy (edit ) 12-step Suite in 2017. Note to self: don’t overuse emoticons. Oops.

* CHEERS to Truly Great Cupcakes for the Pumpkin and Chocolate Mint Cupcakes (and to Jodene for answering my late-night text. Hopefully, she was awake!)

* CHEERS to Lance King for the awesome coffee – I’m enjoying it now!

* CHEERS to the nice couple who offered to let me be seated in front of them at the Silver Skillet on Sunday when I was waiting on two friends.

* CHEERS to getting to explore the Atlanta Botanical Garden this year, in my 11th trip to ATL. I didn’t even know there was one! The Chihuly exhibit was amazing.


* JEERS to people who don’t pick up their trash and to those who spend an entire band’s set surfing the Internet!

* JEERS to me for taking a later flight on Wednesday and missing LORD’s cover of Creeping Death.

* JEERS to moshing and crowd surfing.

* JEERS to pre-recorded intros that last more than about 15 seconds. Play another song instead!

* JEERS to canned keyboards. If keyboards are integral part of your sound, bring an extra band member to play them live.


Not really “Jeers”, but observations…

I agree with those who commented on not being able to hear the keyboards – but I think this is an issue at most metal shows, not just PPUSA. You know that old adage about packing where you should lay out everything you want to take – and then dump half your stuff and take twice the money? I think that once soundcheck is complete, you should double the keyboards and cut everything else in half. Then it should come out about right.

I would love to see some healthier food options inside the venue – or go back to the days when we could bring in outside food. (Not sure if the no outside food thing was a new rule from a few years ago – or if they just started enforcing it).

Someone (paging Lance King) could make a fortune with a coffee cart. I’m old and tired, and there comes a point in each day when I would pay $20 for a cup of coffee. Seriously.

I feel like I’ve socialized a lot less and spent a lot less time in the merch room over the last couple of years, because I’m totally paranoid about not leaving my seat open for too long. I know I’m in the minority, but I don’t get the towel hate – unless it’s directed at folks who save seats and then disappear for long periods of time.