Cheers 'n Jeers '12

[AMBR]

+1

Amaranthe deserves special kudos. For those unaware, Lufthansa lost their luggage that contained all of their backing tracks. We met at 1100 that morning to discuss the situation as their stuff would not arrive in time. I seriously thought they were going to have to go with an unplugged show. However, they worked all day to get the tracks from their producer overseas into a basic format that would work. Thus, they had to start every song from an ipod without any rehearsal. It was hell on them, but they came across as total pros.


~Jen

They slayed it. Was shocked to hear what they had to work with. Total pros those guys. Hope to see them again soon...somewhere.

 

[mattbrood]

my only real jeer goes out to myself.

speaking as your roommate..you get only cheers from me

 

[nailz]

They slayed it. Was shocked to hear what they had to work with. Total pros those guys. Hope to see them again soon...somewhere.

I would not be shocked to see them touring the US soon, either as a small headliner or tagging along and stealing the show from a bigger name.

 

[DADRocks]

I would not be shocked to see them touring the US soon, either as a small headliner or tagging along and stealing the show from a bigger name.

I agree. Amaranthe's music seams like it would go over really good here in the States if it could just get some radio play. And yeah, if they do open up for someone, the headliner better look out.

 

[AngraRULES]

According to Elize, they'll be hopefully touring the US once the new album is released (remember, the last one didn't get a US release).

 

[Andy Laudano]

I'll start with a jeer to myself for taking so long to write this!

CHEERS:

Glenn, Jenn and the crew for putting on this amazing festival every year and all the hard work they do!

My awesome roomies, Taylor, London and Dewey!

Dewey, for driving the whole way down from Texas to Atlanta and getting us there in plenty of time to get checked into the hotel and get me to Uproar Festival so I could see Fozzy before going to Nightwish/Kamelot Wed. Also for getting up and getting me to the venue when I needed to be there, late night munchie runs and driving most of the way back too.

To Glenn for making sure I got to shoot Nightwish/Kamelot on Wed! Nightwish's management got a bit stingy with photo passes and a lot of photographers didn't get to shoot them. Glenn had previously OK'd me for the show and when I found out I wasn't on the list he took care of it despite having a hundred other things to do.

To all my fellow photographers. It was a pleasure to share the pit with you again. Not sure who the problem guy was. Guess I got lucky and missed him.

Seeing all of my extended metal ProgPower family! I only wish I had even more time to spend with you!

All the Birthday wishes. Special thanks to my fellow 9/11 Birthday Bobbie for making and sharing cupcakes to cellebrate, Su for my own Birthday baggie of Vodka Gummis, Jim "Poppa Pepper" for his bag of Pepper Powder and Leah for the awesome Randy Rhoades magazine! All of you made this Birthday extra special!

Sitting around in the Courtyard, singing Dio, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin songs with Urban Breed, a guy with an acoustic guitar and a bunch of other friends. Priceless!

The awesome Jon Oliva workshop! So entertaining and the songs in between recording were pure gold! Especially "When the Crowds Are Gone"

To Nightwish for the touching tribute to Marc Brueland. As someone who was there for PPUSA IV, I'm not ashamed to admit to shedding a few tears.

All of the bands were so accessible and all of them put on amazing shows! Serenity really stole the show and totally deserved that standing ovation! Other favorites were Pretty Maids, Sinbreed, Mystic Prophecy, Epica and Symphony X.

To Clementine for being so sweet and approachable that I took multiple photos with her. All of Serenity really seemed to go above and beyond and really embraced the spirit of the fest.

To Floor Jansen for also going above and beyond for the fans. After MaYaN's signing session, the band did group photos with fans. Floor knew that there were quite a few fans there that really wanted to get photos with just her, so after everyone finished the group photos, she stayed extra to take solo photos with everyone too. Total class act!

To Bacon Dave for the Pizza!

To Vespucci's for the awesome food and changing their hours to cater to us. To The Varsity for being so awesome! To Krystal's for being open all night and those little burgers having the magic power to prevent hangovers!

Knowing there WILL be a ProgPower next year!

JEERS

Time for going by way too fast!

Missing the first few minutes of the Jon Oliva workshop thanks to heavy traffic. I missed seeing how he did the drums.

Somehow I missed out on the metal cupcakes.

Didn't make it to The Vortex this year.

People who can't hold their alcohol and the Police shutting down the after party

The Alabama Police for pulling us over on the way home and all the heavy rain we had to go through going home

The long wait until next year!

 

[Virtual Scott]

I forgot one jeer:

-Noodle dancing girl in the red Dixie Dregs shirt. And no bra. *shudder*. What the hell was that? I don't know what music she was dancing to, but it wasn't the music that was happening in the venue. And she was screaming so loudly you could actually hear her over the music. "DRUM SOLO!!!! DRUM SOLO!!!!!! DON'T YOU WANNA SEE A DRUM SOLO!!!!!!!!!" Lady, I play drums. Nobody has ever, in the history of concerts ever wanted to see a drum solo. Shut the hell up. This is what happens when you're on acid I guess (We were discussing it with the security guard at the front of the stage. We thought it was ecstasy but he said as a security guard he's seen both ecstasy and acid and he felt this one was likely an acid trip).

Hahaha! I thought she was planted for "audience entertainment". Was this the chick on the floor, all the way to the right? Our posse had hours of entertainment from here mere presence and "dance style" alone. Noodle dancing and shimmying to Mystic Prophecy and Pretty Maids - well, whoever said it couldn't be done... you are right. But this (drunk/high/bombed/tripping?) chick certainly tried her best... whether she was right in the mind or totally out of it, doesn't even matter. Totally hilarious and I have to say - thanks for the fine self-invented choreography from the Fourth Circle of Dance hell. She rules!

 

[Virtual Scott]

Cheers
IMO the best 3 days of music and performances in the history of this festival
Divine Wings played in its entirety
Redemption with the best set of the weekend
My posse(Me, Virtual Scott,Tara Babcock,and J Vu)and the nonstop hillarity the entire time wherever we went(ask Locust/Jim about our journey to Steak and Shake Thurs night
GANGMAN STYLE(part of the said hillarity
Varasanos
The Melia(will be back there)
Serenity
Solution 45
Lanfear
Seeing everyone again
Glen and Jenn

Well said, well put and well played by all participants in the posse, intentionally or not. It was pretty epic, wasn't it? And yeah, Acid-tripping Noodle Girl was certainly one of the more entertaining highlights. Imagine what she could do, Gangnam-Style?