Melodic Rock Fest 3

Eclipse is an amazing band. So much energy and amazing vocals. I thought Heaven and Earth were great as well.

Line of fire tore up the acoustic set. I would live to see them plugged in. Shawn has a fantastic voice
 
The venue was pretty nice and the staff were all very friendly - probably a great place to see a regular tour with a 2-3 bands, but it wasn't great for 15+ hour days. This is the same problem I had with MRF2, just too many bands and the days were too long. They did a great job staying on schedule at first, but eventually minor delays added up and pretty soon they were an hour or more behind. The only 2 was I can think of that this venue surpassed Center Stage was that there was plenty of free parking and the variety of food & drinks available (the food was quite good too). Although they were a little inconsistent with their rules concerning ordering food on the venue side - Friday they made us to to the bar side, but both Saturday and Sunday they let us order from the same menu while watching the bands.

I met quite a few Progpower folk at the fest - Justin spotted my PP shirt and came over to say hello before I had been inside more than a few minutes (nice to meet ya dude!). Even one of the crew members wore a PP shirt one of the days (VII I think). My Circus Maximus shirt from this year got a lot of comments too.

I thought The Radio Sun was an odd choice to lead off the fest. Most bands were US based and it seemed odd to fly in a band from Australia for 2 30-minute sets, but they wound up being a lot of fun. Most of the bands hung out for the weekend (and represented no small percentage of the crowd at times) and were pretty accessible. David Reese hugged and thanked me when he saw I brought a Bangalore Choir CD for him to sign. Yea, is was as creepy and uncomfortable as it sounds. They did play 2 Bangalore Choir songs though, so that was awesome. WET, Harem Scarem, House of Lords and Eclipse were all must-see bands for me and they didn't disappoint. I was spent after Eclipse, and this was the first time I had dragged my wife along to a fest like this, so we left before Maxx Explosion. Since it is basically House of Lords without James Christian I would've loved to have seen them, but it was already 2am. Way past my bedtime. Did anyone hang around for them? What was the supposed "surprise announcement" they were promising?

Bottom line - fun, long weekend, but I think Andrew should attend Progpower once and pick up a few tips on how to polish the festival experience.
 
I was the crew member wearing the Progpower shirt :). Progpower is a very polished machine. I've been attending since 2006 and I have been impressed every year. I've worked production for over 20 years and I can tell you that what they do is not easy. As far as Maxx Explosion there was no surprise announcement. I might have missed it but nothing sticks out.
 
You expected more than 350 for this? At that price?

That's honestly a much higher turnout than I would have expected.

I was just surprised 7th Heaven played as they are one of the many cover bands that literally play over 100 shows during the course of the summer around Chicago land. I recently learned they do perform originals now.
 
Here are some vids I shot:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM2njK1zsQ&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zphj5UZhn3o&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qguZtrjzNco&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]
 
Jasonic said:
I was just surprised 7th Heaven played as they are one of the many cover bands that literally play over 100 shows during the course of the summer around Chicago land. I recently learned they do perform originals now.
Click to expand...

They only played originals, and from what I was told they pack that venue on a regular basis. I can see why they would.
 
You expected more than 350 for this? At that price?

That's honestly a much higher turnout than I would have expected.
Click to expand...

Ticket sales were higher than that (at least I think they were). Like me, a lot of people were in and out. Seeing only the bands they wanted to see. The in and out policy was great.....to long of days to see all the bands. At least it was for me. What I saw though was really good.
 
Well that's great to hear.
There was a lot of "star power" there, but a lot of the suburban hard rock fans, even if they were fans of the bands these guys used to be in, would have little clue as to what they do today.

Also, this is a really new venue as well.

Stuff there seems to be expensive.
I wanna say Blue OYster Cult charged like $40 there.

I suppose to some that may not be a lot, but for a band who you can usually catch at a suburban Summer 4th of July type of event, it is.
 
Jasonic said:
Well that's great to hear.
There was a lot of "star power" there, but a lot of the suburban hard rock fans, even if they were fans of the bands these guys used to be in, would have little clue as to what they do today.

Also, this is a really new venue as well.

Stuff there seems to be expensive.
I wanna say Blue OYster Cult charged like $40 there.

I suppose to some that may not be a lot, but for a band who you can usually catch at a suburban Summer 4th of July type of event, it is.
Click to expand...

You can't really look at this as something that is supposed to draw locals. It's a destination event, and would probably draw the same crowd anywhere in the US. And as you noted, the price tag isn't one that encourages people to just drop by and check it out.
 
Did any of you guys catch Ferreira's set?

Not sure if you did, but in case you didn't realize, they had a great triple-vocal action going on...

The main singer is Marc Ferreira, who used to sing for Venturia.

The other singer/rhythm guitarist was none other than Gus Monsanto, former PP Alumn with Adagio and also Revolution Renaissance, etc...
 
AngraRULES said:
Did any of you guys catch Ferreira's set?

Not sure if you did, but in case you didn't realize, they had a great triple-vocal action going on...

The main singer is Marc Ferreira, who used to sing for Venturia.

The other singer/rhythm guitarist was none other than Gus Monsanto, former PP Alumn with Adagio and also Revolution Renaissance, etc...
Click to expand...

I caught some of it. It didn't impress.
 
Justin G said:
You can't really look at this as something that is supposed to draw locals. It's a destination event, and would probably draw the same crowd anywhere in the US. And as you noted, the price tag isn't one that encourages people to just drop by and check it out.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
Who puts this on by the way?
Is it someone with a Chicago connection?
 
AngraRULES said:
Huh, that's disappointing. I'd love to have seen that, though my biggest draw would've been Eclipse. Hugely jealous of the guys who got to see them.

Thanks to Ytsejammer for introducing them to me.
Click to expand...

You might have dug it more than I did. The songs weren't that memorable to me, even if the talent was obvious. I felt the same way about Ashes of Ares.

And Eclipse was so so good. Huge energy and just a great performance.
 
For those of you who missed us, here's a tune for ya.

It was great to meet several of PPUSA friends there. We appreciate the camaraderie we felt.


" Warrior " by InnerSiege @ Melodic RockFest 3 - 2013




Thanks again all who stopped us and said " hello " !
 
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