While ProgPowerUSA is on track to a sell-out, another established and respected festival throws in the towel:
http://nearfest.com/news.asp
http://nearfest.com/news.asp
Nearfest canceled
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Although I wasn't a fan of the format (especially the Long Breaks between bands), it was a really well run show... Some quality bands played in that stage through the years. I hope the bounce back in 2012.
Harvester
The Promoter
That truly sucks. I wish everyone involved the best and hope they can bounce back in 2012.
I think everyone can now see why early ticket sales are important to indy festival promoters. You just cannot afford to wait till the last minute in hopes of that sales rebound. I truly appreciate everyone that has bought their ticket already.
The brutal truth is that I need to keep pushing for those early sales instead of late summer sales. I'm sure several of you are asking what's the difference- a sale is a sale regardless of when. That's true for 2011. However, I plan 2012 based on my current state in 2011. If you want me to go for that miracle show that takes up the majority of my budget in 2012, then I need the confidence to do so based on current resources, not potential future resources.
So if you know someone that is planing to go...give 'em that nudge (and get both of you into the Gold Badges for life contest).
I think everyone can now see why early ticket sales are important to indy festival promoters. You just cannot afford to wait till the last minute in hopes of that sales rebound. I truly appreciate everyone that has bought their ticket already.
The brutal truth is that I need to keep pushing for those early sales instead of late summer sales. I'm sure several of you are asking what's the difference- a sale is a sale regardless of when. That's true for 2011. However, I plan 2012 based on my current state in 2011. If you want me to go for that miracle show that takes up the majority of my budget in 2012, then I need the confidence to do so based on current resources, not potential future resources.
So if you know someone that is planing to go...give 'em that nudge (and get both of you into the Gold Badges for life contest).
nailz
Member
I know at least one ticket you're going to get and possibly 3, late, due to school. It aint 300, but it's something.
Harvester
The Promoter
Thanks Nailz. I'm in *great* shape for this year. I'd just like to be in *great* shape for next year as I'd really like to go after something more.
AngraRULES
Member
Same here. I got a buddy coming this year for the first time, and I know for a fact it won't be his last.
Back to Nearfest, it's a real bummer. I wasn't a fan of the format, and I wasn't a fan of a lot of the bands (or the behavior of the crowd for that matter). I know, however, how passionate that Nearfest regular crowd was. They were there year after year. I feel bad for the guys behind the festival.
Back to Nearfest, it's a real bummer. I wasn't a fan of the format, and I wasn't a fan of a lot of the bands (or the behavior of the crowd for that matter). I know, however, how passionate that Nearfest regular crowd was. They were there year after year. I feel bad for the guys behind the festival.
This is really sad to see. Some really cool bands have played NEARFest, and I've always wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, I can only afford one expensive trip to a festival each year, and the day I stop going to ProgPower is the day it stops running.
I'm actually quite surprised that the festival's ticket sales were so slow, considering that Umphrey's McGee was on the bill. That band has developed such a rabid following that people flock to see them all over the place.
Anyway, I hope this isn't the end of NEARFest altogether. I wish the best of luck to the promoters.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
I'm actually quite surprised that the festival's ticket sales were so slow, considering that Umphrey's McGee was on the bill. That band has developed such a rabid following that people flock to see them all over the place.
Anyway, I hope this isn't the end of NEARFest altogether. I wish the best of luck to the promoters.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
That's a shame. I recently edited a book about North American festivals in which an article about NEARfest was included, and we found NEARfest's staff to be very helpful and affable.
I was also tasked with selecting the photos for the article, and found that it was not particularly easy to find images of NEARfest performances that featured bands whose members look as if they were born after the Lincoln presidency. I assume that this demographic observation carries over to the audience, which may be why the organizers tried booking younger, more eclectic bands this year. Unfortunately, at this point in its existence, NEARfest kinda is what it is, so a lineup shift as drastic as what they attempted was doomed to fail.
If they decide to continue NEARfest in 2012, I think the organizers should consider the way Glenn books ProgPower as an excellent example of how a festival can have its cake and eat it too: Remember who your core audience is and book top acts that will satisfy it, but also attempt to push the boundaries of what the festival is on the "undercard" in order to attract new fans. If the people who come for Arcturus find that they like more traditional ProgPowery fare -- such as Mob Rules or Eldritch -- maybe they come back next year; and conversely, if Arcturus goes down a storm with the traditional ProgPower crowd (and they will), maybe Glenn will book an act that's even more "out there" and further expand the ProgPower audience. It seems that success on this level is more about pushing boundaries than redefining them.
I'll just use myself as an example here. I've been a fan of progressive and power metal for quite some time, and as such, I was drawn to the ProgPower idea from the beginning. I attended in 2002 and had a wonderful time. But as I've grown older, I've perceived that progressive and power metal have become increasingly stale, and my musical taste has expanded a great deal as a result. In certain directions, ProgPower has kept up with me; the fact that both Arcturus (one of my new favorites) and Labyrinth (one of my old favorites that put out a hell of an album last year) are playing this year makes me very, very happy, and I desperately want to attend. (My financial situation will likely determine the outcome, but I'm doing my damnedest to figure something out.) And the thing is, Arcturus being on the bill doesn't seem unnatural at all, because in the past, ProgPower has presented acts such as Spiral Architect, Devin, Freak Kitchen, DSO, and Leprous. Conversely, if you don't like '70s prog, you never had any business attending NEARfest. The reason that NEARfest can't get away with having Umphrey's as a headliner is because the organizers never even hinted to their audience that such a thing was a) possible, or b) desirable. They made their big, proggy bed, and now they must slumber proggily in it.
(And by the way, the NEARfest photos I chose were of Liquid Tension Experiment, Riverside, and Pure Reason Revolution. So if you're thumbing through Amazing Festivals at Barnes & Noble in a few months and see Mariusz Duda staring back at you, you're witnessing the influence of 1000 Faces.)
I was also tasked with selecting the photos for the article, and found that it was not particularly easy to find images of NEARfest performances that featured bands whose members look as if they were born after the Lincoln presidency. I assume that this demographic observation carries over to the audience, which may be why the organizers tried booking younger, more eclectic bands this year. Unfortunately, at this point in its existence, NEARfest kinda is what it is, so a lineup shift as drastic as what they attempted was doomed to fail.
If they decide to continue NEARfest in 2012, I think the organizers should consider the way Glenn books ProgPower as an excellent example of how a festival can have its cake and eat it too: Remember who your core audience is and book top acts that will satisfy it, but also attempt to push the boundaries of what the festival is on the "undercard" in order to attract new fans. If the people who come for Arcturus find that they like more traditional ProgPowery fare -- such as Mob Rules or Eldritch -- maybe they come back next year; and conversely, if Arcturus goes down a storm with the traditional ProgPower crowd (and they will), maybe Glenn will book an act that's even more "out there" and further expand the ProgPower audience. It seems that success on this level is more about pushing boundaries than redefining them.
I'll just use myself as an example here. I've been a fan of progressive and power metal for quite some time, and as such, I was drawn to the ProgPower idea from the beginning. I attended in 2002 and had a wonderful time. But as I've grown older, I've perceived that progressive and power metal have become increasingly stale, and my musical taste has expanded a great deal as a result. In certain directions, ProgPower has kept up with me; the fact that both Arcturus (one of my new favorites) and Labyrinth (one of my old favorites that put out a hell of an album last year) are playing this year makes me very, very happy, and I desperately want to attend. (My financial situation will likely determine the outcome, but I'm doing my damnedest to figure something out.) And the thing is, Arcturus being on the bill doesn't seem unnatural at all, because in the past, ProgPower has presented acts such as Spiral Architect, Devin, Freak Kitchen, DSO, and Leprous. Conversely, if you don't like '70s prog, you never had any business attending NEARfest. The reason that NEARfest can't get away with having Umphrey's as a headliner is because the organizers never even hinted to their audience that such a thing was a) possible, or b) desirable. They made their big, proggy bed, and now they must slumber proggily in it.
(And by the way, the NEARfest photos I chose were of Liquid Tension Experiment, Riverside, and Pure Reason Revolution. So if you're thumbing through Amazing Festivals at Barnes & Noble in a few months and see Mariusz Duda staring back at you, you're witnessing the influence of 1000 Faces.)
5150
Member
"lower-than-expected interest in a transitional lineup of talented international acts." Thats an understatement. The bands were truly obscure for the 2011 festival. I can see why it failed to generate enough ticket sales.
While I have always toyed with going to Nearfest, it never happened because there just weren't enough bands for me to justify the expense and time. But it sure came close for several years. In the past, their were a few good bands that never or rarely played the states but had decent prog sales in the states. Probably not high enough to book a limited tour, but enough fans willing to travel across the USA to see them.
This year's Nearfest line up had little if any recognizable bands, at least from my prospective. Which is another lesson for a annual festival. You have to have a few "killer app" bands to draw the ticket sales. Glenn and I frequently disagree on what that means and I admit its not easy to define. I also don't have his resources to determine album sales. I only know what appeals to me and what gets the buzz on the forums I visit (PP Forum, PM:X, Perpetual Motion and a few band forums)
Anyway, I hope Nearfest does make a comeback with a stronger line up.
While I have always toyed with going to Nearfest, it never happened because there just weren't enough bands for me to justify the expense and time. But it sure came close for several years. In the past, their were a few good bands that never or rarely played the states but had decent prog sales in the states. Probably not high enough to book a limited tour, but enough fans willing to travel across the USA to see them.
This year's Nearfest line up had little if any recognizable bands, at least from my prospective. Which is another lesson for a annual festival. You have to have a few "killer app" bands to draw the ticket sales. Glenn and I frequently disagree on what that means and I admit its not easy to define. I also don't have his resources to determine album sales. I only know what appeals to me and what gets the buzz on the forums I visit (PP Forum, PM:X, Perpetual Motion and a few band forums)
Anyway, I hope Nearfest does make a comeback with a stronger line up.
LarryD
Member
That is such a shame --- other than Progpower, this is the other festival I've attended that is run with finesse and great enthusiasm.....its certainly a different type of crowd and atmosphere due to the nature of the music, but I've discovered lots of bands, and have seen tons of bands that I would have never gotten to see ever in my lifetime ..... only this festival and Glenn's festival make things like that possible .......
Thanks goes out to Ken Golden for allowing me to tag along to Nearfest and here's hoping they get back on track for next year .........
Thanks goes out to Ken Golden for allowing me to tag along to Nearfest and here's hoping they get back on track for next year .........
I haven't been to Nearfest, but I was pretty impressed with the operation, vibe, and community feel at last year's RoSfest (this year: Gettysburg PA May 20-22).
Judging from the available seats, they too are off to a slow start.
I'm a bit surprised. I have no idea what their attendance has been, but its sad to see another prog-rock fest having issues.
As someone who used to feel that NEARFest was an automatic no matter who was there, I do have to comment.
I never thought the undercard of NEARFest was ever a problem, or felt that they weren't diverse enough with it. I have always discovered interesting bands, if they were Crucible, Anekdoten, Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic, Isildur's Bane or Alamaailman Vasarat. Also, while I didn't always like the headliner, they usually did bands that would draw.
I think that is was that aspect that was forgotten by the new people who took over from Rob and Chad. I can't see Umphry's McGee by themselves to draw the crowd, tho they do have a pretty decent following amongst the prog community. But really, I only recognize two other names, one of which I only know because I saw them at ProgDay last year.
But, sometimes all it takes is one bad year. For me, that was 2004, the first lineup which I felt was lackluster and overall disappointing. Since then, I probably would have shown up for 2007 for Pure Reason Revolution if it weren't for the fact that I had another event which I was committed to long before NEARFest was announced which I had to attend. I really regret missing 2008, since I missed out on ticket sales.
But, I look at the last two years, and the only bands that would be attractions to me are Beardfish and Iona. Meanwhile, I have three bands that I have an interest seeing at RoSFest (Phideaux, Daemonia and The Reasoning), one other who I have seen in the past (Mars Hollow) and District 97, who I am at least familiar with through this site.
I'm not sure what the expectation is for the RoSFest folks, but the fact they are in Gettysburg helps me out because I can commute from my parent's place. (Too bad my sister doesn't live up that way anymore. That would have been even closer.)
The interesting case is ProgDay, who generally doesn't have strong draws amongst their bands, but a very loyal crowd. They do know that they are a small festival and act like it.
The problem is that Umphrey's tours pretty much nonstop, and chances are you can see them for a fraction of the cost of a NEARfest ticket if you wait a month or so. Along the same lines, most of the people who've ever wanted to see Umphrey's have probably already seen them at this point.
HAH - I just pushed someone this very morning!
This is why I bought my ticket on morning 1, Glenn.
That is also a good point. Jam Bands tend to tour a lot, tho I could see it being a situation a lot of fans of bands out of genre that they would buy albums, but not go to shows.
One thing I forgot to mention in my argument of the undercard was that I felt that was the part getting the most stale about ProgPower until Glenn brought in Freak Kitchen. Since then, he's gotten a bit more adventurous with the undercard, which has been to the benefit of the festival.
lasercd
Man Behind The Curtain
From my perspective I think ProgPower would see long term benefits from the occasional infusion of contemporary progressive rock bands. Riverside was warmly embraced by the ProgPower audience and I could easily see the same response for other bands as well. Opening up the festival a bit can only help.
My instincts tell me that Nearfest will be back...a bit wiser next time.
My instincts tell me that Nearfest will be back...a bit wiser next time.
I'm guessing Glenn will be more open to it, when he doesn't feel like he's blurring the lines between ProgPower and NearFest. I don't mind an occasional progrock band, but I want to see the prog-metal there and strong for years to come.
Harvester
The Promoter
There are a couple of 10+ page threads over at Progressive Ears worth reading:
http://www.progressiveears.com/default.asp?bhcp=1
In particular, this post seemed to be the most insightful in the "NEARfest Rant From A Former Festival Promoter" thread:
Jacob said:
I'm just going to chime in on the original post, dunno what's been discussed over all these pages.
I whole-heartedly applaud every prog festival organizer who has ever walked the earth for their amazing contribution to the entire prog revival. Without people like Rob and Chad and Greg and Steve and George and the rest, a lot of us in prog bands would simply be nowhere. Progfest and NEARfest in particular have been essential to the growth of Scandinavian prog in the 90's and noughties.
It just seems that the time has come now for prog to find a new way. The festivals have become, as was mentioned, nostalgia get-togethers. They have been artificial life-lines for stagnant acts, rather than fertile grounds for new, exciting acts. And those organizers who have tried to feature some new blood have been punished by a rather backwards-looking audience. As with NEARfest this year. I don't think blaming either the audience, the organizers or the bands has any virtue. What I think, is that the prog umbrella for too long has tried to shelter two very different things under its shade: On the one hand, the nostalgia scene, which features both the old acts that are still around, like Yes and whatever Italian band you care to mention, and "old-new" bands like Flower Kings and Transatlantic - bands that, though newish, cater mostly to very conservative audiences. On the other hand, the new progressive scene, which could include anything from The Mars Volta to Gösta Berlings Saga, and which really isn't a scene at all, especially considering that many of the bands themselves have no awareness of being part of a "prog scene". These two strands really are extremely different. There's plenty of people with a love for both (including, to a certain extent, myself). But to throw the typical fans of both scenes (the former, ageing, follicle-challenged geezers - bless'em all!, the latter young, dynamic listeners brought up to endless eclecticism and irreverence to genres - bless them too!), might just be too much of a stretch. Maybe it's time for a divorce. Let the geezers have their nostalgia-fests, and let the "new prog" bands get out on the regular rock circuit and compete with any other rock genres out there rather than put them in the geriatric ward of "prog" where the smell of old age will make them unpalatable to both the rock media and the major labels. No disrespect to either!!!
And as an a propos: Prog labels that sign new, fresh and exciting bands should be careful how they market and present the bands. Selling them in the traditional way ("washes of mellotrons, recall Eloy in their heyday, rave reception at Bolivia Art Rock Fest (BARF)") will, quite simply, sell them short. It's a new world out there.
J.
http://www.progressiveears.com/default.asp?bhcp=1
In particular, this post seemed to be the most insightful in the "NEARfest Rant From A Former Festival Promoter" thread:
Jacob said:
I'm just going to chime in on the original post, dunno what's been discussed over all these pages.
I whole-heartedly applaud every prog festival organizer who has ever walked the earth for their amazing contribution to the entire prog revival. Without people like Rob and Chad and Greg and Steve and George and the rest, a lot of us in prog bands would simply be nowhere. Progfest and NEARfest in particular have been essential to the growth of Scandinavian prog in the 90's and noughties.
It just seems that the time has come now for prog to find a new way. The festivals have become, as was mentioned, nostalgia get-togethers. They have been artificial life-lines for stagnant acts, rather than fertile grounds for new, exciting acts. And those organizers who have tried to feature some new blood have been punished by a rather backwards-looking audience. As with NEARfest this year. I don't think blaming either the audience, the organizers or the bands has any virtue. What I think, is that the prog umbrella for too long has tried to shelter two very different things under its shade: On the one hand, the nostalgia scene, which features both the old acts that are still around, like Yes and whatever Italian band you care to mention, and "old-new" bands like Flower Kings and Transatlantic - bands that, though newish, cater mostly to very conservative audiences. On the other hand, the new progressive scene, which could include anything from The Mars Volta to Gösta Berlings Saga, and which really isn't a scene at all, especially considering that many of the bands themselves have no awareness of being part of a "prog scene". These two strands really are extremely different. There's plenty of people with a love for both (including, to a certain extent, myself). But to throw the typical fans of both scenes (the former, ageing, follicle-challenged geezers - bless'em all!, the latter young, dynamic listeners brought up to endless eclecticism and irreverence to genres - bless them too!), might just be too much of a stretch. Maybe it's time for a divorce. Let the geezers have their nostalgia-fests, and let the "new prog" bands get out on the regular rock circuit and compete with any other rock genres out there rather than put them in the geriatric ward of "prog" where the smell of old age will make them unpalatable to both the rock media and the major labels. No disrespect to either!!!
And as an a propos: Prog labels that sign new, fresh and exciting bands should be careful how they market and present the bands. Selling them in the traditional way ("washes of mellotrons, recall Eloy in their heyday, rave reception at Bolivia Art Rock Fest (BARF)") will, quite simply, sell them short. It's a new world out there.
J.
