ProgPower fest DO's and DONT's

E

enki3600

MetalHead & Engineer
Sep 20, 2004
151
0
16
As another fantastic year of ProgPower comes to a close, I constantly strive to tweak out the experience. I've attempted to plan out the best possible way for things to go down, and naturally some things fail, some things work out much better. I have compiled a list of DO's and DONT's from personal and immediate experience that you can hopefully either benefit from or laugh about :)

**DO** enjoy yourself, no matter who you are!
**DO** bring LOTS of money! There is an insane amount of awesome merchandise that (in the midwest) can only be purchased from the internet!
**DO** mingle with everybody! It's overwhelming how spectacularly friendly these people are, and how much you can have in common with any given person there.
**DO** bring extra batteries, so that if your camera dies in the middle of Therion's performance, you're not left hanging!
**DO** go to the diner that's in the place that used to be referred to as "the gay Denny's". The service is excellent, and the food is magnificent.
**DO** buy your friends drinks the following year if they were hospitable to you last year! For a whole year I felt like such a bastard because I mooched off Lance's hospitality last year, luckily I found him this year and was able to repay the favor!


**DO NOT** start a mosh pit in the PP crowd. Wrong crowd, and I saw a lot of people with high dollar cameras that would be nonplussed if one broke. I only did see 2 of the culprits that engaged in it, and they both looked to be around the age 14-17 level of immaturity.
**DO NOT** forget CDs at your place that you want the bands to sign!
**DO NOT** consume 4 or more Long Island Teas in a relatively short period of time if you intend to retain the contents of your stomach!
**DO NOT** forget to take the batteries out of the charger and put them back in your camera! It is especially antagonizing to realize this only when you find the camera won't work when you're about to have a picture taken with Roy.
**DO NOT** forget to take rush hour into account when commuting to EarthLink, for missing the first band of the evening that also happens to be your favorite is a very disgruntling thing indeed.
**DO NOT** have someone sign your forehead, promise you'll email him the picture, then wake up the next day after losing the email address and being shown the picture wondering just "how f***ing drunk was I?!?" :loco:


I realize perhaps some of this (ie: cameras and moshing) may have been discussed to death. But maybe some people can still get a laugh out of this. All in all, I am again amazed at the respectability of people. AND to see the rather large age gap at the show! There were a lot of young kids there this year, easily age 10 or under, as well as at least ONE elderly lady, whom I saw being helped out of the auditorium, easily looked to be in her 70s. That's freakin' cool! :cool:

Also, I had a really freakin' good time! I talked with Manticora (well, mostly Lars) a couple times, and really enjoyed that they were the upstanding and amazing guys I hoped they'd be! I also got them to sign a Dan Simmons' book I'm reading, since they got me freakin hooked on his books!

Next year, anybody that comes up to mingle with me I'll buy a drink! It is my civil duty to all you metalheads that make the experience great, and to help propagate your inebriation so that fun can be had by all!
 
NICE LIST - thanks for the heads up!

enki3600 said:
As another fantastic year of ProgPower comes to a close, I constantly strive to tweak out the experience. I've attempted to plan out the best possible way for things to go down, and naturally some things fail, some things work out much better. I have compiled a list of DO's and DONT's from personal and immediate experience that you can hopefully either benefit from or laugh about :)

**DO** enjoy yourself, no matter who you are!
**DO** bring LOTS of money! There is an insane amount of awesome merchandise that (in the midwest) can only be purchased from the internet!
**DO** mingle with everybody! It's overwhelming how spectacularly friendly these people are, and how much you can have in common with any given person there.
**DO** bring extra batteries, so that if your camera dies in the middle of Therion's performance, you're not left hanging!
**DO** go to the diner that's in the place that used to be referred to as "the gay Denny's". The service is excellent, and the food is magnificent.
**DO** buy your friends drinks the following year if they were hospitable to you last year! For a whole year I felt like such a bastard because I mooched off Lance's hospitality last year, luckily I found him this year and was able to repay the favor!


**DO NOT** start a mosh pit in the PP crowd. Wrong crowd, and I saw a lot of people with high dollar cameras that would be nonplussed if one broke. I only did see 2 of the culprits that engaged in it, and they both looked to be around the age 14-17 level of immaturity.
**DO NOT** forget CDs at your place that you want the bands to sign!
**DO NOT** consume 4 or more Long Island Teas in a relatively short period of time if you intend to retain the contents of your stomach!
**DO NOT** forget to take the batteries out of the charger and put them back in your camera! It is especially antagonizing to realize this only when you find the camera won't work when you're about to have a picture taken with Roy.
**DO NOT** forget to take rush hour into account when commuting to EarthLink, for missing the first band of the evening that also happens to be your favorite is a very disgruntling thing indeed.
**DO NOT** have someone sign your forehead, promise you'll email him the picture, then wake up the next day after losing the email address and being shown the picture wondering just "how f***ing drunk was I?!?" :loco:


I realize perhaps some of this (ie: cameras and moshing) may have been discussed to death. But maybe some people can still get a laugh out of this. All in all, I am again amazed at the respectability of people. AND to see the rather large age gap at the show! There were a lot of young kids there this year, easily age 10 or under, as well as at least ONE elderly lady, whom I saw being helped out of the auditorium, easily looked to be in her 70s. That's freakin' cool! :cool:

Also, I had a really freakin' good time! I talked with Manticora (well, mostly Lars) a couple times, and really enjoyed that they were the upstanding and amazing guys I hoped they'd be! I also got them to sign a Dan Simmons' book I'm reading, since they got me freakin hooked on his books!

Next year, anybody that comes up to mingle with me I'll buy a drink! It is my civil duty to all you metalheads that make the experience great, and to help propagate your inebriation so that fun can be had by all!
Click to expand...
 
DO thank any band member you run into.

DO NOT tell them you didn't like their set.

DO hail King Glenn by saluting with the horns and a sacrificial offering of beer.

DO NOT bitch Glenn out about vendors not having the exact album you wanted to buy (I caught wind of an argument as I was walking through the vendors... wish I knew if he actually did bitch to Glenn in person or not).
 
**DO** eat a large meal before you go.
**DO** wear ear plugs.
**DO** throw the horns for every song for every band.
**DO** make fun of goofy ass heavy metal fans and their fashion choices.
**DO** scream for me Atlanta until your voice is gone.
**DO** buy the official merchandise - t-shirts & dvd.
**DO** sit out in the lobby for the whole show getting drunk or whorish if that's your thing.
**DO** try at least one band you don't know if you'd like if you've never heard them before.
**DO** provide constructive criticism of bands, performers, and performances.
**DO** wear your black t-shirt all day in the blazing hot sun. It's metal.
**DO** personally say (quickly) Hi & Thanks to Glenn and Crew regardless of how little you know them.
**DO** get off your lazy butt and get wild and crazy for at least one band.

**DO NOT** stuff socks in your pants.
**DO NOT** jump off the stage when the crowd is a bunch of arms-crossed prog fags.
**DO NOT** stick a size 18 body into a size 10 corset.
**DO NOT** wear a han solo t-shirt on stage if your band does death metal.
**DO NOT** save an entire row of seats for anyone who is not your significant other or childhood best friend.
**DO NOT** give simulated blowjobs to your lead guitarist - we wanks just fine on his own.
**DO NOT** puke anywhere except for your own hotel room.
**DO NOT** come back and nitpick the event, venue, or organization.
**DO NOT** stay for bands you know you hate and then tell us how much more you hated them.
**DO NOT** expect perfect weather.
**DO NOT** miss your flight back.

Joe
 
DO bring at least one pair of comfy shoes to wear at the afterparties. Your feet will hurt so bad that walking back to the hotel room will be grueling. No matter how "metal" you're trying to be, you'll wish you had your dorky old sneakers or flipflops to slip into.

DO bring enough $$$ to get by and to buy drinks for your friends. For those that took care of my slack-ass this year - I owe you BIG next time around!

DO try to eat well. With all the drinking, partying, and expending of energy, it's important to keep your body fueled up. With so many people from all around the world, you are bound to be exposed to new germs. You need to make sure that your body can fight these off, and all the vitamins in the world will do you no good if your body doesn't have the energy to process it's defenses.

DO give yourself plenty of time to travel. There's nothing worse than leaving the afterparties early to catch a few hours of sleep before driving home Sunday morning with a killer hangover.

DO go to the afterparties. You'll meet tons of great people and you'll walk away with some of the best memories of the weekend!

DO thank every band member you run into. We're all in this together and everyone has traveled so far to make this show an awesome event. Crew, bands, fans - everyone deserves a round of thanks!

DO be excellent to eachother. Bill & Ted had it right. The PP crowd is known for it's awesome attitude. I don't know any place that has the same quality of fellowship in such a large number of people!

DO be excellent to the hotel staff. They put up with our shit, especially at the Granada, the least we can do is thank them and respect when they ask us to move along or quiet down.

DON'T leave those comfy shoes behind thinking, "I'll never wear these, it's ametal show!"... see "DO" above re: Shoes.

DON'T decide to miss the festival because you don't have enough money to buy merchandise. Despite the "DO" above regarding money, merchandise is the least valuable thing you'll take away from the event. To miss such a great time because you can't buy a bunch of cd's, or even a bunch of drinks, is something you'll regret.

DON'T forget to say goodbye to all the people you met. If you do, try to find them afterwards, like here on the forum.

DON'T wait to buy the t-shirt. They will sell out before you know it.

DON'T miss an entire set of a band.. try to see at least one song. That way you can decide if you'd like to see the rest of the set. Plus reading people's reactions afterwards is always better when you at least saw the band onstage.

DON'T tell your friends you'll be somewhere specific. You can't guarantee what will happen, and it's not cool to leave your friends hanging when they haven't seen you in a year.

DON'T forget to keep you e-mail address updated with Glenn if you're on the Gold Badge list.

DON'T miss a single year from here on out! :D

Tammy
 
MetalRose said:
**DO** Kick the ass of every guy who bitches about corsets.
Click to expand...

Especially if he's stuffing a size 44 gut into a pair of size 38 pants or is exposing the shag carpet on his back by wearing a tank top or is wearing a Manowar or Dream Evil t-shirt.

MetalRose said:
**DO** Laugh at how the guys are pickier about clothing choices, while the women don't really care.
Click to expand...

Guys are only pickier about the clothing choices of women other than their own. Jean, tennis shoes, black shirt. That's the dress code for guys at metal concerts. It doesn't leave room for pickiness. A man with an interest in personal service, so to speak, learns quickly to keep his mouth shut about what his personal servant, so to speak, chooses to wear. I packed two progpower shirts with plans to buy a third for this weekend. Just because I made sure that I wore them in numerical order doesn't make me picky. It makes me progressive.

MetalRose said:
**DO** Laugh at clothing choices. Sometimes things are done for the sake of putting a smile on someone.
Click to expand...

No. You must embrace the entire fashion spectrum - clothing by itself is not enough. A home-dyed skullet can be every bit as funny as bubble wrap. The DC Cooper rock star bling was funny.

MetalRose said:
**DO NOT** Walk out of the resturant with TP hanging....
Click to expand...

From where? A shoe is OK. Your ass when you are wearing bubble wrap is probably not OK with the uptight your corset isn't as nice as mine guy. If it's hanging out of your corset then well - we might have known.
 
Joe-× said:
Especially if he's stuffing a size 44 gut into a pair of size 38 pants or is exposing the shag carpet on his back by wearing a tank top or is wearing a Manowar or Dream Evil t-shirt.



Guys are only pickier about the clothing choices of women other than their own. Jean, tennis shoes, black shirt. That's the dress code for guys at metal concerts. It doesn't leave room for pickiness. A man with an interest in personal service, so to speak, learns quickly to keep his mouth shut about what his personal servant, so to speak, chooses to wear. I packed two progpower shirts with plans to buy a third for this weekend. Just because I made sure that I wore them in numerical order doesn't make me picky. It makes me progressive.



No. You must embrace the entire fashion spectrum - clothing by itself is not enough. A home-dyed skullet can be every bit as funny as bubble wrap. The DC Cooper rock star bling was funny.



From where? A shoe is OK. Your ass when you are wearing bubble wrap is probably not OK with the uptight your corset isn't as nice as mine guy. If it's hanging out of your corset then well - we might have known.
Click to expand...

and *I* thought i was an ass... you take the cake pal....

whats wrong with Dream Evil?
 
This being my first PP where was this list PRIOR to me getting there! :tickled:

I was only guilty of a couple....not eating enough prior to drinking too much! :tickled:
THANKYOU ALL FOR A PHENOMENAL WEEKEND!!!
 
Ha, I've obviously overlooked many of them :tickled:

The Han Solo shirt was pretty funny. I couldn't tell what it was during the show, and it wasn't until I was looking through the pictures I took (the few I snapped before the camera died!) and said "haha, that was a freakin star wars shirt!"

I suppose as far as travel goes from last and this year:
**DO** watch the weather, a freakin hurricane can make you miss part of the fest from cancelling your flight!

**DO NOT** drink yourself silly until 5am during an aftershow party when your plane leaves at 7am. (I still have no recollection of the atlanta airport aside from a few stumbles. And having had beer poured in my mouth from the balcony above, I can't imagine I smelled pleasant)

**DO NOT** try to pass off an overstuffed dufflebag as "carry on" so that your CDs won't get crushed. They will make you check it!
 
Joe-× said:
Guys are only pickier about the clothing choices of women other than their own. Jean, tennis shoes, black shirt. That's the dress code for guys at metal concerts. It doesn't leave room for pickiness. A man with an interest in personal service, so to speak, learns quickly to keep his mouth shut about what his personal servant, so to speak, chooses to wear. I packed two progpower shirts with plans to buy a third for this weekend. Just because I made sure that I wore them in numerical order doesn't make me picky. It makes me progressive.
Click to expand...

I just meant it was funnier because this year the girls were loving each other, but the guys were bitching about what other women were wearing. Found it to be a total 180 is all.


Joe-X said:
No. You must embrace the entire fashion spectrum - clothing by itself is not enough. A home-dyed skullet can be every bit as funny as bubble wrap. The DC Cooper rock star bling was funny.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. It's the whole picture, not just the clothing.

BTW, who said they were going to wear a corset on their ass? I never saw it.. they must have pussed out....

-Metal
 
The Gay Denny's is not there anymore? what is it called now?
Man, shows you what i know.



enki3600 said:
As another fantastic year of ProgPower comes to a close, I constantly strive to tweak out the experience. I've attempted to plan out the best possible way for things to go down, and naturally some things fail, some things work out much better. I have compiled a list of DO's and DONT's from personal and immediate experience that you can hopefully either benefit from or laugh about :)

**DO** enjoy yourself, no matter who you are!
**DO** bring LOTS of money! There is an insane amount of awesome merchandise that (in the midwest) can only be purchased from the internet!
**DO** mingle with everybody! It's overwhelming how spectacularly friendly these people are, and how much you can have in common with any given person there.
**DO** bring extra batteries, so that if your camera dies in the middle of Therion's performance, you're not left hanging!
**DO** go to the diner that's in the place that used to be referred to as "the gay Denny's". The service is excellent, and the food is magnificent.
**DO** buy your friends drinks the following year if they were hospitable to you last year! For a whole year I felt like such a bastard because I mooched off Lance's hospitality last year, luckily I found him this year and was able to repay the favor!


**DO NOT** start a mosh pit in the PP crowd. Wrong crowd, and I saw a lot of people with high dollar cameras that would be nonplussed if one broke. I only did see 2 of the culprits that engaged in it, and they both looked to be around the age 14-17 level of immaturity.
**DO NOT** forget CDs at your place that you want the bands to sign!
**DO NOT** consume 4 or more Long Island Teas in a relatively short period of time if you intend to retain the contents of your stomach!
**DO NOT** forget to take the batteries out of the charger and put them back in your camera! It is especially antagonizing to realize this only when you find the camera won't work when you're about to have a picture taken with Roy.
**DO NOT** forget to take rush hour into account when commuting to EarthLink, for missing the first band of the evening that also happens to be your favorite is a very disgruntling thing indeed.
**DO NOT** have someone sign your forehead, promise you'll email him the picture, then wake up the next day after losing the email address and being shown the picture wondering just "how f***ing drunk was I?!?" :loco:


I realize perhaps some of this (ie: cameras and moshing) may have been discussed to death. But maybe some people can still get a laugh out of this. All in all, I am again amazed at the respectability of people. AND to see the rather large age gap at the show! There were a lot of young kids there this year, easily age 10 or under, as well as at least ONE elderly lady, whom I saw being helped out of the auditorium, easily looked to be in her 70s. That's freakin' cool! :cool:

Also, I had a really freakin' good time! I talked with Manticora (well, mostly Lars) a couple times, and really enjoyed that they were the upstanding and amazing guys I hoped they'd be! I also got them to sign a Dan Simmons' book I'm reading, since they got me freakin hooked on his books!

Next year, anybody that comes up to mingle with me I'll buy a drink! It is my civil duty to all you metalheads that make the experience great, and to help propagate your inebriation so that fun can be had by all!
Click to expand...
 
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