The top four bands: Prog, Prog, Melodic Death, Prog. This year it's an even split between power and prog for the top 4. I hope Wednesday and Thursday throw some bones to power fans.
From what I know of the bands, this looks pretty good. I waited too long to get tickets for this years fest because none of the bands were absolute "musts" for me. I thought I had time and was surprised at how fast tickets went this year. I'm not going to make that mistake, so I'll definitely get them when they go on sale. At the very minimum, I want to catch classic era Fates Warning. In any case, let's hope the visa problems that have plagued this year's show are addressed for next year. One of the bands that I had wanted to see once I heard their sound was Dynazty, and I would have been devastated if I had tickets for this year's show. Great job as always Glenn. I'm definitely looking forward to next year.
I stopped in and chatted with the Ascendia guys for about 10 minutes. Great guys. They seem to love what the fest is all about. I'm excited to see what they can do next year.
Very excited for Scar Symmetry. It would be really cool if they played their new album in it's entirety.
In a thread last week (which I can't locate now), Glenn said there would be no Kick-off announcement on Thursday and that he would address it during the Friday announcement. Can anyone present let us know what he said on Friday?
On Friday, I think he briefly said "I'll address all the bullshit tomorrow" before showing the video, but I don't think there was any announcement on Saturday. I was gone for a couple of the set changes though, so perhaps someone who was in the auditorium all day can confirm. Looking forward to the announcement and vaguely curious about the last minute change in cancelling the video presentation, but I have a feeling the lineups for Wed/Thu with the new format are going to be worth the extra few weeks we have to wait.
The current roster is almost split 50:50 between Prog and Power. One thing I'm confused on, is that this is now supposed to be a 4 day fest. So are they going to offer tickets separately still for Friday/Saturday, and how will the Thursday and Friday tickets be sold (can you buy just one or the other, can you buy a packaged deal for Thurs-Saturday)?
There was some details in the program. Wed/Thurs is being sold as one package and go on sale a month after the Sat/Sun tickets.
I seriously cannot express how hyped I am for Devin Townsend other than to say I did not yell or scream or sing along with anything this year but I came home just as hoarse as when Soilwork played because when Devin Townsend came on during the announcement video my face fell off and I screamed bloody rapturous murder.
I guess I'm in the minority here where the top band on the list is Freedom Call. What can I say, I like me some cheese.
One question I have. I know Anneke will be in Dev's set, but will it have any element of "The Retinal Circus?" Perhaps this hasn't been decided yet.
