So what do you do? Do you continue to pay for the big headliner that has either been here before or is touring in order to "hopefully" sell tickets to a concentrated fanbase? Do you elevate headliners, save a bit of money, and then build a stronger undercard that doesn't necessarily have the name with the regular attendees outside of this forum? Keep in mind that this forum is the exception to the attendee rule, not the norm.
Glenn, I really think that you should continue to do what you have been doing, with slight modifications as necessary. If you can't get headliners who are quite as big or as exclusive as in the past, I still think the basic ProgPower formula will work.
To answer your question above, I think you should do both as warranted by the line up. Elevate bands to higher slots (their fans will always be happy with more playing time) *and* bring back returning headliners. You can always try to throw in some twists. Maybe one year you bring back Symphony X, saving some money over the big exclusive headliners, but you get them to play V, or perhaps a setlist full of songs they've never done at ProgPower before. Those who don't like SX wouldn't be thrilled. Those who do would probably relish the chance to see them do something rare. Maybe one year you bring back Pain of Salvation (to use an example of a band I don't like). Sure they've been here before, but how often do their fans in the U.S. really get to see them live? They will reach a lot more fans on tour with DT, but that's the exception not the rule. In a few years you could bring them back and make their fans very happy. Maybe not me or JW, but if you stick with the PP formula I have no doubt we'd be happy with a least a few other bands.
Like many others have said, headliners are not the main draw for me either. It's the line up as a whole. Sometimes I love the headliner, sometimes I hate them, and sometimes it's in between.
I really believe that there will always (or at least for the foreseeable future) be 1200 people in North America willing to travel to see progressive and power metal bands. (Not to mention, there are those who come from other countries as well). It's about the whole picture. I came to my first ProgPower because of Threshold, and have been coming back ever since.
Yes, some of these bands are touring more often now, but not everyone gets these tours in their area. Some people still have to travel to see a Kamelot or Nightwish or even Blind Guardian. Most bands who have been to ProgPower still do not regularly tour the U.S. I don't want to see a band that I love only once in my life.
In 10 years from now, if I've seen Vanden Plas at ProgPower 5 times, Threshold 4, Andromeda 3, etc, I'm not going to be complaining. Sure I might grumble about the bands I don't like (Jon Oliva again? PoS again?) but so what? Few of us expect to like all 10-12 bands every time.
There are still bands that people want to see but havent played ProgPower or the U.S. yet, and there will be new bands that you discover that the rest of us dont know about. You can continue to have a festival with a good mix of new and returning bands.
I will hope that I'm right and I really believe that the interest in this kind of music is there. I don't think you need to change the format to a heavier festival with more death/extreme vocals, or a format with more AOR type bands. As someone pointed out, there are other festivals for those types of bands. As long as it's always ProgPower, with one (or maaaaybe two) extreme bands and/or only 1 or 2 odd ball bands, I'll keep coming and I believe others will as well. In all seriousness, I'd be happy to pay another $100 on my gold badge if it meant that ProgPower would be able to continue as ProgPower. (Im not suggesting you raise the rates next year, just that I have room to pitch in and some others probably do as well, and we could figure out a way to help in a lean year.)
Chris
