Cheers and Jeers 2014

[TwizstedJesus]

Haven't seen a thread for this yet, so...

Cheers; The bands were incredible! I haven't seen a lineup that strong on paper deliver the goods! Every set, every band held my interest from the moment they stepped on stage to the very end.

The bar...for having Sweetwater 420 this year! Its easy to pay $5 for something you like, instead of watered down pseudo beers like Bud Lite. I drank more beer this year than in years past because of it.

Glenn...enough said.

Atlanta weather...thanks for the "No rain" weekend, at least while everybody was in line to get in.

Jon Oliva...for being Jon. Hes an awesome performer and I feel like he's a personal friend because of how he treats people.

Daniel Gildenlow...see above

Need...Thanks for kicking our asses! I knew you would, and you pulled it off flawlessly!

Tom Englund...Aren't you that dude that's in that band? Cheers!

Every band deserves kudo's for the awesomeness that is ProgPower!

JEERS; I hate this list for obvious reasons, but for the most part there was little to complain about! That's why this is a guaranteed return every year...you just cant NOT have fun at ProgPower!

Security...never had a problem after Fridays debacle, but what a clusterfuck for the 1st few hours! To have to throw away a handful of Starburst is just plain fucking wrong! 3 Subway sandwiches had to be run back to the car which ruined lunch/dinner since there was no cooler in the car, so...obvious

Parking in the John Marshall Law School on Friday...exiting the building took 20 minutes, all because the #3 button on the keypad was stuck! We were afraid we were gonna get stuck there all night!

DaVinci's Pizza...500% markup on slices of pizza! We had no choice besides starving or leaving the venue. I hope Glenn gets a cut of the profits, because at those prices we were paying $40 a pizza and he sold probly 500 pizza's at the minimum! Do the math...

Vendor pricing was a little high. It sucks to pay $15 a cd on Friday and then find them for $5 on Saturday. Not that I mind, but a little balance goes a long way. I would have bought more if the prices would have been a little lower, even though I still bought 45 cds lol

All minor issues because everything is just so awesome all weekend long!

There is a reason why this festival is the best thing in the USA. I hope it goes on for 15 more!

BIG THANK YOU TO GLENN!!!

 

[CrimsonEmotions]

I fully second this thread, especially the $5 pizza slices. I expect that kind of shit at the Phillips Arena or the Lakewood Ampitheatre, not for a small venue like this where the pizza simply comes in. Plus, the pizza wasn't even that good.

The only other jeer I'd include was addressed in other threads, and that was the Seventh Wonder autograph line that took FOREVER and made me miss most of Masterplan's set.

 

[templeofmax]

That is why I preferred to watch Masterplan! Plus I already got my SW stuff signed last time around. Also, yeah, $5 slices is wrong, especially since there is no food at Vinyl anymore and since on Friday my friend and I starved while watching Stratovarius thanks to the Un-common sense of not even protein bars at the venue.

 

[Bamafan]

I've always felt a bit awkward sharing any jeers I have because I feel a bit like I am complimenting someone on his/her wonderful child, then calling attention to the pimple on the kid's face. In that spirit, this is a cheers only post.

Glenn and Jen: words can't express the amount of enjoyment I derive from attending this festival every year. This year topped even my astronomical expectations. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Voodoo Circle: for an hour, I was transported back to 1984, when Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Rainbow and Zep were in heavy rotation on my cassette (!!!) deck, my stomach was a washboard, my hair was all one color, and my biggest concern was if I was ever going to get into ___'s pants. (No, I didn't). The vibe, the soul effortlessly emerging from Alex's guitar and David's vocal cords were perfect.

Jon Oliva: I heard Streets for the first about a year ago because when it first came out I was immersed in pathophysiology. In the past year, it has become a desert island disc for me. JOP truly did it justice. The pathos and humor in last night's set was the perfect catharsis. A special tip of the hat to Bill Hudson, who channeled Criss.

Seventh Wonder: despite some technical issues, you guys brought it. I can't decide which I appreciated more: the technical mastery or the melodic hooks. I really appreciated the conversations with Andreas. He's a fantastic guy.

Need: These guys had the toughest slot, opening on Friday, and they killed it. I know they made a lot of new fans. I had a blast chatting with George about Rush, music in general, and Modern Famiy.

Leprous: the true definition of progressive metal. Every time I listen to them, I think "where in the hell do they come up with this?" They performed flawlessly. I just wish Mediocrity Wins made the set list.

Louis and Mark: the smack talk started even before I left Birmingham and didn't let up all weekend. My bass better have been upgraded to at least a 5 string. Mark, I'm not sure how you don't have a perpetual nosebleed from marrying so far above your head.

My PP family: general awesomeness, moonshine, gummies, laughter and love.

The Canadian couple next to Pat G and myself during Oliva for the beer and eye candy.

And a 2nd round of cheers for Glenn and Jen!

 

[PureXul]

DaVinci's Pizza...500% markup on slices of pizza! We had no choice besides starving or leaving the venue. I hope Glenn gets a cut of the profits, because at those prices we were paying $40 a pizza and he sold probly 500 pizza's at the minimum! Do the math...

A few points of realism on this:
1) The venue likely got a cut (probably a flat fee rather than percentage of sales). Even if they weren't serving food this year (in past years they were serving food in Vinyl, no idea if they did again this year?), letting DaVinci's set up shop in their venue is likely not something they do for free.
2) 500 pizzas would be 4000 slices. Considering the fest is something like 1200 attendees, that would be every attendee eating an average of 2 slices per day for Fri/Sat. I would be shocked if they sold that much pizza.
3) DaVinci's had increased staffing costs for both manning the booth as well as increased production at the restaurant.
4) 500% markup? I usually go to Vespucci's rather than DaVinci's (out of preference) and the slices are $2.50/$2.95 for cheese/pepperoni; I would assume DaVinci's isn't far off that. When you take points 1 and 3 into account, is $5 really that far off?

You can criticize the quality all you want - lord knows I had no interest in eating pizza that had been sitting on a hot plate for an indeterminate amount of time - but the cost is hardly unreasonable, and anything with the convenience of being inside the venue is inherently going to carry a fee associated with it.


Pizza pricing aside...

CHEERS:
* Glenn and Jen - You do something that most of us are wholly incapable of, and probably wouldn't want to go to the trouble of even if we were. I hope the show continues to sell out for years to come and that we continue fucking up your plans of bringing the fest to an end.
* Having two friends come out for the first time (and a friend of theirs as well) and having all three enjoy the fest to the point where they're already planning on returning next year (especially with Falconer booked).
* Theocracy - Highlight of Wednesday night for me, great performance and the band really seems to be clicking. I'd love the chance to see them on tour some point but lacking that, I hope to see them again at a future PP-weekend event.
* DGM - They were damn good when they played the fest a few years ago, but I thought they took it to another level on Thursday. They were tight, energetic, and in a lot of cases, probably would've stolen the show.
* Pagan's Mind - Playing "Celestial Entrance" was amazing on its own (and it didn't disappoint), but a three hour set? And then bringing out Mike Eriksen for two songs? Ridiculous. All it needed was a string quartet and some marriage proposals.
* Orden Ogan - Super fun set, first and second tier power metal bands some times have trouble getting the crowd into the set but it seemed like they got the place going.
* Leprous - Amazing, I would've loved more "Tall Poppy Syndrome" material as I'm a sucker for that album, but they were so on point. "Passing" was absolutely crushing.
* Overkill - I was planning on taking a dinner break at the start of their set - mostly because I've seen them several times, not because I dislike them - but I'm glad I didn't. That was the best set I've seen them play and "End of the Line" was great to see.
* Seventh Wonder - "Mercy Falls" is one of my top ten desert island albums, and it didn't disappoint. The mix could've been a bit better but they were still on fire. The Gold Badge show was amazing as well, both with an improved mix and a heavy dose of "Waiting in the Wings" material. Can't wait to see the DVD.
* Stratovarius - "Visions" came off really well and the extra six or seven songs they played were great choices. I would've loved to hear more new material as well since their last few albums have been great, but they were a great way to close the night.
* Pain of Salvation - "Remedy Lane" came off really well after the early issues and the band really delivered, especially Ragnar. Obviously it's Daniel's baby but I feel like Ragnar carried a lot of the performance on the whole.
* JOP - Excellent way to close the fest, Jon managed to fight through his injury and is an incredible frontman. The band did a phenomenal job with the material, especially Bill Hudson.
* The merch situation was far more streamlined than last year. The Strato shirts were slightly delayed in going on sale but other than that, it seemed like everyone got their shirts in on time and made it far easier to swing by once, buy what I wanted, and not have to keep checking back.
* The lineup for next year, my friends and I kept saying "Falconer would be awesome but there's no way" when discussing it Friday afternoon, then lo and behold.
* The generally cool crowd, atmosphere, and everything else that makes for a great fest year after year.

JEERS:
* Daniel Gildenlow - Maybe there's more to the story, or maybe I just don't appreciate the soul of a tortured artist, but the whole walking off stage thing put me off. When it's your show or your venue, you can do what you want, but burning time at a festival that's already behind schedule is unprofessional and disrespectful.
* Having to wait a whole year for it to happen again. I'm pretty short on complaints, but a list with only one item wouldn't have quite seemed right.

 

[GreyArea]

Daniel Gildenlow will probably get a lot of jeers, but I'll defend him by saying that the second beginning of the Pain of Salvation show was a marked improvement over the botched first one. Sure, Daniel's behavior came across as prima donna-ish, but the second beginning was the introduction that their performance deserved. Besides, I believe that any anger he displayed was directed at himself and at the potential for disappointing the audience than towards anyone in the crew.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

A few points of realism on this:
1) The venue likely got a cut (probably a flat fee rather than percentage of sales). Even if they weren't serving food this year (in past years they were serving food in Vinyl, no idea if they did again this year?), letting DaVinci's set up shop in their venue is likely not something they do for free.
2) 500 pizzas would be 4000 slices. Considering the fest is something like 1200 attendees, that would be every attendee eating an average of 2 slices per day for Fri/Sat. I would be shocked if they sold that much pizza.
3) DaVinci's had increased staffing costs for both manning the booth as well as increased production at the restaurant.
4) 500% markup? I usually go to Vespucci's rather than DaVinci's (out of preference) and the slices are $2.50/$2.95 for cheese/pepperoni; I would assume DaVinci's isn't far off that. When you take points 1 and 3 into account, is $5 really that far off?


$14.99 a pizza regular price. So a 250% markup from menu price and 500% from cost. On Friday there were well over 100 empty boxes under the table. I'm not a pizza genius, but I am sure DaVinci's made their profit for the month, if not the entire fall season based on sales at ProgPower.

Regardless, I didn't partake because I thought it was ridiculous, not to mention my wife brought Tums on Saturday after one slice of heartburn supreme on Friday, just in case.

The bottom line, and main scope of my jeer was that we had no food options besides leaving the venue, and I'm not a towel on seat douchebag, so we starved for the most part.

Everybody is out there to make money, I get that. But it seems that everything is turning into bottom dollar profit, from hotels price gouging us to vendors high pricing on cds (remember, overpriced cd's is what killed the industry in the 1st place).to venues raping us for food. It's frustrating, and its a change in the way things have always been done.

Sorry if I'm ranting. I'm not even mad, its just something that needed said. Just as people need to complain about Gildenlow even if they enjoyed the show.

 

[nailz]

Guys. If you would have just walked 2 10ths of a mile you could have gotten fresh, great pizza from Davincis rather than 5$ slices in the venue.

Seriously that place is NOT far. It was pretty cool that they were selling inside the venue for convenience. Its not like you HAD to stay in the venue all day.

 

[JenniferLynn]

There are so many cheers for me this year but I just want to mention one..

Jenn & Glenn - THANK YOU. For not only addressing a problem I had but making sure that it would not happen again. I wouldn't have made it thru Saturday if I didn't have my meds on hand. And that you reached out again to make sure I knew everything was okay when you've already got enough going on, truly meant a lot to me.

and two JEERS -

me. For not figuring out why my flash wouldn't work sooner. I've got great pics with some of the DGM guys that are darker than all get out. I wonder about me sometimes.

And to that guy who made one of the most disrespectful comments that I've heard in quite some time as "a joke" - you know who you are, what you said and who you said it to. I hope you feel ashamed for it. And watching you get put in your place was more than well deserved.

 

[gilpdawg]

Well....my first PP so I don't have the experience of you guys.

Cheers-Briefly running into Jen near the shirt table Friday. She's a sweetheart.

All the bands were good, although I don't really care for Divided Multitude kudos for making the best of a bad situation.

The people on the floor singing every word of Mercy Falls was surreal. We drowned Tommy out a few times. I don't know if that came over in the seats. Pure magic.

Oliva. Nuff said.

All the people I met and talked to were super cool and nice. You're all good people.

Jeers-Couple of douchey guys being quite obnoxious on the rail Friday night.

Spraining my ankle on the lobby steps on the way out to Vinyl Friday. Although I didn't realize it until later, and got in the Overkill pit anyway. (No worries, it's just a mild sprain)

Daniel being kind of a diva. If there's more to it then I retract that statement. He more than made up for it with that amazing set.

Thanks again Glenn, Jen and the crew.

 

[evildw]

Cheers -
Glenn and Jen for all the great work
The crew for all their hard work
Michael Eriksen standing beside me on the floor singing Seventh Wonder songs early Saturday morning during Seventh Wonder's tech
Ordan Ogan, Seventh Wonder, DGM, Pagan's Mind...
Seeing old friends and making new ones

Jeers -
The Security on Friday (big kudos to Glenn for dealing with it)

 

[Heavenly Call]

Guys. If you would have just walked 2 10ths of a mile you could have gotten fresh, great pizza from Davincis rather than 5$ slices in the venue.

Seriously that place is NOT far. It was pretty cool that they were selling inside the venue for convenience. Its not like you HAD to stay in the venue all day.

Where is the "Like" button. For real.

 

[sccaldwell]

Guys. If you would have just walked 2 10ths of a mile you could have gotten fresh, great pizza from Davincis rather than 5$ slices in the venue.

Seriously that place is NOT far. It was pretty cool that they were selling inside the venue for convenience. Its not like you HAD to stay in the venue all day.

That was my perspective, so I didn't buy slices from them at Center Stage.

However, I seriously doubt I'll eat at Da Vinci's again, for similar reasons. I'm not cheap, but I don't like being ripped off.

We went there Friday for a snack, and ordered the wings special (decent deal at $6.99 for 6 wings, a drink, and celery sticks). I asked for two "celery sticks" appetizers to go with it, at $0.50 each.

When they brought it, they forgot the add-on celery…..no biggie. When the guy brought it, I we both immediately knew they had only brought one order of it…and it was a pretty paltry six tiny sticks of celery at that (maybe 2.5" long each, and the really smaller inner part of celery), and no dip.

Turns out that, no, that was BOTH "orders".

Yes, it was only $0.50 each, but seriously? Three tiny (and I do mean TINY) pieces of celery for $0.50? Last I checked, an entire package of celery is about $2.99….based on what we got, they could have *easily* done 30-40 "orders" of celery from a single one-bunch package of celery. Does Atlanta have some sort of catastrophic celery shortage that I somehow missed hearing about?

On the flip side, the wings combo was tasty and a decent price, though it also only had three tiny pieces of celery. Still, there are other options…I'll go elsewhere next year.

 

[mattbrood]

Cheers:

Glenn & Jen (of course)
The PPUSA Crew who deal with tons of shit and don't get nearly enough credit!
The Artmore for being super cool about the Courtyard parties
The weather for holding off on the rain

Jeers (just one minor and three major ones)
no copies of Dynazty's new album to be found in the vendor room on Friday
Daniel Gildenlow - enough has been said on *why*
The guy who got so drunk on Wednesday he had to sit on the floor against the bar in The Loft, got kicked out on Thursday and Friday for being too intoxicated..major douchebag


and finally..the fucking asshole who spent Friday harassing several women inside Center Stage and finally assaulting my dear friend at the Courtyard later that evening and was hauled off to jail..piece of garbage and a waste of skin

 

[nailz]

Oh come on Matt you can't cheer the crew anymore. You're part of it!

 

[mattbrood]

Oh come on Matt you can't cheer the crew anymore. You're part of it!

 

[gilpdawg]

and finally..the fucking asshole who spent Friday harassing several women inside Center Stage and finally assaulting my dear friend at the Courtyard later that evening and was hauled off to jail..piece of garbage and a waste of skin

Geez. Always one bad apple. Sorry that happened.

 

[CoreEpic]

Cheers:

1. Glenn and co. My friends and I have been attending this even since 2012 and each year has been amazing. You guys put on the best festival in the world.
2. All the bands, every last one. Even the couple of sets I wasn't feeling were still great, with great energy.
3. The crowd (us) for filling the place up with (mostly) great energy and vibes.

Jeers:

1. The festival being once a year :-(
2. Pizza being 5 dollars a slice. I wound up walking to Vespucci's anytime I was hungry but it would have been nice to be able to get reasonably priced food inside the venue. It would be interesting to see how many more slices they would have sold (thus making them a potentially higher profit) had they sold the slices at standard prices (2-3 bucks a slice as opposed to 5)

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Besides, I believe that any anger he displayed was directed at himself and at the potential for disappointing the audience than towards anyone in the crew.

That was how I saw it. I have to admit that when they started the first time, it did come off a bit "weak" so to say. Wonder if they got in a rush to get started since it was already delayed by a good 1/2 hour plus, only to find it was just not working it. When they did "reset and restart", it did seem to come off as a much stronger start and ended up being a pretty damn good performance.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Guys. If you would have just walked 2 10ths of a mile you could have gotten fresh, great pizza from Davincis rather than 5$ slices in the venue.

Or you walk 2 10th of a mile the other way and get great fresh pizza at about $3 a slice up at Vespucci's. Exactly, not like you HAVE to stay in the venue all day.

EDIT: However, I do want to add that for the folks in the wheelchairs (and there were several in attendance this year) or otherwise disabled, leaving the venue just to get something to eat can be more difficult and it would suck if the only choice they had was to pay for overpriced, cold pizza in the venue (due to security not allowing them to bring their own food in - you would think accommodations could be made for those folks).