Cheers and Jeers!

grogg said:
Bathroom attendants - hey, I know how to turn the faucet on, get soap, and tear off a towel on my own - I guess someone needs a few bucks extra to earn but I'd prefer to handle my sanitizing by myself without feeling obligated to tip someone.....
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I can see your point, but the bathroom attendants are actually a huge CHEER on my list. The lady in the main women's room is Angela and she's been at the last 8 ProgPowers that I've seen. Without her, that bathroom would be trashed to the point of down-right-disgusting. Ever use it on Thursday during the Showcase when she's not there? It's not pretty, and that's after just one day!

I NEVER mind tipping Angela, but sometimes I don't if I just run in for a quick trip. I make up for it when I come in to use her perfumes/body sprays, hairspray, spray deodorant, or whatever when I don't want to walk back to my room. When I use those things, I usually tip about $5 per trip.

I also love that she hands us the paper towels because it's less fussing with a machine that would likely be functioning at half-capacity after one night and covered in water from people who might not wash their hands as well as I do, and would probably be constantly out of paper. I've gotten violently ill after ProgPower for several years so anything that helps me cut down on the exposure to germs and unsanitary conditions during the weekend is SO worth a couple of my dollars.

Okay, that was a bit of a novel about bathroom attendants. I guess I was hoping it would make you feel better about having them present. I know it's lame and seems like you're just paying for paper towel to be handed to you but they never demand tips, are always gracious, and the tip is more like paying for having a nice tidy restroom to use. And the incense smelled nice :)


Cheers/Jeers list coming in a few days.... gotta work a couple of 11-hour days, then I can come back to thinking like a human again.
 
A few before I get some sleep...

Cheers: Glenn, Shane and all the crew - for going thru and for doing all you do so that all of us can have a blast for 4 days.. MEGA THANKS
My pal Dennis - he may not see this but dammit, he knew how much I loved Circus Maximus and gave me the autographed drumhead he won in the raffle.. and for Mike from CM for personalizing it a bit more for me :kickass:
Circus Maximus - both sets were awesome but 'Screaming in Digital' was :OMG: :kickass:
Sabaton - I had a feeling these guys were going to be nuts but I had no idea just how nucking futs they'd be (edit - no pun intended!!!!) - And a special 'cheer' to Joakim - one of the best frontmen I've ever seen and a really kewl guy as well
Crimson Glory - ok who totally didn't see that one coming??
Jackie, Heather & Gina - holy crap we had fun!!!
Anders and Pontus from DSO - the "bags" will become reality!!!!! I have never laughed so hard as I did with Anders, Jackie and Gina Friday night...
Al from Katagory V - "Holy crap it's the Queen of the Reich guy!!!!"

Jeers:
No locks on the lady's bathroom stalls in CS(at least the ones I used)
That Friday night FLEW by
That I was intro'd to CDs on the ride home that I MUST have!@!!! And were available at PP...

This was, by FAR, the best ProgPower I've ever attended... And I know I'm going to think of many more cheers to add to this...
 
Here are a few…I’m sure I will add more once I’ve had a decent night’s sleep!!

Cheers:

Glenn, Shane, and the PP crew for putting on a helluva show (as usual)! :headbang:

AMBR for the ProgPower Poster

The Michael for organizing the Forum Lunch at Front Page News

Jax for organizing the SymX lunch at Vickery’s

All the smokers who went *outside* to light up. I’m very sensitive to second-hand smoke, and the air in the venue seemed a lot clearer this year.

All the performers, but especially Circus Maximus, Mindcrime, Crimson Glory, and Fates Warning. Honorable mention to Sabaton and DSO…musically speaking, neither band is really my cup of tea, but they both kicked my butt with their live performances! :kickass:

The Mike Baker tribute -- he was one of the all-time greats, and I was afraid he would be forgotten. :cry: JEERS to me for missing it, though! For some reason, I had in my head that Pagan's Mind was after Brainstorm. Hopefully, it will be posted elsewhere.

All my fellow attendees. None of my friends/family at home are into metal, so it is a pleasure to spend a few days hanging out with hundreds of folks who “get” good music!

Jeers:

Me for joining in a conversation and asking one of the participants if he posted on the forum...not realizing he was a member of Diablo Swing Orchestra. CHEERS, though, to OrbWeaver for diplomatically letting me know who he was before I could manage to make an even bigger ass of myself. :oops:

U.S. Immigration. BASTARDS!! :mad: I’m *still* sad about Vanden Plas. But “Cheers” to Glenn and Shane for scrambling to fill the open slots with high-quality performers.

People on the floor dumping their beer cups and water bottles on the floor for some other unlucky sod to clean up. Ever heard of a trash can?

My employer for calling my cell phone on Thursday to let me know I’m being laid off effective October 9th. :mad:
 
Justin Gaines said:
- "Saved" seats. I saw pillowcases (some personalized!!), towels, bags, and even pieces of freaking paper being used to claim prime real estate.
Click to expand...

I'm still blown away by how many people actually pay attention to these "saved" seats.

In my not-so-humble opinion, if there's not an ass in the seat or at a minimum a friend there to "hold" it for you, it's available. The f***ing towels and pillowcases do not "hold" a seat. I never moved anyone's merch bag, but if your pillowcase or towel disappeared from "your" seat, deal with it.
 
Yippee38 said:
Jeers to late flights because sitting here alone at the Artmore is a real bummer. The courtyard is just not the same when it's not full of metal friends (and future metal friends).
Click to expand...

See? I told ya you shoulda flown yourself! :lol:



CHEERS:

Just about everything, really.
-- To Glenn, especially for finding me after some XXL fest t-shirts had been unearthed after selling out, enabling me to get one...now THAT's customer service!
-- To the Artmore for at least trying to accomodate us weirdos. :) But, they don't quite "get" the timing. Having the bar and kitchen open only 'til midnight when PPUSA lets out much later is...a bit unhelpful, despite the reasonable prices for food.
-- To the Artmore again for putting me in a 1-BR suite plus a nearby -- although not adjacent -- double, when the A/C had failed in the 2-BR suite I had originally booked. Also, their approach to booking reservations for next year, using three booking stations downstairs in the staff offices, was on-the-ball.
-- To the crew, and especially Shane, who was run pretty ragged for the weekend.
-- Orphaned Land, Mindflow, Pagan's Mind, DSO, Fates Warning, Enchant, CM and Mindcrime (on Wed.), for great sets.
-- To Anne-Marie (AMBR) for another outstanding job with the poster. See below.
-- To everyone I met for the first time, and all the great people who I see every year. :kickass:

The camaraderie this fest has is just amazing. After I rescued the PP Forum photo poster from certain death at the end of Sat. night, Danilo from Mindflow was curious as to what I was holding.
"These are photos of many of the people who are on the ProgPower Forum. We send them in and one of us puts them all together so we can see what everyone looks like in real-life."
"That's awesome!"

I can't argue. :worship:


JEERS:

-- to me for getting the ProgPower Plague, or the Artmore Ague, pretty early this year. I was already pretty tapped out from the 5-day marathon that was Dragon*Con the weekend before...so my defenses were down, or maybe I caught something there.
What I thought was merely a really sore throat from too much talking and cigarette smoke on Wed. developed into a full-blown cold by Friday, so if I was a bit more absent than usual, that's why. Caused me to miss several sets, or large parts of sets, due to weakness. :( :ill:
 
Cheers:

- The Three Bosses I have at the fest Glenn, Tommy, and Lara.
- All the guys on the crew for being badasses
- Making New Friends
- Seeing Old Friends
- catering
- Meeting some of the people I've friended on facebook and talk to on this forum for the first time in person.
- The guys in CAGE, probably my favorite band to talk to and drive around.
- The guys/gal in DSO especially Pontus for being such a class act and all around badass.
- catering
- Wade Black for taking a little time out of his day giving me some singing tips.
- Ray for being one of the most laid back and appreciative people I drove around all weekend.
- Fates Warning being a hilarious band, Frank and Ray especially.
- Hanging out with Danilo from Mindflow at the Artmore after all my work was done on Saturday.
- oh and did I mention the catering?


Jeers:


- Taxi Driver taking his time getting out of my way in the Artmore valet driveway.
- Rush Hour
- Ga Tech and Clemson (or any major sporting event past or present that happens to cause traffic to be ridiculous while we are tryingo to help bands get to where they need to be)
- 10k marathons/runs/whateverthehellyouwannacallits
- missing Wednesday because of college
- having to deliver two speeches in public speaking class on Thursday before being able to finally get to the venue.
- disrespectful people
- fuckin bootleggers.
- Reality setting in and having to work today from 5-12 doing a floor move for Halloween after getting back home.
- J-Dubya and those horrible daisy dukes he was sportin back stage. :lol:
 
Cheers:
To Glenn for putting on another awesome fest!!!!!

To all the bands this year

To all the cool people I met

To the guys from Timeline for watching my bag of goodies every time I
had to get a beer or use the bathroom. Can't wait for Bar Fest III!!

Jeers:
To saving seats. I saw whole rows with towels draped across the seats.

To cell phones during performances. Those glowing screens are really
distracting. I even saw one person reading an e-book Friday night,
during Crimson Glory's entire set.

To people who only came to the fest to see one or two bands and then
made fun of the other bands the rest of show.

To the security guys at the Twelve Hotel on Saturday night, for treating me like some loiterer instead of a guest paying $1000. I filed a formal complaint against those guy, although I doubt anything will happen.

To having to spend 7 hours at the airport on Sunday waiting for my flight. At least the actual flight was pleasant.
 
In reverse order because it's easier for me:

Jeers
This is my own fault but I missed out on the gold badge raffle as I was up at the front rail for the bulk of the night and could not break away for fear of losing my primo spot. By the time I thought I might be able to sneak off for a moment I checked my watch and realized the raffle time period had elapsed. I ran into a few other folks that missed out as well but didn't really encounter anyone (including myself) that was upset about it terribly.

Cheers
Everything. Really. Everything. Great bands, great people, a great time. A few minor bumps in the road but nothing major at all as far as I am concerned. From top to bottom this festival is organized and run very well. Kudos to everyone involved! And though my ears are still ringing it was worth the hours standing up front. Lastly, it is always great to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. There are some really great people who come to this event!
 
Fair enough, Hoyt. Perhaps I should have worded that differently. I know you didn't single me out when you shut down the line. That was your job and the rules are the rules. I was disappointed, but I moved on to the Crimson Glory line. From where I was standing though, it looked like those rules were selectively applied, and that's what got to me.

I'm dropping it now. It was a minor irritation in an overall outstanding weekend.
 
Cheers

-To another great festival courtesy of Glenn.
-To all the young men that took the time to treat my daughter like a lady and offer to squire her around the venue (giggle).
-Fates Warning for playing this festival, it absolutely was a dream come true.

Jeers:

-Really the only jeer I have is to the Midtown restaurants that closed up shop early - shame on you! Plus, you shot yourselves in the foot and lost a ton of business. Some enterprising individual should set up a hot dog, sausage cart outside of the venue (wonder what the laws are on "street meat" for Atlanta?)
 
I've always wanted to post in one of these Cheers & Jeers threads, and I figured, after my 6th ProgPower in a row, it's time I joined the forum!

CHEERS
- Of course Glenn and crew are all amazing! Thank you for making this yearly metal pilgrimage of mine possible. Love you guys!
- I didn't know what to expect of DSO, but they blew the roof off the place. Very impressive set with songs that could have been difficult to reproduce live. Awesome!
- Double cheers to Glenn for showing the PPXI video again on Saturday night. I had to leave early on Friday and missed it.
- Thanks to Glenn again for all the live Twittering throughout the show! I was able to get next year's roster in real time because of this! Hooray!!
- I got to see two people with cameras get busted this year! Yay! First the girl during the Sabaton set, and then some dude right behind me during (I think) Orphaned Land. Glenn looked pretty steamed. Take 'em out!
- PAGAN'S MIND! I will never get tired of Nils's energy, voice, and crazy facial expressions. Those guys were my favorite by far.
- Brainstorm, Circus Maximus, Sabaton, and Orphaned Land also made my weekend.
- HOORAY for letting non Gold Badgers (ha) in early on Saturday.
- Also thanks to the friendly people at the rail during Circus Maximus who let me and my friends take their spots for Orphaned Land and Pagan's Mind. You guys rule so hard.
- A Jeer turned into a Cheer. The guitarist from Orphaned Land was handing my sister a guitar pick when the guy next to me snatched it straight out of her hand. It fell to the floor in front of the rail. When a security guy gave it back to him, the dude (surprisingly) handed it to my sister, apologizing. Thanks for being a good guy!

JEERS
- People still sneaking in digital cameras! Get out!
- The vendors for having such amazing selections and forcing me to choose between which DVDs I would treasure the most ;)
- Some dude cutting egg farts in the pit right before Circus Maximus. Gross.
- I love seeing the photographers rock out, too -- you guys get some great shots -- but I'm short and had a couple tall dudes plant themselves right in front of me. They probably didn't realize they were in the way, but I fought to get up front and I wanna see!

Not too much to complain about here! Thanks for another amazing year, to everyone. I will definitely be back for my seventh :).
 
nomisofsiman said:
- Suspyre. Okay, I was wrong about all bands. I personally loved and still love Suspyre as a recording artist, but did anyone else find them to have virtually no stage presence. I know I did. I think the lead singer tried too hard to get the audience riled up too and it just was more annoying than anything else.
Click to expand...

it sounded like they were all playing different songs. i didn't care for them at all. plus, other than the singer they don't have much stage presence but that will come with time. some of them looked bored up there.
 
Teathyme said:
- I love seeing the photographers rock out, too -- you guys get some great shots -- but I'm short and had a couple tall dudes plant themselves right in front of me. They probably didn't realize they were in the way, but I fought to get up front and I wanna see!

Not too much to complain about here! Thanks for another amazing year, to everyone. I will definitely be back for my seventh :).
Click to expand...

A lot of us paid a lot of money to sponsor bands to be in front of the 'in front' barrier. While I do try my best to sympathise with those behind me, especially the shorter folks, I don't think much of it for the 2 songs I'm there for. I was the Photog guy going Apeshit for Sabaton their entire set, and if I was in your way at all, I appologise profusely. It's my MO to try and get the people who do not obstruct my view in front of me if possible. I did my best to move for people in the Pit too, but some of us camera jocky's really fight all out for real estate, which is very much "give an inch, take a mile."

All that said, if it happens next year, just tap me and ask me to scoot a bit. I don't mind.
 
Cheers

*glenn-thank you for another awesome progpower :)
*shane-you rock sweetie, thanx again for everything (hugs)
*tommy-thank you for your help too :)
*wayne-ALWAYS LOVE THOSE HUGS ;)
*dawn and ice cubes…thanx for the giggles… :D
*doug & dawn-love you both! (doug-i promise new pic next year)
*kathy-hugs
*shaye…you’re a trip! :D
*Mindcrime (listening to that cd nonstop for months paid off) ;) Pamela Moore singing was quite a plus! :)
*Dso –I had so much fun bouncing around to them…awesome stage presence
*Sabaton-awesome show…joakim is a great frontman
*great job with the stair tape! (didn’t really need to use my teeny tiny flashlight all that much) thank you!
*finally getting to party…yay!
*meeting new friends :)
*seeing old friends (urban-thanx for the chips..you're right...can't eat just one) ;)
*getting in more pix this year :)
*Sausalito…awesome food!
*security guys…awesome as always! :)
*The warm and fuzzy feeling I always get :)

Jeers

*reading glasses breaking/contacts coming in to the drs office the day I am in Atlanta (grrr)
*standing by the sound booth and having large drops of water (condensation from the air conditioners?) falling down on me during the shows…
*seriously….how expensive is it to put locks on the bathroom stalls???
*restaurants closing up early (except on Friday & Saturday when Sausalito stayed open until 9pm)
*trying to eat grapefruit with plastic utensils…(it doesn’t work…)
*neck being sore :(
 
sh0kr0k said:
Ooooooh, dang! What a crappy way to start the PP weekend. Sorry to hear that, hun :-
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words! It wasn’t a huge surprise, as I work for a company that was taken over about a year ago, and my job was centralized out of state. I’ve been hanging on since then doing special projects, and have been pretty much miserable the whole time. (Except on payday :lol:). I probably needed the kick in the ass to finally get out of there and start looking for something better…but the timing of the news certainly sucked!!

sccaldwell said:
In my not-so-humble opinion, if there's not an ass in the seat or at a minimum a friend there to "hold" it for you, it's available.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, this puts people who are attending alone at a disadvantage. (Which I did my first year). If you get to the venue early enough to stake out a seat, why should you have to give it up because you need to visit the bar/restroom/vendor room or attend a signing session in between bands? However, I did see a couple of large groups of "saved" seats this year that remained empty for entire sets. Definitely NOT cool. :mad:

I floated around a bit this year, but I never had trouble finding a seat in the back row. That's actually my favorite spot, as I can sit for some songs and stand and rock out for others without pissing off the people in front of me. :headbang:

powermetal2000 said:
Jeers:

To cell phones during performances. Those glowing screens are really
distracting. I even saw one person reading an e-book Friday night,
during Crimson Glory's entire set.
Click to expand...

I complained about this last year, but it seemed I was in the minority. Sending a quick text to try and track someone down is one thing, but personally, I think it’s disrespectful to the bands and to the other fans to spend an entire set checking e-mail, playing video games, or surfing the web. Why not save the cost of your ticket and do all that crap at home??
 
My yearly Cheers and Jeers submission:


CHEERS:

Overall festival: GLENN GLENN GLENN GLENN! :worship:notworthy:worship:. That was the BEST EFFING TIME I ever had at ProgPower! Kudos for all the hard work you and your crew do. Awesome. This was my fifth ProgPower and by far the best. And the lineup for next year... unreal... effing unreal! You rock!

Bands: Though I did not like each and every band - all the bands came to perform and they did an awesome job. Some bands were more awesome than others - but there was something for everybody. Of course Sabaton was the best, but I'm very biased! :lol::headbang:

Sponsorship: This was the first year that Steve and I sponsored a band. This was an experience to remember. If you are considering sponsoring a band or being a general sponsor - if you can afford it, by all means DO IT! You will not be dissapointed! You will be helping out all your fellow ProgPower fans and helping out Glenn as well. And by doing so, you get some great perks by being a VIP. Being able to see all the "behind the scenes" stuff was great. Hanging out with the bands at the VIP lounge was really cool. And being able to take pictures was a definite plus. I was so stoked by being in the photo pit the ENTIRE set for the band I sponsored. And yes, I'll post some of my photos on here soon. (They won't be as great as Esa's photos!!) I'll be a general sponsor next year and will try to sponsor as much as possible of my wallet can afford it!

People: Greets to all the people that I met for the first time or those who are now part of my "extended family" that I see each and every year. Major kudos for Michael for again organizing the Front Page News luncheon and for Jax for the Symphony X luncheon (first time I attended). MAJOR effing kudos for Nailz (Pat) for lending me a great camera lens for taking pictures during the Sabaton set. It was way better than the standard lenses that I used. Extended family kudos also to BlackRoseMetalHeart (Bobbie), Pellaz (Paul), LunaTEKKE (Kimberly) (Hope you find a job REAL SOON!), Ann-Marie (AMBR), Mynock (Julien), Dragongrrl (Alicia), Curufin (Drew), Miel (Jen), Reverend Su, Jerry and Connie (ConnieOH) and a crapload of folks that I either saw again this year or I met for the first time (If I forgot you, please forgive me). If you are a newbie - I hope you had fun and please come back next year!

(For the guy from King George, VA - if you read this, please send me a PM. I want to make sure we keep in touch. Nice to see that there's someone else who is into Prog/Power metal where I live. I'll hook you up with my friend Steve who goes to Jaxx to see these bands. You are not alone - we are out there, just hard to find!)


JEERS:

Very few jeers to post about.

Microphone Malfunctions - Seems like a lot of vocalists had issues with the microphones this year.

Respect for others - If you are on the floor and wish to headbang, that's fine. However, please respect those around you. There was one woman who was being a real asshole who kept dancing during the Primal Fear set who almost got a real hard elbow jab from me. If you want to dance, that's fine. But please respect others and don't hit me. You kept hitting me the entire effing set and I was pissed off. :mad:

Photos - I know people want to take photos of the bands. Believe me, I was glad to have the privilege (remember, I paid for the privilege, it is not a right). However, there is a camera ban if you don't know about it. PLEASE RESPECT IT. I loved it that I saw several people get busted. I did see many people take photos. I wish I had the power to bust people because I would have busted about 10 people (sigh). I gave them dirty looks though.

So overall it was a great time and looking forward to next year. During the upcoming year I'll be more of a lurker than a poster. I spend way too much time on here (and other time wasters such as Facebook) so you won't see as much from me. Also, it was time to temporarily retire the pug pic. Time for a new avatar. No, I don't have it for my car, but I'm seriously considering it.:lol::loco:
 
Cheers:
-This was the best festival since PP6
-Next year's line up: Hell Yeah!!
-Primal Fear was great, Fates Warning were sublime

Jeers:
-Did we really have to listen to Vanden Plas during every break on Thursday night? Talk about salt in our wounds...
 
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