Question for those lucky enough to have experienced the "gold badge" at previous PP

[claymanx]

Hello fellow metalheads,
I am lucky enough to be getting a gold badge for this years festivities and I am extremely psyched.....oh I would just like to say that the new Blind Guardian is phenominal and that this festival is getting better than perfect with each band addition. I never heard silent force (although I heard of them) before they were announced. I downloaded some songs and they are awesome, fast, melodic and allaround metal! ....anyways I am very excited and curious to what the gold badge entails. What is the party like the night before? Is it like a business affair where magizine people conduct alot of interviews, or is it like a full out party! Either one would be exciting for me to experience, but I must say that just hanging out with the bands will be like a dream come true if that is how it is. I know that I will be entering the show early and getting other very generous perks, I would just like some details about this gold party thingagmajig. oh, I would like to know if anyone has caught Iced Earth in the last couple of months, in Europe or the USA. They are one of my fav bands and I would just like to hear some opinions of their concerts. Thankx to anyone that responds and thanks to Glenn Harveston for making such a perfrect concert possible!
Claymanx

 

[rhavin2112]

The pre show party last year was more an informal gathering of friends than an "official party". The bands hung out and drank, signing autographs and getting their pics taken. With the exception of this god awful nu-metl band playing(which Glenn had no control over) it was perfect. Expect to meet alot of great people and hang out with alot of bandmembers!!! Make sure you find me and I'll buy you a beer!!

I saw Iced Earth open for Megadeth last year in Atlabta and I just have to see they were fantastic!! Matt Barlow was in fine form and reproduced every note live. It was starnge watching Jon since he could'nt headbang due to his neck surgery. Matt was also a super nice guy(it was a week week before my wedding and my wife to be gave him a wedding invitation!). All in all Iced Earth really deliver the goods live. Its a shame they are not as widely known.

 

[Stile]

I think last year was a new thing with the gold badges. I missed the first year, so I dunno for sure. I also missed the pre-show gold badge party, for work-related reasons. And the weekend itself gave no perks as far as getting in early, etc. That wasn't necessarily any one person's fault. There was just no way to control who got in when.
Hopefully this year will prove otherwise. I am planning to attend with gold badge priveledges this year (got my confirmation yesterday!), including the pre-show party. And I hope there are perks included the whole weekend this time around. I thought if nothing else last year I could get right in front of the stage for some better pics, but alas, that was reserved for legitimate 'zines.

As far as Silent Force being added, yes, that's great! I had the honor of meeting D.C. Cooper last year for an interview. He was the only interview I came out of the concert with, but he was a fantastic, genuinely good guy. I appreciated the time he spent giving me an interview for my piddly little webzine.
If you'd like to read it, check it out here: http://www.metalprovider.com/soulsofchaos
Just click on his name on the front page. I had a second part of the interview ready to load, but something screwy happened and it only partially loaded. I will be adding that very soon though.

Take care and STAY TRUE!!!

~Hoyt.

 

[Harvester]

Last year was a definite learning curve in terms of time management, etc. While I stayed on schedule in terms of bands, that cost me GB time. If I had to do it all over again, I would make the same decisions. The festival is starting an hour earlier this year and I have made sure that steps have been taken to ensure that the GB holders get in the door before anyone else.

In my defense, I will say that last year's badges entitled folks to:

a. The pre-show party with the bands. That was the *major* selling point of the GB.
b. Festival shirt discount
c. Lottery on the 2nd night in which over 35 DVDS and 40 CDs were given away.