I guess its fate that this post came up today. I appreciate Bear giving me a chance to relax, but it's ok my friend. There will not be a "clue" post this year. Allow me to explain.
The prog/power music scene is different here in the States than what it was 2-3 years ago. There are tours now available to bands you never thought you would see. There are numerous festivals popping up all over the place giving bands a chance to play as well. The element of surprise is getting harder to pull off because of eager booking agents (remember how long ago the Blind Guardian tour was announced?) and clubs that announce unconfirmed shows (*cough*Jaxx*cough). If I continue to play by the rules that I set back in 2000, then I'm going to have more trouble and we are going to lose that special feeling of knowing a band is coming here to play first and foremost. I *hate* working my ass off to get the bands, they book a tour after confirming with me privately, and then it gets announced to the public as if I'm just part of the tour. That chaps my ass like nothing else.
Most people think that I take some time off after the festival and start working on the show towards the end of the year. That is true to a certain extent. However, I started unofficially confirming bands as early as October the past few years to make sure I stay ahead of my competition.
My regular schedule for announcing things is to wait until mid-January and the start dropping 2-3 bands every couple of weeks and finish in February. Tickets go on sale a month later. I think it's time to change that in order to combat the problems I listed above.
Therefore, I'm going to announce a single band every two weeks (give or take a day) starting later today. If you look at the calender, you will note that will take us all the way through February and everything stays on schedule.
How does that effect potential sponsors that haven't sent in their bid by the deadline I originally gave? Well, it doesn't to a certain extent. I already have a nice list to choose from now so I can announce the bands that I have sponsors already lined up for now. Unlike the past, I do not have the entire lineup or even a single headliner booked yet. I can still adjust on the fly accordingly over the next few weeks. I do that more than people realize anyway when it comes to applying sponsorship bids. With sponsorship demand being larger than ever, I can also accept bids after naming a band as well.
I do have a tenative date for the festival next year. However, it is not confirmed with the venue yet. I will not be announcing the date of the festival until all bands are confirmed privately. The rationale is that I don't know how many hotel rooms I will need until I'm finished. I can tell you that the show will indeed be in the fall of 2007, but not the exact same weekend as the previous two years.
cheers,
Glenn
