Everybody has their reasons as to why we can't have a Wacken-styled festival here. Are any of you wrong on this? In my opinion, you're all right. Any business venture taken by an true entrepreneur, i.e., one who is taking a major financial risk and not someone with money to burn, is scary. The cards are always stacked against you. Take Glenn, for instance. So far, he's the only promoter in the country who has taken a festival dedicated to a niche market for heavy metal, stuck to his guns, hasn't rested on his laurels when met some success, and has managed to keep his festival going for over five years. I use the timeframe of five years because I've noticed many festivals dedicated to metal don't last past that mark. Now take into account everything that is working against him:
--Progressive and power metal sales are weak in this country compared to those of most genres of music
--Only a small percentage of people in this country are willing to travel to see a festival of this type, let alone frequent the festival every year (and that includes people who claim to love this music)
--Promotion on a major scale is difficult because the mass media demands huge amounts of money for advertising
--The more popular bands of this genre cost more money to bring over due to travel expenses
These factors can easily be broken into sub-factors. When you look at it from this point of view, it's hard to believe that Glenn has managed to keep this thing going. However, in reality it seems that there are no signs of the fest going away in the near future. Everybody has their reasons for explaining this as well, but I think that what it comes down to is that Glenn is a realist. He didn't start this show thinking that he could compete with Wacken, and he's not trying to do so. I think his goal is to put on the best possible show that he can. He also realizes that it takes a shitload of work to do this right. I don't know any promoter who does as much research on bands and puts as much consideration into all of the factors/stakeholders of the festival as Glenn does. Before I get accused of ass-kissing, I just want to conclude by saying that I thought the title of this thread is misleading, as I may be able to dream up a metal fest, but I don't think I could properly execute it.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Met-Al
