Absolutely. The headliners were a big part of the draw. However, don't get me wrong, outside of the Nektar year, I would not say that any one headliner brought in an inordinate number of "fanboys." The hall was never full of fans of one band. The Netkar year was a slight exception due to the full reunion and their having a big local contingency of fans in the New Jersey area. There were a lot of Nektar shirts that day!
Marillion may have done a similar thing and we were wary of that. That said, we did make overtures to Marillion a few times to no avail. Lucy Jordache was very nice to us, but it just never materialized. That was around the period when Marillion was really shunning the "prog" label. They seem to have loosened up on that stance since they now plays prog festivals and cruises.
To your point, and I've heard it many times, a lot of folks loved the undercard bands - the more obscure or undiscovered. I know a good number of people loved going home from a NEARfest weekend with a few new favorite bands in their back pocket.
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