Progstock!?

[BarryLI]

What's been really bugging me is the people who stay in the merge lane as long as possible so they can save themselves one minute of driving time.

I'll go with the people who see that you have to merge and pull up to the bumper of the car ahead of them as if they would be shot if you are allowed to enter the roadway. Those lovely folks are also evident when there is a disabled vehicle in your lane, which happened to us on the Brucker on the way to The Stadium the other day, man, the middle lane drivers saw the right lane folks' predicament then closed ranks thus leading to my heartfelt conclusion that people in general suck.

[nearfest]

this thread is not about traffic issues.

[BarryLI]

this thread is not about traffic issues.

Steve Winwood begs to differ.

[3RDegree_Robert]

Yeah...what just happened?! For me, none of these traffic issues is even a thought. I live in this area and that’s what I signed up for. My calculus on attending a festival doesn’t include traffic but some are totally incensed by it. How in the world I got you (Jed) to my house for a video viewing party in NJ is a mystery!


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[JKL2000]

Yeah...what just happened?! For me, none of these traffic issues is even a thought. I live in this area and that’s what I signed up for. My calculus on attending a festival doesn’t include traffic but some are totally incensed by it. How in the world I got you (Jed) to my house for a video viewing party in NJ is a mystery!

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I took a bus!

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

[QUOTE=Steve F.;743586]^^^^

Having 200 (or 300 or 600) people show up for a niche event is completely great and a success, imo.

....and I would humbly add that if all of us involved with Progday listened to all the shit flung at us over the years, and not persevered regardless, the festival would have died years ago. You have to suffer people's opinions. It is their right to have them. They don't necessarily have to voice them (which they have a proclivity towards...). My preference, if I'm not interested, is to be quiet. But if people choose to offer an opinion, you have to be mellow about it. That is PR101.

But back to Progday...since the first one occurred a century ago, the original guy who put it together didn't have to suffer any negative feedback, since prog festivals were the equivalent of discovering the wheel. It was only later, when we who carried it on (I used to be on the band selection committee in addition to stage managing), had to listen to, uh, "feedback". Which, fortunately, was in general a source of hilarity for us.

Can't remember that guy's name...neo prog freak....but I remember when we announced the appearance of a certain band we were quite jazzed about, his response was "Kron? Who the fuck is Kron?". Hee hee, hee hee hee hee hee.

The long and short of my unnecessary chiming in is....if the guys running this fest believe in it and want to do it again (without losing their shirts, hopefully), I say more power to 'em. It's a quick, steep learning curve, and I can bet my bippy they learned plenty their first time out. BUT, they pulled it off, did they not, in the spirit of "the show must go on"?

You Progstock cats have my support. If you can do another one, fuckin' go for it. But be cool! Flies with honey, and all that.

And when booking bands and projecting attendance figures, cut it in half

[moecurlythanu]

It was only later, when we who carried it on (I used to be on the band selection committee in addition to stage managing), had to listen to, uh, "feedback". Which, fortunately, was in general a source of hilarity for us.

I'll bet it was highly intelligent and presented with an erudition that would make The Bard weep tears of joy.

[rminsk]

this thread is not about traffic issues.

Yeah. I thought it was about Greg and his coffee.

[3RDegree_Robert]

That was certainly missing (Greg’s coffee) from the fest but if it would have contributed to BPM going up then maybe it was for the best! He was in attendance on Sunday though.


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[arabicadabra]

C'MON! A chops-hot slippery bassist like you can handle speed.

That was certainly missing (Greg’s coffee) from the fest but if it would have contributed to BPM going up then maybe it was for the best! He was in attendance on Sunday though.


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[3RDegree_Robert]

Ha! Well as you know, we're "song oriented" and our songs that are more "hey look at me playing this hard riff"-like, such as the one we never played before which was debuted at ProgStock ("We Regret To Inform You"-which I hope you liked!)-along with tunes from the new, unreleased album-gets incrementally harder to play as the BPMs increase!

[smcfee]

I'll bet it was highly intelligent and presented with an erudition that would make The Bard weep tears of joy.

Part of the reason it was so satisfying to break even was because of people who were sure we weren't going to break even.

[3RDegree_Robert]

Having 200 (or 300 or 600) people show up for a niche event is completely great and a success, imo.

....and I would humbly add that if all of us involved with Progday listened to all the shit flung at us over the years, and not persevered regardless, the festival would have died years ago. You have to suffer people's opinions. It is their right to have them. They don't necessarily have to voice them (which they have a proclivity towards...). My preference, if I'm not interested, is to be quiet. But if people choose to offer an opinion, you have to be mellow about it. That is PR101.

But back to Progday...since the first one occurred a century ago, the original guy who put it together didn't have to suffer any negative feedback, since prog festivals were the equivalent of discovering the wheel. It was only later, when we who carried it on (I used to be on the band selection committee in addition to stage managing), had to listen to, uh, "feedback". Which, fortunately, was in general a source of hilarity for us.

Can't remember that guy's name...neo prog freak....but I remember when we announced the appearance of a certain band we were quite jazzed about, his response was "Kron? Who the fuck is Kron?". Hee hee, hee hee hee hee hee.

The long and short of my unnecessary chiming in is....if the guys running this fest believe in it and want to do it again (without losing their shirts, hopefully), I say more power to 'em. It's a quick, steep learning curve, and I can bet my bippy they learned plenty their first time out. BUT, they pulled it off, did they not, in the spirit of "the show must go on"?

You Progstock cats have my support. If you can do another one, fuckin' go for it. But be cool! Flies with honey, and all that.

And when booking bands and projecting attendance figures, cut it in half

Thanks for the insight Geoff. Good points. I can tell you whoever was on the ProgDay band selection committee in '09 really had a hand in sending us on our way. A lot of good things came about in the ensuing years but it really seems like that and our attendance at NEARfest & RoSfest around that time really got things going.

Enough about us. As for ProgStock, it continues and is now "a thing" having been pulled off with few issues and really ended up feeling like festivals that have been underway for years. That was the gist of the postmortems I've read so hopefully that helps with the pulling together of a great sophomore lineup. Sort of like Field Of Dreams. Going into it, despite having people involved in all parts of the operation that were veterans of previous festivals and concert series, you couldn't predict how smoothly it ultimately went. It was really chill setting up sound, monitors, video screen and the rest. One aspect of Tom's "day job" is putting together teams and that really came in handy with this venture as it was the proverbial well-oiled machine come go time.

[Nick]

Visited the forum in search of some reactions from this festival and glad to see that those that went had a good time.

I saw some complaints about how this was setup and presented, and I would be lying if I didn't say there were some things I also had reservations about, but I'm glad it ended up working out and coming together and seems to be continuing.

Personally, this would be one of the easiest festivals for me to attend but this first year wasn't in the cards for me. I'm not far away (Quakertown, PA), and likely could have found a friend to stay with within reasonable distance of the festival. That said it's getting to the point where I have to pick and choose each year how to use my limited vacation time. With the cruises, RoSfest, ProgPower, and now this vying for time it comes down to the best lineups for me most of the time. I like to follow Haken around as well, and occasionally even take a trip that isn't tied to music. This year in particular I had already done Cruise to the Edge and RoSfest, Haken had toured, I went to see Ayreon, and so there was no time left.

We'll see what next year has in store, but we're heading to Europe together for the first time and ProgPower is a lock for me.

[rminsk]

ProgStock 2022 October 7 thru 9 in Rahway, NJ at UCPAC

So far:

• District 97
• Orpheus Nine
• Rachel Flowers

More bands to be announced soon

[NogbadTheBad]

Does Rachel Flowers have compromising photos of the owners?

[Wah3]

I'd like to see Rachel with a band behind her.

[JKL2000]

Does Rachel Flowers have compromising photos of the owners?

Perhaps it’s the opposite.

[Dan Roth]

I believe Orpheus Nine played this fest a few years back.

[kenschwartz]

ProgStock 2022 October 7 thru 9 in Rahway, NJ at UCPAC

So far:

• District 97
• Orpheus Nine
• Rachel Flowers

More bands to be announced soon

Didn't they announce all these bands (along with IOEarth, Unitopia and Evership) during last year's Progstock?

I believe Orpheus Nine played this fest a few years back.

They did. I was underwhelmed.

I know that the whole pandemic thing threw a monkey wrench into things - and I am so impressed with what they have been able to pull off, given that, as well as some of the other issues (the flood last year, Brand X needing to pull out very late in the game, etc). In fact, last year was, imo, the best of the one's I've been to (in terms of the overall experience...not necessarily the bands).

But they need to stop booking the same musicians.

[Rajaz]

But they need to stop booking the same musicians.

That was exactly my thought. Rachel Flowers is very talented and nice to have in the lineup but not every year, so is Joe Deninzon and Orpheus nine but it is becoming too repetitive that turns off many fans.
Take Nearfest, those festivals had excellent lineups that changed every year, it's shame they are no longer around anymore. Progstock needs a boost and I hope comes very soon to make it worth the trip for many of us coming from afar.

[kenschwartz]

That was exactly my thought. Rachel Flowers is very talented and nice to have in the lineup but not every year, so is Joe Deninzon and Orpheus nine but it is becoming too repetitive that turns off many fans.
Take Nearfest, those festivals had excellent lineups that changed every year, it's shame they are no longer around anymore. Progstock needs a boost and I hope comes very soon to make it worth the trip for many of us coming from afar.

excluding the virtual-only year, but including bands currently announced for this year, here's the list of bands that have been repeated (sometimes in a slightly different guise, for example in continuum is a kerzner project, so, imo, same band. same with sadler/saga):


Rachel Flowers 5
Simon Godfrey/Valdez 2
Tea Club 2
Kerzner/In Continuum 2
Evership 2
Orpheus 9 2
Deninzon 3
Sadler/Saga 2
Steve Unruh/Resistor 3
Dark Beauty 2
Phideaux 3
Jane Getter 2

opening up to different bands (and a bigger definition of "prog") would be great, imo.

that said...i still plan on being there in october. it is only about 2.5 hours of driving for me. and i look forward to seeing some friends and just relaxing as much as i look forward to the music.

and, to that point ("relaxing"): last year, they booked fewer bands with more time between sets. that made it easier to get meals, and bands started (pretty much) on schedule. i truly hope they don't go back to as many bands per day as prior years.

and i hope the feedback from this forum gets to the eyeballs that matter.

[SteveSly]

That was exactly my thought. Rachel Flowers is very talented and nice to have in the lineup but not every year, so is Joe Deninzon and Orpheus nine but it is becoming too repetitive that turns off many fans.
Take Nearfest, those festivals had excellent lineups that changed every year, it's shame they are no longer around anymore. Progstock needs a boost and I hope comes very soon to make it worth the trip for many of us coming from afar.

One thing to keep in mind is nothing is back to normal yet. Between COVID and U.S. work visas, trying to get any band from outside the U.S. is probably still more difficult than it was just a few years ago.

[Bytor]

Do they have music sellers like NF had at Progstock?

[Dan Roth]

Progject has been announced as a headliner.