[longhairedaaron]

>>Originally posted to Progpowerusa forum:

Just got back too. First things first, I knew there was no way this would be run as good as ProgPower and it wasn't. Glenns personal touches and impeccable planning cannot be beaten nor matched it seems. That said THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL AND EPIC. Overall, I give the experience a 9.5 out of 10. With Glenns touches it would have been a 99 out of 10.

The best way to put it is to say a VIP experience for every attendee for all 4 days. It was exhausting, there was simply no way to enjoy everything that was going on and frankly at the end of the day you did and saw so much you were almost glad for the respite (as the singer of Sabaton said, he is from Sweden, and 16 hours of metal a day is too much, he needs at least 2 hours of Abba, lol).

There were 3 stages, the chorus line theater was a huge plush venue with large chairs, plenty of standing area, etc. The pool stage was outdoors and you could stand all around the stage (including above and behind and feel like you could almost touch the drummer). The small club stage was a bit short, kind of like jj kelleys (where PP1 was) but it made up for it with huge plush chairs and you could always get near the front if you wanted (there was some occassional moshing and crowd surfing at each but not much).

All 3 stages had drink service. Want shots of tequila while you stand up front? No problem, they will bring them to you.

The great part was the 3 stages. As soon as one band was done another was starting. So you had very little "waiting" for anything. There were usually 2 bands playing at once so you could bounce back and forth. Everything was closely located with lots of elevators so travel around the boat was effortless and smooth. It would take less then 5 minutes to get to each stage. There was no sound bleed between any of them which is amazing. And since so few filler bands were booked, if you like most metal styles like I do, it was constantly entertaining.

Everyone was super well behaved, never saw a fight, never felt uncomfortable, never got pushed. Which was a relief from the normal tension at shows. The fans were obviously all die hards. You could strike up a conversation with anyone at anytime and they were cool. It was not unusual to be invited somewhere from someone you just met or get bought a drink from someone you were standing next to. None of the venues ever felt overly full (nor empty unless it was very very late), you could basically sit or stand where you wanted at all times. When I got tired I'd just relax back in a big plushy and jam out while the waiters brought me beers (or waters). It was also truly an international affair with fans from all over the world, as a matter of fact I would say americans to other nationalities was probably 1:1 or less.

There was also a Karaoke bar we only went to one night but should have gone every night as it was a blast and also huge and comfortable. There were many other various bars around the boat.

The restaurants were ok, I'm a foodie so I thought they sucked, but for the masses I'm sure they are fine. The fine dining restaurant was kind of funny, hundreds of black metal shirted long haired metal heads drinking wine and being served by tuxedoed waiters!! The nice thing is food was free, so you just order and eat all you want all the time. There was a 24 hour pizza place. The staff around the boat was generally very good. Some seemed irritated at times but overall excellent. It was fun watching some of them jam out to the music or at least pretend to. The guy that fixed up our room each day always left something funny in the room and was good spirited. Surprisingly, it was pretty quiet at bedtime (3-7am for me) so I never had trouble sleeping.

There was a casino where you could gamble, play poker, etc. I busted the drummer of marduk in texas hold em lol

There were many other activities but I'm not sure most people gave a hoot (for example spa, classes, etc).

I was shocked at the number of women in general and especially good looking women. Old, young, etc. Lots of bikinis, one chic who wore a black thong the ENTIRE cruise (and was hot), at least one hottie I saw going topless (allowed in certain areas). The hot tubs by the pool stage always had some scantily clad women hanging around. I would say men to women was somewhere between 3 and 4 to 1.

The sound at all 3 venues was excellent. Occassionally excessively loud (if its too loud with earplugs to the point where my ears are ringing with them in in its just too damn loud) and the usual occassional sound issues but overall no complaints. All the bands seemed excited and had lots of enthusiasm. Many said how much fun they were having and they hoped the promoters would do it again. I was surprised especially how good the outdoor stage sounded.

Most bands mixed up setlists between the two days. Saxon, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Finntroll and many others played almost completely different sets which was awesome. Also most bands seemed to give the fans "what they want" which was the best material which isn't always necessarily the newest. For example I think for 2 days Iced Earth played 2 songs after Something Wicked. Blind Guardian the same, only 1 or 2 songs after Nightfall. Sorry I thought Sanctuary was disappointing, and I love both Nevermore and Sanctuary but I just didn't think Warrels voice is suited for it anymore. It was a relief go to upstairs and hear Simone after I had enough of that. The singer from Unleashed didn't show up so kudos for still coming but did not enjoy their performance at all. I thought Iced Earth stole the entire show with two absolutely top notch performances. Getting Barlowe back was probably the best thing Shaffer has ever done.

Band members were constantly milling around, I saw Jon Shaffer, Jeff Loomis, Barlowe, Thomas(sp?) from BG, Alex Skolnick for example about 25 different times. They were hanging out all week. Same goes for many other band members and as long as you waited for a lull in the conversation they seemed to be quite amenable to taking pics. Some like Hansi, I never saw at all.


Bad things:

Ok this was a CRUISE. Which was had its charm, but at times it was uncomfortable. The room was a closet and the shower, well hell I have no idea how some people even fit in that thing. It was tiny (but I never smelled BO so I guess people used the pool or something). The bed was a freaking stone slab. The boat rocked back and forth a LOT. Even the staff said it was unusual to be so rocky and this did make for some interesting stumbling around and some disorientation. I never got sick or saw anyone get sick but it was generally unsettling (and a lot of band members made jokes about it). The outdoor deck was VERY windy at times and on the colder side. Somehow though at times these "challenges" seemed appropriate when listening to metal. I have no idea what they would have done if it would have really rained on the outdoor stage since it didn't have a roof. That all said, most of these things seemed a bit "unusual" so they may not happen in the future.

Check in check out was a pain, but not as bad as getting on or off a plane.

The food like I said above, if your a foodie, was about a 4 out of 10. No matter where you ate. If you are not picky, you would probably like it.

The MERCH area was what pissed me off absolutely the most. I brought a WAD Of money for merch and never got anything. The thing was open the oddest hours (10:30 to 1:30 the last day, seriously!!??? I wasn't even up by then) and the one time I was over there when it was open I waited in line 30 minutes and gave up when it was clear there was another hour to wait thinking I'd hit it again the next day). That was about the dumbest thing I've EVER seen. Still pissed I don't have any merch to show from this (if anyone reading this has any extra shirts from any bands with dates or mention of 70000 on them please contact me!!).

A LOT of the bands seemed to end their sets early or start late. Many shows started 15 minutes late and this seemed to include the usual "we have cut a song but will make it up tomorrow." Now there was so much music to be had you honestly didn't really care if a band played 1 hour 10 minutes instead of 1 hour 30 or 45 instead of 60. But some more consistency in the schedule would be nice. I know this sort of thing must be ridiculously daunting but I know it can be done better.

Improvements that need to be made:

Better time management of bands schedules (see above)
Merch at least 10 hours a day and get a bigger room for gods sake!!!
More and better information provided in a more timely manner ahead of the cruise (they need a spokes person)
Pre party !!
Hire Glenn as a consultant lol
More unique merch and personalized touches

Overall the entire experience was amazing. What went into this event must be truly daunting and for a first time especially I can't give them enough respect. You felt like you were in metal heaven for 4 days and I think everyone was a little depressed the last day. I'm proud I was able to be part of this historical event. Everyone who attended (bands and fans) took a "gamble" and it paid off in a big way I think. I have no doubt that this will become absolutely LEGENDARY and that it will sell out easily every single year forward if similar quailty bands are booked. Nothing will ever beat ProgPower 1-3 for me but this was very close.

Aaron

[cg138]

Good.

[raiderdeath442]

VS PROGPOWER
This was 100 times better than PP. The atmosphere was better. The people at PP aleays seemed uptight and a little more conservative.Though I respect the work and dedication of Glenn and he is a cool guy. He is treated like a god and his ass must be red fom all the kissing, That always bothered me. He needs to loosen up on his photo and videoing rules, We are not going to make a lot of money or take any from his pocket by recording these kinds of bands.
PEOPLE
Not one word spoken in anger(that I saw). Everyone was Please,thank you,pardon me excuse me,sorry etc. Met so many people from around the world thanks to all of you. Wanna say god bless to everyone on the Forbidden limo ride. Thanks to Deb for putting it together. Nicko has great ribs and chili. Metal fans are the salt of the earth.
BOAT
It was a bit weird to be swaying to and fro while watching Saxon but it was also kinda fun. The crew and staff was awesome.Sevice was Great.Anything I needed was right there. Everything was quite clean and tidy considering the mess we made. Food was quite good.
BANDS
Not one person was denied a picture or a moment to chat a bit.They were very pleasent considering they were probably sick of it.Variety of bands was great,just about every genre was represented.They all played well(considering the alchohal consumption) Highlights (to me) were Gamma Ray..TYR..Moonspell..Guardian..Exodus..Sonata Arctica..Saxon..Epica.And so many more. All bands need to be comended. We loved all of you.
ORGANIZATION
Considering it was the 1st of its kind. And the size of this event. I think eveything went very smoothly. It was a chaotic organization, but thats what made it cool. PLEASE DON'T OVER ORGANIZE!!!!!(PP) Merch booth could have went a little more smooth but you can't have evrything.Prices were very acceptable. But the lines moved too small.
Im sure there's alot more we wanna say but it's a little early after the event.
OVERALL
Besides my kids being born, those were the best four days of my life. I feel honored to be part of the 1st one of these. WE MADE FUCKING METAL HISTORY! I look at it as our metal woodstock.
Thanks to all Brian( Jennies Hubby) of Brian and Jennie

[stoverkill]

A+++++++++
11 out of 10
6 stars

However you want to put it.... this was the metal event of a lifetime and anyone that says otherwise can walk the freaking plank!

[Daenerys]

Just got back too. First things first, I knew there was no way this would be run as good as ProgPower and it wasn't. Glenns personal touches and impeccable planning cannot be beaten nor matched it seems.

[longhairedaaron]

<<Though I respect the work and dedication of Glenn and he is a cool guy. He is treated like a god and his ass must be red fom all the kissing,>>

That is because about 10=11 years ago we were in a sort of metal dark age where very few european power metal or otherwise toured the USA. Thanks to Glenn we got to see the first US performances by bands such as Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Evergrey and many, many others. So while obviously in many ways PP cannot compete with 70000 (and I really don't see them as competition) forever in my mind seeing those first performances of bands I had little hope of ever seeing will always be the most special and that is the reason a lot of people have so much respect for Glenn. Hell a case could even be made for him having a lot to do with why so many of those bands actually tour around here now. Tours were very poorly attended (nevermore, arch enemy, iced earth, etc playing for 50-100 people in tiny bars) If you were involved in that sort of music here at the time those shows were put on, you would understand.

Aaron

[stoverkill]

Tours were very poorly attended (nevermore, arch enemy, iced earth, etc playing for 50-100 people in tiny bars)

I just saw Malevolent Creation open for EXODUS in Dallas TX in a shitty little bar... 50 people maybe showed up.

How embarrassingly lame. The metal scene in this city fuckin BLOWS!!!!

[WizardBeast]

VS PROGPOWER
This was 100 times better than PP. The atmosphere was better. The people at PP aleays seemed uptight and a little more conservative.Though I respect the work and dedication of Glenn and he is a cool guy. He is treated like a god and his ass must be red fom all the kissing, That always bothered me. He needs to loosen up on his photo and videoing rules, We are not going to make a lot of money or take any from his pocket by recording these kinds of bands.
PEOPLE
Not one word spoken in anger(that I saw). Everyone was Please,thank you,pardon me excuse me,sorry etc. Met so many people from around the world thanks to all of you. Wanna say god bless to everyone on the Forbidden limo ride. Thanks to Deb for putting it together. Nicko has great ribs and chili. Metal fans are the salt of the earth.
BOAT
It was a bit weird to be swaying to and fro while watching Saxon but it was also kinda fun. The crew and staff was awesome.Sevice was Great.Anything I needed was right there. Everything was quite clean and tidy considering the mess we made. Food was quite good.
BANDS
Not one person was denied a picture or a moment to chat a bit.They were very pleasent considering they were probably sick of it.Variety of bands was great,just about every genre was represented.They all played well(considering the alchohal consumption) Highlights (to me) were Gamma Ray..TYR..Moonspell..Guardian..Exodus..Sonata Arctica..Saxon..Epica.And so many more. All bands need to be comended. We loved all of you.
ORGANIZATION
Considering it was the 1st of its kind. And the size of this event. I think eveything went very smoothly. It was a chaotic organization, but thats what made it cool. PLEASE DON'T OVER ORGANIZE!!!!!(PP) Merch booth could have went a little more smooth but you can't have evrything.Prices were very acceptable. But the lines moved too small.
Im sure there's alot more we wanna say but it's a little early after the event.
OVERALL
Besides my kids being born, those were the best four days of my life. I feel honored to be part of the 1st one of these. WE MADE FUCKING METAL HISTORY! I look at it as our metal woodstock.
Thanks to all Brian( Jennies Hubby) of Brian and Jennie

i so agree with your review! i don't know how LonghairedAaron found most of the bands to be late, i'd say day one was because we left port late but other than that, most were on time and IF late, were really only 5-15 minutes late which is NOT bad. i've been to progpower and i do NOT think Andy and crew need help from anyone there, this was a pro fest and for the first year, damned organized.

i DO agree about the merch area needing serious overhaul for next year. more stuff and more people working it. lines were ridiculous and not all bands had stuff and 70000TONS could have had much more schwag! many of us were prepared to spend MUCH MORE MONEY ON MERCH...did you hear that Andy and Allison? we'll buy your stuff!!!! i also agree that the food was pretty lame, but i still managed to eat too much. bummer that these 5 lbs didn't come from really good food!

finally, smoking outdoors only please. damn my head and throat kill from all that smoke.

[ShoreSlayer]

I'm going to be raving about the positives in other threads so will just add the bits I agree could be improved for now, as well as two others that I think needs mentioning.

- The merch - For sure the biggest 'problem' I saw. I lined up with many others on the first day they opened and couldn't believe there was only 1 person (later 2) working and no system like take a number or anything. I left partially out of impatience but largely just cuz I couldn't stand to watch the one woman working try to deal with that mob. Just ugly. It was still bad when I went back hours later and they'd added the 2nd person but I stuck it out and bought quite a bit. Sadly, I forgot a shirt I'd promised a friend and then met with huge lines whenever I went back and found the place open and just couldn't squeeze the time in with so much else to do. The other thing was that I heard of some women waiting something like 2 hours in line at the 70K merch only area only to find they'd sold out of ladies' shirts on the first day. Definitely bring MORE merch next time guys and the staff and organization to move it efficiently.

- The smoking - I agree with what others have said about just making it outdoors only but, if they must have some indoor areas, try to make it just the bars that don't have any of the main attractions. That Spectrum was really hard to enjoy as a non-smoker and Boleros would have been fine but not while people are doing Karaoke. Bad mix for the vocal chords. Casino, fine. Piano bar, fine. Also, I saw a fair number of ppl smoking in the Chorus Line Theatre and no staff telling them not to. I hope that didn't lead to any damage that might discourage RC from taking us out again without huge increase in cost due to insurance needs.

The first one that no one else mentioned was those 6 or 8 bits of scaffolding poking through the pool stage floor with yellow hazard tape wrapped around them. They didn't appear to be integral to the structure but I couldn't help but wince anytime someone moshed, slipped or staggered near one as the wrong combination of imbalance, momentum and force and someone could have really been badly hurt on one of those (impalement anyone?). Should have just been sheared off with a saw I think.

The other one is more my own little beef but the guy running the open mic was a bit of a dick. I can't speak for anyone else but, directly to me personally at least, he was a complete asshole. He'd originally told the drummer who was running the thing that he wasn't even going to run open mic cuz no one gives a shit about it and then stomped around like a grumpy child setting it all up once the drummer convinced him. Then, when asmegin went to get his guitar I patiently waited for the guy to finish what he was doing and asked him which amp he wanted us to use for 2nd guitar and he just said, "Nope. One guitar, one bass, that's it" even though the amps were all right there. As I began to try to explain that we'd prepared for a number of songs requiring 2 guitars, he ignored me and walked away, refusing to even consider or discuss it. Either find someone more accommodating and willing to do their job or inform the passengers ahead of time of a limitation like this. Of the 42 bands that performed, I'd estimate more than 75% have 2 guitarists in their bands. It's quite common in metal. If I'd known of this limitation, I'd have spent time preparing for that scenario or at least not wasting time preparing for and looking forward to something that was not made available. Missed a LOT of fun at Karaoke that night as I was running round trying to live up to previously made commitments for this part of the cruise and it was just a complete waste of time and energy. (poor me, I know lol)

So yeah, I'd give the whole event a 9.75 out of 10. Tweaking these few things would make it completely perfect and few things in life even come close to perfection.

[Bolt_Thrower]

I had a GREAT time but for reasons other than what I thought I would. I really expected that this thing was going to be survival of the fittest and that people would actually die in the chaos. My wife and I even redid our wills last week somewhat expecting the worst. But everybody was totally congenial! About the worst that it got was when Exodus started 45 minutes late, it pissed off a Jets fan that was still angry from the previous day. I saw a photo of some dude passed out in the elevator lobby. On the last night a few dudes kept the entire deck awake between 2:00AM and 4:00AM harassing their sleepy roommate for being a lightweight and to go party with them. Pretty minor stuff.

I fully expected vomit dripping from the ceiling, dead folks at the bottom of the pool, people going overboard, the ship listing back to port...

The shows were GREAT but we were exhausted by 9:00PM every night and missed out on several of the late night bands. We had to get a wake-up-call at midnight to catch Testament's first show.

[WizardBeast]

I'm going to be raving about the positives in other threads so will just add the bits I agree could be improved for now, as well as two others that I think needs mentioning.

- The merch - For sure the biggest 'problem' I saw. I lined up with many others on the first day they opened and couldn't believe there was only 1 person (later 2) working and no system like take a number or anything. I left partially out of impatience but largely just cuz I couldn't stand to watch the one woman working try to deal with that mob. Just ugly. It was still bad when I went back hours later and they'd added the 2nd person but I stuck it out and bought quite a bit. Sadly, I forgot a shirt I'd promised a friend and then met with huge lines whenever I went back and found the place open and just couldn't squeeze the time in with so much else to do. The other thing was that I heard of some women waiting something like 2 hours in line at the 70K merch only area only to find they'd sold out of ladies' shirts on the first day. Definitely bring MORE merch next time guys and the staff and organization to move it efficiently.

- The smoking - I agree with what others have said about just making it outdoors only but, if they must have some indoor areas, try to make it just the bars that don't have any of the main attractions. That Spectrum was really hard to enjoy as a non-smoker and Boleros would have been fine but not while people are doing Karaoke. Bad mix for the vocal chords. Casino, fine. Piano bar, fine. Also, I saw a fair number of ppl smoking in the Chorus Line Theatre and no staff telling them not to. I hope that didn't lead to any damage that might discourage RC from taking us out again without huge increase in cost due to insurance needs.

The first one that no one else mentioned was those 6 or 8 bits of scaffolding poking through the pool stage floor with yellow hazard tape wrapped around them. They didn't appear to be integral to the structure but I couldn't help but wince anytime someone moshed, slipped or staggered near one as the wrong combination of imbalance, momentum and force and someone could have really been badly hurt on one of those (impalement anyone?). Should have just been sheared off with a saw I think.

The other one is more my own little beef but the guy running the open mic was a bit of a dick. I can't speak for anyone else but, directly to me personally at least, he was a complete asshole. He'd originally told the drummer who was running the thing that he wasn't even going to run open mic cuz no one gives a shit about it and then stomped around like a grumpy child setting it all up once the drummer convinced him. Then, when asmegin went to get his guitar I patiently waited for the guy to finish what he was doing and asked him which amp he wanted us to use for 2nd guitar and he just said, "Nope. One guitar, one bass, that's it" even though the amps were all right there. As I began to try to explain that we'd prepared for a number of songs requiring 2 guitars, he ignored me and walked away, refusing to even consider or discuss it. Either find someone more accommodating and willing to do their job or inform the passengers ahead of time of a limitation like this. Of the 42 bands that performed, I'd estimate more than 75% have 2 guitarists in their bands. It's quite common in metal. If I'd known of this limitation, I'd have spent time preparing for that scenario or at least not wasting time preparing for and looking forward to something that was not made available. Missed a LOT of fun at Karaoke that night as I was running round trying to live up to previously made commitments for this part of the cruise and it was just a complete waste of time and energy. (poor me, I know lol)

So yeah, I'd give the whole event a 9.75 out of 10. Tweaking these few things would make it completely perfect and few things in life even come close to perfection.

+1 on all of that Rob. i was bummed i couldn't do breaking the law and all those fun songs with y'all! but i had way fun doing the "karaoke with the stars" LOL

[FLORIDABOYS]

with the exception of the limited amount of 70,000 merch (not individual band's merch), this cruise KICKED ASS!!!!!!!! I had the absoulte time of my life. I got to see so many bands perform in such an intimate environment. I give the experience a 400 on a scale of 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Disaster Area]

The first one that no one else mentioned was those 6 or 8 bits of scaffolding poking through the pool stage floor with yellow hazard tape wrapped around them. They didn't appear to be integral to the structure but I couldn't help but wince anytime someone moshed, slipped or staggered near one as the wrong combination of imbalance, momentum and force and someone could have really been badly hurt on one of those (impalement anyone?). Should have just been sheared off with a saw I think.

The other one is more my own little beef but the guy running the open mic was a bit of a dick. I can't speak for anyone else but, directly to me personally at least, he was a complete asshole. He'd originally told the drummer who was running the thing that he wasn't even going to run open mic cuz no one gives a shit about it and then stomped around like a grumpy child setting it all up once the drummer convinced him. Then, when asmegin went to get his guitar I patiently waited for the guy to finish what he was doing and asked him which amp he wanted us to use for 2nd guitar and he just said, "Nope. One guitar, one bass, that's it" even though the amps were all right there. As I began to try to explain that we'd prepared for a number of songs requiring 2 guitars, he ignored me and walked away, refusing to even consider or discuss it. Either find someone more accommodating and willing to do their job or inform the passengers ahead of time of a limitation like this. Of the 42 bands that performed, I'd estimate more than 75% have 2 guitarists in their bands. It's quite common in metal. If I'd known of this limitation, I'd have spent time preparing for that scenario or at least not wasting time preparing for and looking forward to something that was not made available. Missed a LOT of fun at Karaoke that night as I was running round trying to live up to previously made commitments for this part of the cruise and it was just a complete waste of time and energy. (poor me, I know lol)

Man, I was worried about those poky bits sticking up in the pool area too. At the very least a split tennis ball pushed onto the top of each would have staved off serious injury if someone had fallen onto one. I just knew I would stub the shit out of my toes when I was wearing my sandals around them.

As for that jackwad running open mic., now I see why you left. What a tool. He was still stomping around like some 13 year old that just got grounded from X-box when I was there. Anyway, fuck him. we'll have a better open mic next time. Oh, and I will bitch a little about the drunk ass Chileans that occupied the mic and most of the stage. They caused me to leave.

[WizardBeast]

split tennis balls would have been easier than sawing those poles down....good thinking there Craig

[Metalwrath]

Overall the cruise was amazing.It was a more intimate time between the bands and the fans that i'd ever imagined.Was cool to get smashed drunk with so many bands.Sound was pretty good most of the time.
The service from the crew was perfect considering the amount of alchohol being consumed.Had no gripes with any of the staff.They were extremly friendly and helpful.

There was one or 2 things that annoyed me though.

The water that they left in everyones cabin.When you are hungover in the morning you probably did't notice the sign they had left beside them but i think if you drank or opened one of those botle they were charging 4 dollars for them.
Also despite the fact that you were supposed to have a cutofflimit of 300 dollars before you paid off the baalnce in cash when i got declined on my card i went down to pay of some of the balance i had found out they owed them 325 dollars or something.This seemed to happen to a lot of people.So obviously their system was working a bit slow or something?

I couldn't get a good Jack and coke on the cruise either.I remember ordereing a double jack and coke and gettting something that tasted mostly of coke.
A few days later i tried to get a jack and coke i got some kind of extremly diluted coke with the jack.It tasted horrible.
A lot of people ended up having to buy cans of coke to mix it themselves.Dunno what was going on with that whole situation.

The merch shop was only open between certain hours.To me i don't understand why they didn't set up a merch stall or 2 for the whole day.There are a lot of metal merchandise outlets who set up at festivals and i feel that it would have been nice to have more metal merch than jsut the bands on the cruise.

The Karaoke choices for songs were really poor.I think they could have offered a more heavier list.

Also i don't know if anybody noticed but during the jumping up and down for primo Victoria when Sabaton were playing on the pool deck the floor underneath felt very unstable.There was a big potential for a serious acident there.Those wooden boards could have collapsed and all thats underneath is a big fall into an emtpy swimming pool with no water.

[stoverkill]

... but during the jumping up and down for primo Victoria when Sabaton were playing on the pool deck the floor underneath felt very unstable.There was a big potential for a serious acident there.Those wooden boards could have collapsed and all thats underneath is a big fall into an emtpy swimming pool with no water.

Agreed... that was a potential youtube disaster in the making

[mooyagi]

I'm very surprised that the pool deck didn't collapse. That thing was dangerous. The floor was very uneven, and as Rob mentioned, those poles were a disaster waiting to happen. It also got wicked slippery on there. I'm glad nobody got hurt, but a redesign must be done for the next one to avoid a serious issue.

[Max_Rockwell]

You can't be too hard on the organizers, bands, staff, or anyone else that made this happen as this is the first time it's happened.
I'd say it went extremely well. We had those issues here in there with some performances but that's typical to see, even in festivals that have been going on for years.

I say for it being the first time, and for a lot of people doubting this would even happen, this whole event was spectacular.
The pool deck stage had amazing sound for an outdoor venue, and that was something even I was a little doubtful about at first.

Great job done by everyone.

[last_candle]

Also despite the fact that you were supposed to have a cutofflimit of 300 dollars before you paid off the baalnce in cash when i got declined on my card i went down to pay of some of the balance i had found out they owed them 325 dollars or something.This seemed to happen to a lot of people.So obviously their system was working a bit slow or something?

I thought there was a limit, too - but obviously there wasn't, at least not one that worked

I couldn't get a good Jack and coke on the cruise either.I remember ordereing a double jack and coke and gettting something that tasted mostly of coke. A few days later i tried to get a jack and coke i got some kind of extremly diluted coke with the jack.It tasted horrible.
A lot of people ended up having to buy cans of coke to mix it themselves.Dunno what was going on with that whole situation.

I had to train the waiters and bartenders, too
the first Jack I got was just Jack and ice and a sip of Coke; I like my JackyCoke with quite a lot of Coke
but it quickly worked out pretty good ...

where's room for improvement?
- pool deck security
- merchandise

[Metalwrath]

You can't be too hard on the organizers, bands, staff, or anyone else that made this happen as this is the first time it's happened.
I'd say it went extremely well. We had those issues here in there with some performances but that's typical to see, even in festivals that have been going on for years.

I say for it being the first time, and for a lot of people doubting this would even happen, this whole event was spectacular.
The pool deck stage had amazing sound for an outdoor venue, and that was something even I was a little doubtful about at first.

Great job done by everyone.

Not being hard on the organizers.Every festival needs feedback so they can improve overall as a festival.
Anyay the situation with the drink cards and the Jack and Coke would be to do with the cruise company and not the festival organisers.
And the issue about the pool deck stage has to be brought up because it is somethign that could have jepordised this event happening again in the future.

[torpedo20]

I'm going to be raving about the positives in other threads so will just add the bits I agree could be improved for now, as well as two others that I think needs mentioning.

- The merch - For sure the biggest 'problem' I saw. I lined up with many others on the first day they opened and couldn't believe there was only 1 person (later 2) working and no system like take a number or anything. I left partially out of impatience but largely just cuz I couldn't stand to watch the one woman working try to deal with that mob. Just ugly. It was still bad when I went back hours later and they'd added the 2nd person but I stuck it out and bought quite a bit. Sadly, I forgot a shirt I'd promised a friend and then met with huge lines whenever I went back and found the place open and just couldn't squeeze the time in with so much else to do. The other thing was that I heard of some women waiting something like 2 hours in line at the 70K merch only area only to find they'd sold out of ladies' shirts on the first day. Definitely bring MORE merch next time guys and the staff and organization to move it efficiently.

- The smoking - I agree with what others have said about just making it outdoors only but, if they must have some indoor areas, try to make it just the bars that don't have any of the main attractions. That Spectrum was really hard to enjoy as a non-smoker and Boleros would have been fine but not while people are doing Karaoke. Bad mix for the vocal chords. Casino, fine. Piano bar, fine. Also, I saw a fair number of ppl smoking in the Chorus Line Theatre and no staff telling them not to. I hope that didn't lead to any damage that might discourage RC from taking us out again without huge increase in cost due to insurance needs.

The first one that no one else mentioned was those 6 or 8 bits of scaffolding poking through the pool stage floor with yellow hazard tape wrapped around them. They didn't appear to be integral to the structure but I couldn't help but wince anytime someone moshed, slipped or staggered near one as the wrong combination of imbalance, momentum and force and someone could have really been badly hurt on one of those (impalement anyone?). Should have just been sheared off with a saw I think.

The other one is more my own little beef but the guy running the open mic was a bit of a dick. I can't speak for anyone else but, directly to me personally at least, he was a complete asshole. He'd originally told the drummer who was running the thing that he wasn't even going to run open mic cuz no one gives a shit about it and then stomped around like a grumpy child setting it all up once the drummer convinced him. Then, when asmegin went to get his guitar I patiently waited for the guy to finish what he was doing and asked him which amp he wanted us to use for 2nd guitar and he just said, "Nope. One guitar, one bass, that's it" even though the amps were all right there. As I began to try to explain that we'd prepared for a number of songs requiring 2 guitars, he ignored me and walked away, refusing to even consider or discuss it. Either find someone more accommodating and willing to do their job or inform the passengers ahead of time of a limitation like this. Of the 42 bands that performed, I'd estimate more than 75% have 2 guitarists in their bands. It's quite common in metal. If I'd known of this limitation, I'd have spent time preparing for that scenario or at least not wasting time preparing for and looking forward to something that was not made available. Missed a LOT of fun at Karaoke that night as I was running round trying to live up to previously made commitments for this part of the cruise and it was just a complete waste of time and energy. (poor me, I know lol)

So yeah, I'd give the whole event a 9.75 out of 10. Tweaking these few things would make it completely perfect and few things in life even come close to perfection.

+1 on all of that Rob. i was bummed i couldn't do breaking the law and all those fun songs with y'all! but i had way fun doing the "karaoke with the stars" LOL

+2 on on Rob! Merch was a mess; being non-smoker I really hate when my clothing smelled like a chainsmoker junkie - even more so than the 2d hand smoke I was subjected to. That pool deck was very close to collapsing during the Exodus gig (fortunately, Mr. Dukes changed the 'format' of the said 'Wall of Death' - nicely done Exodus!)

[Davina]

Overall an amazingly awesome time

Pre-party- 9/10
Bands- 10/10
People- 10/10
Food- 7/10
Merch- 3/10
Excursion to Ruins- 9/10 (drops a point due to the fact I was nearly sick on the ferry on the way over)
Service- 9/10

An extra day would be good and I would definitely organise to stay in Miami after the Cruise as the long wait at the airport followed by long plane journey then drive home was really hard work after all of the partying and lack of sleep.

[metalgoddess]

I spent most of the day yesterday working on my review of the event for my friend, Mark Carras.

Here is a link:

http://www.rockmymonkey.com/live-reviews/

[last_candle]

a nice read!

[Disaster Area]

sigh... I only wish I had the attention span to sit down and write such a lengthy and thoroughly fantastic review, thanks for posting this!

[KevinP]

sigh... I only wish I had the attention span to sit down and write such a lengthy and thoroughly fantastic review, thanks for posting this!

Ditto. I write like I talk: waaaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooo much

It tires my fingers that I can't get all the words out fast enough

[mooyagi]

Nice review! I even found myself on the first picture on the page (Agent Steel). Just a quick correction, Sabaton is Swedish not Norwegian.

[KevinP]

Who's that Stud Muffin in the first Cripper photo with the bald head/orange shorts/Morbid Angel shirt ?

[Heabymetawhunta]

Who's that Stud Muffin in the first Cripper photo with the bald head/orange shorts/Morbid Angel shirt ?

[MetalTome]

Our reviews, interviews, videos, and photos will be posted within the next couple days (as my wife and I both came home from the cruise with Bronchitis ) @ http://www.metaltome.com

Make sure you join the 70,000 Tons of Metal group as well on the site

http://www.metaltome.com/community/user ... s+of+METAL

We have over 100 videos and far to many photos to count

[SADP666]

Hellbound.ca is doing day-by-day reviews of the festival and Parts #1 and #2 are now online:

Sunday (arriving in Miami) and Monday
http://www.hellbound.ca/2011/01/70000-t ... ap-part-1/

Tuesday
http://www.hellbound.ca/2011/02/70000-t ... ap-part-2/

[Heabymetawhunta]

(as my wife and I both came home from the cruise with Bronchitis )

[Le G@SP]

For french speaking forumers here is my report in five parts (sorry, to lazy to translate this in english)

Intro/presentation of the festival: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 56#p665456

First day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 06#p665506

Second day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 44#p665544

Third day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 50#p665550

Last day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 54#p665554

[WizardBeast]

For french speaking forumers here is my report in five parts (sorry, to lazy to translate this in english)

Intro/presentation of the festival: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 56#p665456

First day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 06#p665506

Second day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 44#p665544

Third day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 50#p665550

Last day: http://defender.metal-live.com/viewtopi ... 54#p665554

MERCI! plutot bien. i can fumble my way through most of it en francais just fine, and there are a LOT of pictures for you non-french speakers....click away.

[NuuX]

As much as their shows were awesome, I was realy pissed off at Rage and Sabaton.

"Do you have Rage girlie?" (for my gf) "No." - FUCK
"Rage XL?" "Sorry, no Rage merch." - FUCK
"Sabaton?" "Sorry, blame the bands." - FUCK
"Do you at least have Iced Earth girlie?" "Sorry." - FUCK

Lobby on 5th:
"Do you have 70k girlie?" "Sorry, sold out." - FUCK

All in all, the festival was so freaking awesome and it raised my "festival bar" so high i doubt I'll ever enjoy any other non-cruise festival. Also, coming to the states 4 days before the cruise was a smart idea since I was kind of burned out on Saturday when we went to some museum in Ft. Lauderdale. All in all we did like 1k miles in 4 days checking out Keys, Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, San Marcos (sp??) island and the west coast of Florida. Too bad we didn't have 1 extra month to explore the northern regions of Florida.

Oh, well, I guess next year we set our base in Orlando

[debborah1]

Tours were very poorly attended (nevermore, arch enemy, iced earth, etc playing for 50-100 people in tiny bars)

I just saw Malevolent Creation open for EXODUS in Dallas TX in a shitty little bar... 50 people maybe showed up.

How embarrassingly lame. The metal scene in this city fuckin BLOWS!!!!

That may be....BUT YOU WERE THERE!!!!...and thats all that counts!

[WizardBeast]

yeah to summarize i think you all brought up awesome points. fest was so damned awesome but for next year:

1) merch - way more of it, bigger area, longer hours of availability, better system/more people working it
2) pool pit - sturdier, and more level - have the wood at least come up to the tops of those metal posts and it would be thick/safe/posts wouldn't be an issue and it would be level with the pool walls. metalwrath is absolutely right - if something really bad were to happen to someone as far as safety on the ship, it would jeopardize the whole event. we should feel DAMN LUCKY no one landed on one of those posts with their HEAD or face...eewwww...bad.
3) smoking - less indoor areas designated for smoking please
4) karaoke & open mics - run by new people
5) no bands before noon or after 3am, period. if that means less bands or more days then fine.

i don't think i want bands on whatever island we go to, either. give us a break. it helped my ears to get that window of no bands on Weds, and i even wore earplugs for every single set.

[stoverkill]

That may be....BUT YOU WERE THERE!!!!...and thats all that counts!

Oh I'm glad I was there, six inches from Gary and Lee.... but there will be little to no incentive for them to ever come back if that's all they can get. And who can blame them? I wouldn't want to go play for 50 people when I can go play in front of thousands.

[stoverkill]

Rhiawizkid et al have pretty much gotten all the main points to improve on for next year...

1. merch
2. pool pit
3. karaoke/open mic
4. smoking
5. more sleep time

[STACH100]

Much of what I have to say has been addressed.
First I had a great time! If I was 20 years old I would say it was the time of my life.
Since I have been going to concerts for over 40 years I was not as blown away as some were.
All of the bands were great. What I did not like was they just tried to cram too many performances in to too little time.
Especially if you had a beer every time one of the crew asked you if you wanted one.
> The rooms were just plain too damn small, and we did not get the cheapest ones, I can't imagine what they were like.
> The food was bad. Again if I was 20 I wouldn't have cared, there was a lot of food and at age 20 I would have stuffed myself.
but for the price of the cruise I expected some decent food.
> The staff of the ship were all great.
> I enjoyed all of the stages but towards the end the Chorus Line and the Lounge were terribly smoky.
>The casino was so smoky my Wife got sick.
All that said, I still am very glad I went. What a cool thing to see such great music, crash, get up and a whole new line up of bands
is there for you. So awesome.
And has been said, every one I met was so very nice.
There definitely needs to be a few lass bands and no overlap.
Plus They should pay the crew more so then maybe they could trust them with cash so it wasn't such a pain to buy a beer.
Cheers to the crew, They did a great job.
One more thing, How hard would it be to have the bands start at the time scheduled?