PLEASE HELP FUND OHIO PROG

[splent]

Hey guys,
Some of you may or may not know, but I am a member of Gende's Giant, which is a Gentle Giant tribute band.  We have been asked to sing at a brand new event called Ohio Prog 2012.  This is going to be held next September.   This was created with the assumption that NEARfest was over and done with.  However, now they decided to have it for one more year, and that is kind of screwing over OhioProg's jumpstart efforts.

The project needs to raise over $100,000 by the beginning of January, and it's only raised about $6,000.  Yeah.  We need help.  They are doing something where there is an incentive, like basically you get something, like a shirt, or purchase your ticket by doing this.  Every dollar helps.  I know I want to perform, and I know these other bands want to too, and some are pretty well known (Arena, FM, etc).   I'm performing on a night with Tribute bands, which includes Going for the One, and Script for a Jester's Tour, which is doing Marillion's entire first album.  We won't get to if enough money isn't raised.  I believe you get your money back if they don't raise enough. 

PLEASE HELP!  EVERY DOLLAR HELPS!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2110512370/ohioprog-2012-ohios-premiere-progressive-rock-fest

[Ultimetalhead]

I know I gave this spiel before, and it really sucks for you guys, but a prog rock festival in Ohio is easily one of the most horrendous ideas ever conceived. Not to shit on the parade or anything, but it would be extremely wise to hold it in nearly any other place in the world.

That said, I hope I'm wrong and something like this could turn the musical tide of the state. 

[splent]

That can onl happen if projects like these are funded!!! Please even spread the word.

[Jamesman42]

If I had money right now I would donate. But I'll see if I can help spread the word

[Nick]

Put this in the music section for ya, hope it gets some music lover interest.

[rumborak]

You know, I would love a festival like that to work, but man, $100k? That is an insane budget.
Also, I just looked on Wikipedia about NEARFest, and the reason this is the last is because of insufficient ticket sales. Why would the OhioProg festival be different? The lineup of this last NEARfest is also a list of either "Who?" or "They still exist?".
Don't want to be mean, but those are kinda the realities of art/prog rock. It's pretty much a dead genre. I went to ROSFest in PA to see Frost* a few years back, and I was traded by other attendees as the "new breed" of fans. Yup, I'm 37.

rumborak

[splent]

I don't think it's a dead/dying genre... I think it's just gone back underground (to a point, because there are many mainstream bands that have a LOT of prog influences).  The problem is, people who do these festivals seem to think it's still able to generate this much revenue because so many people still love it, but because in that regard it isn't mainstream it doesn't garner the attention. 

[Dr. DTVT]

I like the line-up, even if Splent's band wasn't in it.  I just have no clue where I'll be come September, and I don't have money to spare on something that seems like a longshot for me at this point.  I put my application in at a university in western PA, so I'd be about 3 hours away if I got that job...but at this point all I have is an application and hope.

[splent]

bump.  they are up to $7,000.  It's not looking good. 

[Jamesman42]

I thought it was $10,000. But $100,000? I have to agree with rumboman.

[KevShmev]

I agree with rumborak, too.  Even the most popular underground prog rock acts of today have a hard time selling more than a few hundred tickets on their own at shows here in the States, so hoping to raise 100K for a show like this is probably very unrealistic, especially given the state of the economy and the financial problems so many are having.  Good luck.

[rumborak]

Actually, from that website, the exact figure is $135,000.

So, out of plain interest I started looking into what budgets other music festivals have. I found one article about the "Norman Music Festival" in Oklahoma. It had a budget ranging from $130k-$160k over the years, so about the same as what OhioProg is shooting for. Norman Festival had 3 stages and 225 bands, a massive thing.
I don't want to be a dick, but it sounds to me organizers of OhioProg have very little experience overall and want to pull off a huge and massive festival out of nowhere.

rumborak

[splent]

I think part of it is they are probably providing airfare for hte European acts. 

If they can raise $10,000, maybe they can just do the first night? 

[Ultimetalhead]

The whole idea seems to scream "We have no clue what we're getting into." I mean, aside from Splent's band, I've never heard of a single other act on the bill. I'm sure the show would be an absolute blast, but there's not a shot in hell that this is going to go anywhere.

The only thing I'm wondering now is where the money that was donated will go. I would assume that the most logical option would be to split it up among the bands as an apology for getting everyone pumped about something that was doomed to fail, but I fear that it will be pocketed without much thought.

[Zeraphex]

my prog song, Ohio is for Proggers

Hey there,
I know it's hard to feel like I don't care at all.
Where you are and how you feel.
With these lights off as these wheels
keep rolling on and on. (and on and on and on...)
Slow things down or speed them up.
Not enough or way too much. (and on and on and on...)
How are you when I'm gone?

[Chorus:]
And I can't make it on my own.
(And I can't make it on my own.)
Because my heart is in Ohio.
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.
(Cut my wrists and black my eyes)
So I can fall asleep tonight, or die.
Because you kill me.
You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.

Spare me just three last words.
"I love you" is all she heard.
I'll wait for you, but I can't wait forever.
[x2]

[Chorus:]
And I can't make it on my own.
(And I can't make it on my own.)
Because my heart is in Ohio.
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.
(Cut my wrists and black my eyes)
So I can fall asleep tonight, or die.
Because you kill me.
You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.

You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.

(YOU...KILL...ME...WELL)
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.
My final breath is gone
So I can fall asleep tonight

[Chorus:]
And I can't make it on my own.
(And I can't make it on my own.)
Because my heart is in Ohio.
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.
(Cut my wrists and black my eyes)
So I can fall asleep tonight, or die.
Because you kill me.
You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.

(YOU...KILL...ME...WELL)
You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.
[to fade]

[chknptpie]

Helping to spread the word on twitter and FB

[Dr. DTVT]

UMH,

First off check out Arena, they're good and have been around a while. 

Money isn't taken from accounts until the pledge amount is reached, which most people don't realize.  If you pledge $100, it only gets taken from your account if the goal is reached.

[Ultimetalhead]

UMH,

First off check out Arena, they're good and have been around a while. 

Money isn't taken from accounts until the pledge amount is reached, which most people don't realize.  If you pledge $100, it only gets taken from your account if the goal is reached.

Ah, that's good. I'm not very experienced in this area, so I was unaware. 

Either way, it's twice as interesting to me that the festival company apparently knows what they're doing. They're really not acting like it.

[rumborak]

I think part of it is they are probably providing airfare for hte European acts. 

That would be crazy, if they were planning to do that.

If they can raise $10,000, maybe they can just do the first night?

I think that is the real shame actually. By going so horrendously overboard they are now going into utter defeat, and I doubt they can grab the pledges they have and say "oh, we're gonna cut down the whole thing to $10k and use your money for that".

rumborak

[black_biff_stadler]

I think part of it is they are probably providing airfare for hte European acts. 

That would be crazy, if they were planning to do that.

If they can raise $10,000, maybe they can just do the first night?

I think that is the real shame actually. By going so horrendously overboard they are now going into utter defeat, and I doubt they can grab the pledges they have and say "oh, we're gonna cut down the whole thing to $10k and use your money for that".

rumborak

If they did, they'd be leaving themselves wide open for a slamdunk class action suit.