by Mark Gromen

Bands cancelling, schedule busting delays (some as long as an hour between bands), Nocturnal Rites being “denied” an encore due to lack of communication, ProgPower USA 2010 was a blip on the previously spotless resume of organizer Glenn Harveston. Now that the dust, agida and hair pulling has passed, the usually mild-mannered Southern talked with BraveWords.com about the history, as well as the future of North America’s premier concert series, including some insights into how the line-ups come together in his mind.

Asked if this was his most trying year, the smooth drawl on the other side of the phone line begins, “From a technical standpoint, yes. We’re going to have to institute more strict policies with regards to the preparation of the bands themselves. As technology advances, more and more things are being added to the backline without us being notified. We almost have to put up a Pro-Tool studio, at times, for some of these bands. Give me the good old days of plug (in) and play! With Nocturnal Rites, they didn’t bring anyone with them. They had to use my front of house (soundman), monitors and crew. Unfortunately, the band didn’t communicate with the front of house that they’d be doing an encore. So when they finished, since we’d lost so much time from an earlier changeover, he just assumed, ‘We’re moving, let’s try to make up some time’ and flicked the lights on! If Nocturnal Rites had walked back on stage and said, ‘We’re not done yet, fuckers’. I would have let them rip. It was a total (mis)communication accident. I talked to those guys afterwards. I was bummed about it. I bought them a bottle of Jagermeister and told them to enjoy the rest of the weekend.”

2011 promises to be the most eclectic (exciting?) line-up since festival #2, which was his first in Atlanta. In addition to an exclusive return engagement by THERION, the two-day show promises a rare North American appearance by Warrel Dane’s pre-Nevermore outfit, SANCTUARY, as well as this continent’s debut of ARCTURUS (sporting former Dimmu Borgir clean vocalist Vortex, aka Simen Hestnæs ) and the atmospheric WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, alongside staples like MOB RULES, LABYRINTH, VOYAGER and newcomers CREATION’S END. “Time to shake it up,” Harveston says with a laugh. “Going back to the same well, it eventually dries up. Other than one or two headlining caliber bands, I’ve already had everyone. I’m a victim of my own success, in that those bands are also touring over here. That limits the appeal of travel, if people can see them in their own backyard. As I see this happening, I see more of the original, core audience starting to dwindle. I’ve been able to draw in new fans, based on new bands. Kamelot draws a younger crowd. If I want to continue this festival for another decade, I’m going to have to bring in fans from outside the traditional prog and power categories. It’s not necessarily completely different, but closely associated with what we’ve had.”

As couched as that statement is, it’s still good news to the ProgPower faithful, as earlier this year Harveston (who can be frequently read on the festival’s online forum) threatened to pull the plug and walk away if the show tanked. “Having a sell-out (again) really changes your perspective, in terms of giving you some energy! After X, with the economy taking a big dump, I always thought it was the economy (hampering sales). In the back of my mind, I thought, ‘I’ve got a lot of repeat (acts) in terms of prog and power. Did that (affect) me, in terms of drawing people?’ I always have to second guess myself. In pure business terms, I will never loose another dime on this thing. I lost so money on ProgPower II that it literally took two years to recover. I have a financial buffer built in. I’m OK not to (have a) sell-out. But if ticket sales dwindle, beyond my comfort level, Hell yeah, I’m out! I will say it would probably have to be two consecutive years, not just one. If one didn’t do well, I could always look back and say, ‘What did I do wrong? Did I have the wrong type of line-up? Did I not do my marketing right? Was it the economy?’ ‘Are people just tired of the festival in general? So it would have to be (dire) two years in a row.”

So what makes a good festival? Obviously it’s his festival and basically, it’s bands he wants to see, but how does he keep abreast of the new, lesser known bands, as well as the plethora of releases issued every year by established artists: recommendations, reviews, online chat? With a real job, outside running ProgPower, his listening habit would seem to be voracious. “Definitely not. I try to stay ahead of things, but you really have to keep your eyes on certain hot spots on the Internet. There are probably five or six, outside of my own forum, that I visit on a daily basis. I try to get a vibe for things that are outside prog or power. Not pure black metal, or pure death metal, because I know that wouldn’t work, but anything that might kind of fit. After doing the traditional genres for ten years now, I’m a bit bored with playing it safe. I think I deserve the chance to roll the dice, expand people’s boundaries of what is really ‘progressive,”

To that wit, let’s examine the “hows” and “whys” of his proposed line-up for ProgPower XII. THERION: “It’s a two part process. I end the fest and I’ll wait a couple of months before I reach out to the band or booking agent to judge their interest. That’s what happened with Therion. They listened to me because they enjoyed themselves (in ‘05) and said my show was their best in the States. It didn’t get realistic until July, when I talked to them again. They said they’d never come back to the US because of how large their (onstage) entourage is and it’s not financially possible. They had some problems with their previous tours and that left them a little jaded. I said, ‘Here’s the budget…we can shave money off this and that, save money on visas… and it just worked out. ‘Listen guys, the only way I can bring you back is for an exclusive. (Christofer Johnsson) said, ‘Well if we’re going to do an exclusive, we’d like to do a special show, because this will be the only time we’re coming to the States. We might NEVER be back. We need two hours!’ We’ve done the marathon sets before. Evergrey did 2 _ hours.”

Speaking of unique shows, ARCTURUS live can be mesmerizing, especially if they revive anything close to the Shipwrecked in Oslo DVD. “There’s been a desire to get them, ever since I first heard La Masquerade Infernale. It’s always been in the back of the mind, especially with me breaking in the oddball picture, the Orphaned Lands, starting to mix in the DSO (Diablo Swing Orchestra). I actually talked to my connection in Norway a couple of years ago, but Vortex was still in Dimmu. It didn’t make sense. Those guys plan for a year and a half out. He couldn’t just drop everything for a one off show. The timing just never was right. So with them parting ways, it made sense to take a shot at it. They have complete freedom to do what they please within the guideline of their time (slot). I never try to impose anything on a band in terms of what they’ll do. I love Shipwrecked in Oslo. I’d love to see my crew dress up as all those weirdoes and dance around! It would be neat.”

ProgPower always seems to have an Italian band and ’11 will see the longstanding LABYRINTH finally land on these shore. “They’ve always been on the list, but their last release didn’t really click with me. The big thing was that Olaf (Thorsen, guitar) returned to the band. I have a fantastic relationship with him, since Vision Divine played here. His songwriting and participation in the original Return To Heaven Denied (a Part 2 follow-up has just been issued overseas), I consider that one of the all-time power metal classics.”

Classic is often used to describe the two-disc, major label (Epic) career of 80s Seattle based SANCTUARY, even with vocalist Warrel Dane and guitarist Jeff Loomis going on to form Nevermore. Despite the “reunion” there will NOT be a tour, ProgPower being one of the limited chances to see the band again, or for the first time. “What I have been informed, per my booking with them, is there’s potentially two shows other than mine. The plan might include one other festival date, you can make your own guess, but for 2011, only two. Beyond that, all bets are off. So the exclusive nature of that…Into The Mirror Black…how do you pass that up?” OK, but what about MOB RULES? With all the Germanic acts, how do they rise to the top of the “Harveston most wanted” list? “They’ve always been on my radar and I’ve seen them increase with each release. The problem with Mob Rules is they don’t play out that much. They have played the States once before (San Fran’s BARfest ‘07) but that was to a small crowd and the last album was phenomenal. I consider it one of the best albums of last year, across all genres.”

So one strong album can trump a body of work, when it comes to consideration for inclusion in the next year’s line-up. “Absolutely it does,” concurs the Hawaiian shirted Jimmy Buffett fan. “Not only does it make a strong impression on me, but that leads to a larger online buzz. Once you introduce it to certain segments that haven’t heard it, you can see people gravitate towards it. I’m seeing that right now with the band VOYAGER. They’ve created a huge buzz when not that many people realized they were a prog metal band from Australia. Check ‘em out now.”

“I love that album,” exudes my interviewee at the mention of WHILE HEAVEN WEPT (my #5 pick in the 2009 year end poll). “They’re not true doom, people. The people who cry out, ‘Doom?’ Fuck you, listen to it. It’s sludge, epic atmospheric metal now. They’re not a power metal band, per say, and definitely not prog. They’re all over the place.” CREATION’S END is a new Sensory signing, another label typically represented in Atlanta, thanks to Harveston’s long running ties with head honcho Ken Golden (dating back to Baltimore’s old Powermad fest). “I always give his bands a listen, because he brings such high quality stuff to the table: Riverside, Spiral Architect, Delain, stuff of that nature. Creation’s End, #1 (Mike) DiMeo is on vocals. He did a fantastic job on the last Masterplan album (MKII). They fit the ‘warm and fuzz slippers’ slot for the festival. They’re prog. They’re heavy. They’re melodic. They’ve got wanky keyboards, good songwriting. People are like, ‘Who the fuck…’ Well, you’re right, the album’s not even out yet. You’re going to have to trust me on this one. I got the same reaction when I booked Circus Maximus the first time. ‘How can you book a band we haven’t heard?’ That one worked out pretty well. Trust me.”

“I’ve already got ‘em, right now,” he says of feelers for 2012. ‘Booking a year out allows me to plan for Plan B, just in case: economics, bands break up, immigration hassles.” Preparation and attention to details is what makes ProgPower USA such a fun (and successful) weekend. Check out www.progpowerusa.com for more information about all aspects of the show.