Notes From The Other Side

It might not take an entire village to make America’s Premier Metal Fest the world-wide success that it is, but it does take the efforts of a team of hard-working, dedicated, and passionate backstage crew members.

I put six questions (via e-mail) to the behind-the-scenes people who make it all happen. What follows are the answers I received from one of those people.

Say hello to another of Glenn’s finest.

BM: What is your name?

MS: Mike DiSarro, PPUSA Guitar tech and singer for the band Prymary.

BM: Describe what it is you do at ProgPowerUSA.

MS: Mainly I am a guitar tech along with Joel and Wayne but I’ve been known to help Shane’s ass a little with the bass stuff and pre-party. But overall I’m capable of helping out in all departments.

BM: How many PPUSA festivals have you worked?

MS: I have been to 4 and I worked 2 of those. This will be my third year as a crew member.

BM: How did you get the gig with PPUSA?

MS: My partner and keyboardist, Smiley Sean, began working at PP II or III and my drummer and I first attended PP III (Pain of Salvation kicked ass). The following year our band Prymary played the pre-party show, thanks to Shane, and then our drummer, bassist and keyboardist played the main stage with Redemption. By that time I was hooked. It only made sense to return the following year and join Smiley and the rest of the crew. It’s the best seat in the house!

BM: What is the funniest/strangest/best thing that ever happened to you while working at PPUSA?

MS: Unfortunately, I wasn’t backstage for the infamous “Scheisse” incident, but one funny thing that happened was at the after hour party at the hotel. A “certain” Lead Singer from a “certain” band was in our room asking around for a “certain” type of green plant and one of our friends from the show is a police officer — you all know him — asked him for his autograph and at the same time someone mentioned he was a cop. The Lead Singer guy stared at him a moment, then turned as white as a ghost and without a word just rapidly walked away. We immediately burst into laughter, and our cop buddy never got his autograph.

BM: Why is ProgPowerUSA such a success year after year?

MS: ProgPower is successful each year for a few different reasons. First, there is a HUGE power/ progressive Metal scene all across the country and around the world. Not many venues bring this many high caliber bands all at one time. The fans are way cool and are stoked to go every year because it’s the best party around. They really get a lot of great bands for the buck and access to affordable CDs that are normally hard to find.

From a band’s perspective, ProgPower can stand up next to any of the predominant festivals in the world and is renown for how smooth everything is handled. It may not have the largest crowd of all but it certainly is the most dedicated. As many people from other countries attend as there are from America. So, for getting your band’s name out there and selling merchandise it is a great avenue for exposure.

And, of course, Glenn runs a tight ship. He KNOWS how to run a festival. The crew he has now is top notch and could easily take on a festival 10 time this size, but we just do this one really well. Almost everyone on the crew is a gigging musician and understands how important is for the bands playing that everything is set up correctly, wired right, monitors dialed in, etc. We could only hope for the same at some of our gigs.

I will be there every year.

Thanks, Bill

BM: No, thank you Mike!