Almir raises an interesting point, but he isn't necessarily correct.

Melodicrock Fest 3 could in theory be successful if Andrew hits 3 marks:

1. A renewed focus & different approach to PROFITABILITY. He has to have an almost MBA focus to keeping it lean & mean, analyzing the cost structure, the financial risks, etc. Make it no frills if you have to, negotiate everything in such a way that you're saving as much money as possible. Find innovative ways to market, etc, an integral plan to amp up revenue and decrease cost.

Anticipate last-minute hassles - bands that cancel, bad weather, etc. Run tight mathematical projections based on the price you're charging to get to the ideal price-cost balance, leaving you with a buffer margin for disasters. This is your chance to get some money in so you're no pleading throughout the year; plan and use it to yoru advantage.


2. Bring an interesting headliner or two. Bottom line, many of the bands we worship in the 'scene' are tiny niche players nobody cares about. Most of them aren't even that good. You want one or two acts that can drum up genuine interest outside of our dying niche's little circle. Then it's easier to get picked up by media outlets, social networking, websites, etc....hell, if you do it right, you may even expand the visitors to the website, thus expanding your traffic and thus what you can charge advertisers. You're better off having a headliner with a semi-recognizable name do a lower key and cheaper set (acoustic if need be), or reunite with their old band or whatever for a one-off (reunions are easy to promote), than having 16 Eden's Curse type acts no one cares about (not really).

Look at people who are small but have a built in fanbase. For example, rick Springfield isn't that big in the mainstream, but he has a built-in audience of freaky, horny housewives who want to fuck him and will run screaming to anything he does. It's an army. That right there will increase your ticket sales by 30% or more. SO you look for the concentric circles of fandom. If that means cutting down on the total number of bands playing and adjusting it somehow, thats fine.

3. Look at other locations. Now, I do think Andrew is on the money with being close to the east coast. The trouble with the west coast is that it's too spread out, so while you may be able to hit a pocket like LA, people won't come from anywhere else. If you're close enough to states that are smaller and you have more density from one urban area to another, people will be ok with traveling, whether it's from Pennsylvania, New York, etc. But still, look for other places around the Chicago area that could still work, be more centric and cost effective, and hell, even other locations near big urban centers closer to the east coast.