FESTIVAL REVIEW: Exit 111 Festival 2019 – Manchester, Tennessee


Exit 111 Festival, aptly named for the highway exit in Manchester TN, made its début October 11-13, 2019. Arriving in powers of three, it was three days of riffs, rock, and rowdiness. One part Metal, one part Rock, one Southern rock, and a whole lot of nostalgia, the event hosted three stages: the Rise Above Stage (honored suicide awareness and featured many of the Classic rock/Southern rock acts), Heaven Stage (the main stage and home to the headliners), and Hell Stage (spotlighted mainly heavy artists).Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Badgerfest 2019 Live at The Breadshed, Manchester


2019 see’s the third installment of what’s becoming an important event in the calendar for the discerning Heavy Metal connoisseur, BadgerFest. The brainchild of the undeniably hardest working man in the Manchester metal scene John Badger, If any qualification of that were needed, aside from it being reiterated by every band of the weekend, as well as their gratitude as to the smooth running, he’s also running the Drumming up Change in November whereby he’ll be playing the drums for the full sets of all ten bands. There’s hard-working and then there’s John Badger. Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Slipknot, Tool, Korn, Rob Zombie, Staind, and More Rule Aftershock 2019


It comes as no surprise that this year’s Aftershock Festival was once again sold out. I mean, how could it not with big-name talents such as Slipknot, Tool, Korn, Rob Zombie, Blink-182, Lamb of God, Dropkick Murphys, Marilyn Manson, Bad Religion, Chevelle, and many others. And with the über-early announcement of next year’s headliner—Metallica, for those of you living under a rock—there’s no question that 2020’s Aftershock will sell out as well. In fact, as of this writing, VIP weekend passes were all gone. A year in advance! So, how was this year’s outing? Damn good, in our humble opinion.Continue reading


REVIEW: Psycho Las Vegas 2019 – Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino


As far as large multi-day fests go, Psycho Las Vegas is still pretty wet behind the ears having only just had their fourth annual incarnation this August but already it has begun growing into what will likely continue to be the summer juggernaut of partying and music. New this year, to the dismay of many, was the location change from the off the strip and perfectly themed haunt, The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, to the megaplex that is Mandalay Bay. Gone is the feeling of a true fest take over and in its place, a sprawling amalgamation of “psychos” and people from any town USA or abroad there simply to gamble, throw pre-wedding bashes, get drunk or maybe attend a conference (*ahem* “conference”). Once everyone got their bearings and navigated through this corporate mega casino/hotel/shopping mall, pushed back a few drinks or whatever preferred substances they were into, and found the locations of the four stages, the complaining ebbed and instead, people experienced the fest for what it is. A gigantic party with a great combination of bands playing for four days.Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: ROCKLAHOMA 2019


Rocklahoma 2019. Three days in the sun, dust, and more sun over Memorial Day weekend (four days technically if you count the Thursday night pre-party). This was the 12 year of this annual festival and it was set to be one for the books from the get-go. Getting to this massive party was no small task on my part. Driving from New Hampshire to Oklahoma isn’t exactly a relaxing Sunday drive. Two full days of driving, two full-on tornadoes, and 1,700 miles later, I had arrived at my Air BnB in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Roughly 50 minutes outside of Pryor.Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Chicago Open Air 2019


The rain. It’s been a thing this festival season, hasn’t it? But even with that said, Chicago Open Air Presents, which hasn’t seen a line up since 2017, pushed on through for their long awaiting festival fans who came to rock – rain or shine! And I’ll tell you: even with the rain, loyal fans pushed through those gates once those doors opened and ran towards that one main stage at the Seat Geek Stadium like it was the most anticipated event of their year. It was sad to see early bands like Vein and Code Orange get canceled by rain and the later start, but the safety of the fans has to come first. It was awesome to see the stage relive its previous year’s glory with the sound of pure rock that could only come from some of the heaviest hitting metal/rock bands around. And the music did fly high above those storm clouds when Beartooth hit the stage that first day. Well-known Swedish bands like Meshuggah and a very artistic and melodic metal performance by Ghost was next, followed by long-awaited headliners System of A Down. SOAD had everyone, myself included, singing along to classics like ‘Aerials’, ‘B.Y.O.B’ amongst their thirty song setlist, and I’m pretty sure that by when they closed out with ‘Toxicity’ we were all out of breath and losing our vocal cords. Eh, it was worth it.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Sonic Temple 2019


The debut of the Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival capped off the Danny Wimmer Presents 2019 spring festival season with sold-out crowds of 120,000 at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, OH, May 17, 18 & 19. It was a fest for the ages and one of the best lineups in the history of “The Worlds Loudest Month”, the signature of Danny Wimmer Presents music festival experiences. In addition to massive performances from Foo Fighters, System Of A Down, Disturbed, Ghost, Papa Roach and Lamb of God, the weekend offered one-of-a-kind art experiences, including legendary street artist RISK, art installations, live mural painting, live screen-printing and the popular Art Tent. The SiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent presented sets from Andrew Dice Clay, Henry Rollins, Tom Morello, Craig Gass, Nadya of Pussy Riot, and more. Continue reading


REVIEW: Maryland Deathfest 2019


Maryland Deathfest held their annual festival in the venerable city of Baltimore a few weeks back. The four-day is one of the best-run independent underground metal festivals in the world. As usual Ghost Cult was on hand for the festivities, with Hillarie Jason bringing you her spectacular eye on bands through photos. Continue reading


REVIEW: Desertfest New York


Desert Fest NYC, The Well, Brooklyn NY.

I had to take a moment when Desertfest New York was announced. I only had gotten to experience a real European Festival once in the last few years of my life and it was a game changer. Yet, I had yet to enjoy a Desertfest yet. The excitement I felt getting have this festival come practically to my backyard, and into two clubs I visit with regularity was just icing on the cake. If you love Stoner, Doom, and Psychedelic music, this festival is your true north and now we have a fest of our own like this in the USA. Continue reading


Welcome To Rockville 2019 Review


How can you top an unforgettable end to a three day Welcome to Rockville festival in 2018 when Ozzy gave us one hell of a send-off? You take the anticipation of thousands of Tool fans who are busting at the seams waiting for the new album to release, and you give them more of a tease by making Tool the final headliner in this year’s Welcome to Rockville Festival, that’s how. We all heard the rumors that Tool was going to debut two new songs (‘Descending’ and ‘Invincible’) during Welcome to Rockville, and they delivered with this history-making moment that fans have not stopped sharing and talking about, whether they were present to witness it or not. Continue reading