Tag Archives: Festival

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: HIGH ON FIRE [Official Videos]

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to High On Fire!*

If you are familiar with High On Fire you will be in agreement that it’s hard to believe they are billed earlier in the day on the inaugural Epicenter Festival lineup. The mastermind behind the band is of course Matt Pike known famously as one of the best doom guitarists ever from his work with his other band Sleep. He formed High On Fire in 1998. Pike is a talented musician that has a huge discography between his bands. With Sleep he has released 5 albums and one EP, and with High On Fire he has released 8 studio albums and 1 live album. He was also a part of the bands Asbestosdeath (which was was an early incarnation of Sleep) and Kalas who combined have released 2 EPs and 2 albums. The one area where High On Fire differs is that Matt Pike in addition to playing guitar also is the vocalist as well. His vocal style is gritty, raw, aggressive and it’s impossible to not thoroughly enjoy. The bands most recent album is ‘Electric Messiah’ which released in October via Eone Music and the album has been on nearly everyone’s best albums of the year list. In addition to that successful album High On Fire has also been nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. With the nomination they are joining some legendary past nominees like Metallica, Motörhead, Faith No More and TOOL, this is the first time the band has been nominated in their twenty-year career. In regards to their nomination the band had this to say: “We are so honored to be appreciated by our peers,” says vocalist and guitarist Matt Pike. “We love and live our art.” “It doesn’t matter whether we win or not,” says drummer Des Kensel. “It’s just an honor to be recognized for our hard work and sacrifice after devoting our whole lives to music.” Finally, bassist Jeff Matz adds, “This is pretty mind-blowing. We’re beyond thrilled about the nomination. We all put a lot of sweat and sleepless nights into writing and recording this album. It’s amazing that our efforts are being recognized in this way.” On February 10th High On Fire won that Best Metal Performance Grammy for  their album ‘Electric Messiah’ beating out other metal powerhouses Between The Buried And Me, Trivium, Deafheaven and Underoath. With that much talent in one category it certainly shows you the talent that High On Fire will bring to the Epicenter stage. Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: HO99O9 [Official Video]

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Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror) is one of the up and coming band performing at the inaugural Epicenter Festival in Rockingham, North Carolina. This band is like nothing you have ever seen or heard before. Their sound is a mixture of punk, industrial and rap. The band finished up 2018 on tour with The Prodigy in the U.K.. Their sound is somewhat similar to The Prodigy mixed with Nine Inch Nails, Dead Kennedys and a touch of rap. Ho99o9’s sound changes somewhat drastically from song to song and they can’t really be pigeon holed to one specific sound or style. The New Jersey duo explains that they weren’t exposed to rock, punk or metal growing up and all they really heard was hip hop. Now days you will see the band members repping such bands as the Misfits, Cro-Mags, and even Eye Hate God.  Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: BLACK COFFEE

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to Black Coffee!*

Black Coffee formed in early 2017 after drummer Tommy McCullough introduced singer/bassist, Ehab Omran, to guitarist Justin Young. Within the first few days, these artists began songwriting and the chemistry was overwhelmingly apparent. With the release of Black Coffee’s debut album, ‘Take One’, on April 21st, the Columbus, Ohio rockers definitely possess the sound, style, confidence and work ethic that created legends in music in the previous few decades. The bands style is slightly retro rock and with the recent success of bands like Greta Van Fleet, The Struts and Rival Sons they have timed the formation of the band perfectly. Black Coffee are a band that certainly appreciates a good riff and you will easily notice how they flaunt their guitarists talents within their music. Ehab Omran’s vocals pack immense power into such a small frame. He sings in a melodic manner but also at times can wail with an aggressive grit to his voice as well. The band unveiled a music video for “I Barely Know Her”. The song and accompanying video was the first taste of Black Coffee that we would receive and it sent music fans into a whirlwind. The video was filmed at the Johnstown Opera House in Johnstown, Ohio. “I Barely Know Her” was filmed, directed and produced by the extremely talented John Payne of Payne Productions, who is one of the most talented photographers in and around Columbus, Ohio. With the attitude of the years gone by and the sound of a new resurgence of the classic rock, Black Coffee parts the proverbial sea for the next generation of artists. Continue reading →

Camp Anarchy 2019 To Feat. NOFX, THE OFFSPRING, RANCID, BAD RELIGION & More

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Well, we have another new festival on the block here in the US and it is for all you punk people out there. A new three day camping, craft beer and punk rock festival called Camp Anarchy is all set to be unleashed next year starting from May 31st to June 2nd, 2019, in Legend Valley, Thornville, OH. Genre legends such as the likes of THE OFFSPRING, RANCID, NOFX, BAD RELIGION will be headlining the inaugural edition of this promising punk rock festival. Along with the aforementioned headliners, a host of some other crazy punk rockers will unite, namely, PENNYWISE, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, SICK OF IT ALL, X, THE BRONX, FEAR, PENNYWISE, LESS THAN JAKE and more.

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Carolina Rebellion Becomes EPICENTER FESTIVAL!

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After 8 years Carolina Rebellion has come to an end with the split between DWP and AEG. Because of the naming rights the festival had to be renamed for DWP to continue with the festival. As of today it was released that the new name of the festival will be the EPICENTER Festival. The festival will still take place in early May on May 10th thru 12th. However, the location has changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina where Carolina Rebellion was held the past several years to Rockingham, North Carolina at the Rockingham Festival Grounds where the festival was originally held in its early years. The location change also brings with it some additional advantages for the festival. DWP has stated “With the move to our new site, we’re developing 140 acres into festival grounds, which will allow us to provide enhances camping amenities, nighttime entertainment with no curfew, and expanded food and beverage offerings, all highlighted by a massive music lineup covering the spectrum of rock and alternative music.”  Continue reading →

Rock Allegiance 2018 [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Skillet

Words By: Gretchen Piening & Mark Bryson | Photography By: Travis Eisenhard

This years Rock Allegiance in Camden, New Jersey was one no one wanted to miss. One full day of hard rock and brotherhood among fans. Unlike some of the other weekend long festivals Rock Allegiance gives us the chance to go all out for one day and not worrying about conserving energy for tomorrow. This years headliners made the festival even more special with Papa Roach, and Limp Bizkit leading the way followed by well-known established acts like Motionless In White, Skillet, and Bullet For My Valentine. To make things even more special we also got some bands that aren’t often seen on Danny Wimmer produced festivals like Insane Clown Posse and Gwar, regardless if you like either band there is no denying they both bring something to the stage that no other band does. Of course we can’t forget those up and coming bands that play in the heat of the day. These are the bands that in a few years will be headlining stages across the country. Some of those bands we had been looking forward to were Blacktop Mojo, Sylar, Stone Broken, Bad Flower and the Kentucky Hardcore heroes Knocked Loose. Unfortunately due to some of the bands set times overlapping and also conducting interviews we weren’t able to see every band, but we tried to see as many as possible and if you missed a performance hopefully we can clue you in on what went down.  Continue reading →

LOUDER THAN LIFE: Set Times, Overlapping & Who To See!

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The 5th annual Louder Than Life festival brings us a massive music lineup for 2018 including Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Godsmack, Deftones and much more. The World’s Largest Rock n’ Roll Whiskey Festival has expanded to three days – Friday, September 28th; Saturday, September 29th; and Sunday, September 30th – at Champions Park in Louisville, Kentucky. One thing that we often have to worry about when it comes to day long music festivals is bands set times overlapping. We have all been put in that situation where we are picking between bands because its impossible to see both due to logistics. Sometimes the set times are slightly staggered and while they do have some overlap it still leaves enough room to watch part of each bands set. We have made decisions dozens of times on who to see and we feel we may be able to help you make those hard decisions as well.  Continue reading →

Louder Than Life Festival 2018 Announces Complete Music Lineup and More

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The 5th annual Louder Than Life festival announces massive music lineup for 2018 including Nine Inch Nails, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, and Deftones. The World’s Largest Rock n’ Roll Whiskey Festival has expanded to three days – Friday, September 28th; Saturday, September 29th; and Sunday, September 30th – at Champions Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Continue reading →

Live Review: DESERTFEST LONDON, UK 2018 – Day 1 [Photo Gallery]

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Zeke @ Koko. DesertFest London 2018

The UKs very own version of Roadburn took over London over the bank holiday weekend of 4th May – 6th May. The annual 3-day DesertFest London festival hosted over 70 bands including some of the biggest names in the stoner rock scene, at the most iconic venues in Londons Camden town – from the Roundhouse to Koko, The Underworld, The Black Heart and The Dev(onshire Arms). Camden was a hive for worshipers of the scene to congregate for the 7th edition of this fundamental tour, and with headliners that included Graveyard, Napalm Death, High On Fire, Hawkwind and Monster Magnet, this year has been it’s biggest and most diverse yet!

FRIDAY 4TH

Today saw the festival at it’s busiest for its opening day, with 26 artists across 5 stages, not to mention the thousands of tourists bustling about Camden town – famous for its vast array of boutique and quirky independent shops, amazing street food, and markets, weird and wonderful street performers and musicians, as well as being the absolute hot-spot for all kinds of sub-cultures to thrive. With the distinct smell of weed fresh in the air on a blisteringly hot day in the capital, I was ready for the beginning of what would be an epic weekend of (natural) highs from the outstanding line-up at DesertFest London 2018. (Full gallery follows article). Continue reading →

Rock Allegiance Returns For 4th Year Featuring AVENGED SEVENFOLD, LIMP BIZKIT And More!

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This fall, the Philadelphia area welcomes back the fourth edition of the Rock Allegiance festival. The BB&T Pavilion and Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden, New Jersey, will be home to single day event for the second year in a row. Experience some of Philadelphia’s best food and some of the countries’ best brews, all while rocking out to your favorite band. Continue reading →