American Metal Festivals: Beginner's Guide
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- America is the land of many things, but is it a place for metal festivals? In this video I give an overview of all the different types of metal festivals here in the US from the big mainstream ones like Welcome To Rockville to the obscure like Maryland Deathfest.
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As a european I'm quite jealous about 70000 tonnes of metal, that looks awesome and wanna do it someday
I would love for someone to do one round the Med
I definitely wanna check it out but plane ticket + festival ticket = a shit ton of cash 😬
@@JBguitar-cj8pc yeah I get you it's just to much to even get there
Thanks for the overview. I’m in the U.S. more often than Europe, so I was wondering what’s available! Gotta hit one of these festivals up.
Rockville kicks ass
Wow, such a big range of metal music and locations like casinos, cruises, wilderness. Had no idea there were these fun options. Very helpful video!
Milwaukee metalfest is being resurrected. It was huge in the 80s and early 90s.
Last one I was at Deicide headlined, malevolent Creation played.. So glad it's being brought back
very excited to see where it goes in the future! 🤘
Thanks for putting this together. I attended last years Fire in the Mountains Fest and it was truly something unforgettable. As I get older, the crowds are something I am less interested in...but this more intimate fest in a truly amazing setting was on my bucket list. Folks shouldn't sleep on what is happening in Little Rock, Arkansas. Chris Terry (CT) from Rwake is basically AR heavy music royalty and curates a phenomenal intimate fest called Mutants of the Monster, highlighting some local bands from a truly underrated scene along with amazing national acts - this year includes YOB, Cave In, Pallbearer, THOU, 16...just to name a few. Plus Stan Liszewski of Terminal Nation kicked off an absolutely bonkers heavy music fest called Bangin' in the Rock Fest last year. Worth checking out for any heavy music fan.
Thanks for posting about those ones I'll definitely check them out. I'm for sure planning on doing Fire In The Mountains next year
as someone going to welcome to rockville in 15 days as my first ever festival, this was needed
Hope you had a blast, maybe we met in the pit! I go almost every year and will keep going.
America’s current longest running festival is ProgPower USA in Atlanta. It has hosted 100+ American debuts over 22 years, including those same bands that headline Wacken such as Nightwish and Blind Guardian.
I actually meant to include it in this video and just....forgot I guess 😅
Glenn we love you!!!! I've attended every year of the fest, its more than just a fest. For me its like a family reunion with all your cool family members. A lot of the bands that play the fest don't get on large US tours this is the only place they play.
Milwaukee Metal Fest is a return after a lengthy break. I went in '94. Hell's Heroes is solid. I went this year and last year. They definitely improved it this year by adding the outdoor stage. The small upstairs room was a lot of fun last year, but only a tiny fraction of attendees could fit in the room.
Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle has been consistently excellent. Smaller intimate venue with great lineups, stagedive city for certain bands. Last year's Suffocation set was nuts!
The US definitely has some solid metal fests! I really need to make it to Maryland deathfest one year
Rockstadt Extreme Fest is the biggest metal festival that's happening in my country of Romania. It takes part in Transylvania, in the small town of Râșnov, and there are a couple of cool facts regarding the location. It's near the Bran Castle, also known as Dracula's Castle, where you cand get by either car, about 30 min, or train, same amount of time, and the reason why it's called Rockstadt (Rockcity or Rockcitadel) is because it's located near the base of a cliff with a medieval citadel on it, you can literally see the citadel walls from the festival ground. Also, similar to Fire In The Mountains from this video, it's relatively close to nature, you basically have mountain forest in front and on either side of the festival ground which makes for a unique atmosphere and which makes the location extraspecial for the more folky/pagan bands, like Heilung, Wardruna, Kopriklaani. Truth be told, it isn't the size of the other big metal festival, mostly in Western Europe, like Hellfest, or Graspop, or Brutal Assault, but it really is the best thing we have and we're grateful for it. This year will be the first year with 3 separate stages and almost 70 bands, including Dropkick Murphys, Anthrax, Trivium, Alestorm and a bunch of others. I'm grateful I found you channel Wyatt, it's really interesting and I never thought it could be so exciting to talk about music festivals and all the shapes and sizes and locations they come. Looking forward to more cool contebt! Stay heavy! 🤘
I was supposed to attend Rockstadt in 2020, but then the pandemic happened and my entire trip was canceled 😅 I hope to make it out there because it looks like a fantastic festival! Cheers from 🇺🇸
Thanks for mentioning this one it looks awesome
I’m a Canadian who has recently gained an addiction to live shows, and while I never really thought about going to metal festivals before, your videos have definitely solidified that on my bucket list. Also thanks for mentioning Fire in the Mountains, that was one of the few I’d never heard of before and as someone who has wanted an excuse to go to Wyoming for a while now, that fest is definitely now on my bucket list too. It looks absolutely amazing.
keep an eye out for modified ghost fest in vancouver since your a fellow canuck, it happens almost every may long weekend and the lineup is almost ALWAYS stacked. one year they got carcass to come over and play a one off show back in 2018 and it was one of only I think less than 5 shows they did that year
@@zekeooo2 Oh hell yeah, I saw the lineup for this year and I wanted to go so bad but I couldn’t. Definitely going to try to make it next year. And damn, didn’t know about the Carcass thing since I only started hearing about the fest recently but that sounds like it would have been amazing
@@hannahkozlovic1715 oh man! Definitely head out to it if you can it's such a good time and the opening bands for each night are always Canadian underground bands
As for carcass it was a trip! They played a stripped down set just them,their instruments and the banner. No merch or fancy props and a wicked greatest hits style set, power trip closed the fest that year and it was amazing. So yeah! Try it out if you're able to, you'd have a good time!
@@zekeooo2 Damn, sounds amazing! There were so many bands I’d have killed to see on the lineup for this year so I’ll try to make it work for sure
My man why you need an excuse to go to Wyoming, the natural beauty of that place in the excuse you need.
Just flew back home this afternoon after attending Metal Threat Fest this weekend. Impaled Nazarene and Dead Congregation were amazing, as well as Sacramentum, Aura Noir, and Sabathan.
Hello from Germany. Very well done. Coming to powertrip in October with my son (promised him that we will go and see ac/dc when they play again wherever they play when he was 7 yrs old - little did I know that this would cost me an arm and a leg but excited as F anyways).
This was great to see all of the really small festivals. I’ve been going to Blue Ridge Rock Fest every year since it started up in 2021 and I’ve had a blast each year! I used to go to Rock on the Range (now Sonic Temple) but Blue Ridge is closer.
I do listen mostly to more extreme metal now but I'm still grateful for the mainstream DWP festivals you mentioned. I got to see legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and KISS live before they have to hang it up. Even though they're admittedly past their prime, in the moment you don't give a shit, you're just having a good time, listening to the classics you grew up around live.
I just went to Sonic Temple this year as my first festival and am in love with the festival experience.
They need to bring a single stage open air metal festival to the Gorge in WA state. I would be all over that - greatest venue in the country
Welcome to Rockville is a blast. I rented a camper this year and had a blast.
If you're into the stoner/desert metal genre there is Desertfest NYC and Heavy Psych Sounds Festival in Joshua Tree and San Francisco.
Decibel metal and beer fest is fun since they do get exclusive album sets plus you get unlimited beer sampling included
I actually planned on including that one in this video and just....forgot..
I have been to every Full Terror Assault since the beginning and I don't plan on missing one...such an amazing time. Thanks for covering, albeit briefly...Seriously go to this festival. You can join our camp
Also, Fire In The Mountains (RIP for now- hopefully they can get a new location...thanks America), is the best festival in the US.
Dude I want to thank you for your content you make there’s a severe lack of videos like yours and I’m attending my first multi day festival this year (Blue Ridge Rock Fest) so you’re really helping me prepare for this amazing metal experience I’m about to have keep up the amazing work 🤘
One tip I can give you is take screenshots on your phone of the schedule for each day when it’s released. Blue Ridge is very spotty with its reception, even though each year they say they’ll fix it. Hopefully this year is the year lol
@@MrSir2552 thank you I’ll definitely keep that in mind! Do you have anymore tips/warnings? One question I have is how big of a tent can I fit in the spot? It’ll just be me and my Dad in our camp spot so I can go as small as I need but I’d like to have as much room as possible lol
@@loganclark4835 Camping I can’t give any tips on, I haven’t camped there at all. I sleep in a Walmart lot because it’s closer than all the hotels and has great cell reception lol. Saves me a lot of money and when I wake up, I can just waltz right in to the store. But I would say bring some shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. If it’s dry, it’ll be dirt and dust everywhere. If it’s wet, it’s muddy as all hell. Bring a gator for your face if you want to get close or into the pits when it’s dry cause dust storms are a thing in those pits and you’ll be blowing black from your nose if you don’t lol. You can bring one big unopened bottle of water in per person, so I’ll usually bring in one of those big Smart Water bottles because it fits easy in a bag. They have free water refills. Make sure your bank is stocked cause the food can definitely be pricy. Either get in super early or get in line super late for merch. The merch tent usually has long lines all day. Other than that, can’t think of anything else. It’s a great time, I’m sure you’ll love it! I can’t wait to go again this year.
I'm from the UK and never been to the US. I've booked to go on the Headbangers boat later in the year. I can't wait.
Glad to see you mention Full Terror Assault. Looking forward to another one this year. BYOB is one of the best aspects as well.
My favorites this year were Hell's Heroes (amazing lineup), and the upcoming early June Legions Of Metal in Chicago, Blades of Steel in September in Madison WI, Mad With Power in Madison WI in August and Gates of Los Angeles Metal Fest in October in Garden Grove CA....all good smaller fest. Much more fun to me than the huge crowded ones.
We are hitting
Carolina Chainsaw Massacre Fest in NC, Maryland Doomfest and Mass Destruction Metalfest in Atlanta. Packed with great underground bands. Great videos on your channel 🤘
Great video! I'm quite stoked to be going to MDF next year
If never been to it but i heard cool things about a fesival in Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada. It seems a festival that wants to grow slowly with quality. This festival deserves more love.🤘
Thanks so much for this overview! Was going to go to Blue Ridge Rock Fest next year, but with this year's controversy, I'm going to watch the festival for a year or two before committing to going. I'd like to try Inkcarceration - I love the open air setting, and know heavier bands will be there as one of my favs, Slaughter To Prevail, have played there.
Full Terror Assault in Illinois rules!! So glad you mentioned them. This year will be my 5th time going and it’s such a blast. Very laid back, affordable, and ridiculously fun 🤘
I just found your channel, great job! we are kindred spirits in a way. Liked and subscribed! I am going to prog power 2023 in September I am surprised you didn't mention it because it has a lot of bands that normally wouldn't play in the USA. I consider it the most Europeanlike metal fest in the country.
Me and my 4 friends traveled from South Jersey, to Ohio for Rock on the Range 2018, still the best experience we ever had.
I’ve been to the last 4 Full Terror Assaults in Southern Illinois and they are an absolute blast. It’s still small enough to where there are very few douchebags or posers and everyone is very chill. When you wake up each morning, you can just walk around and talk metal with anyone at their campsite because there’s no cell phone signal and thus people are starved for some kind of interaction. Also you can bring your own alcohol (just DO NOT bring a glass bottle down to the stages), so you don’t have to spend all day in a line to buy overpriced drinks. There’s enough room for people to set up their own grills, but good food vendors if you don’t want to cook. And the best part is that a lot of the bands don’t leave after they play. They usually hang around with the fans and join in on the fun. I’ve headbanged to a bunch of badass new bands I’d never heard of, then a half hour later, that same band is in the pit with you. It’s better than Xmas.
Dude yes! I have also been to FTA 4 times and it is so fucking fun. I hope to see it get bigger. Looking forward to September! 🤘
I've been thinking about going to one for a while now. There's always at least one or two bands I'm into actually on their list, and I also enjoy watching new bands for the first time as well. I'm finally starting to go to live events for the first time in years. I've just never been to a camping type of festival before.
@@BitestheStuff It's a blast! Come on out!
Been there every year since #3 and looking forward to it again this year.
Northwest Terror Fest has been growing into an awesome show up here in WA/OR.
Full terror assault is an amazing time, should come out
I’m going to the sick new world festival this week. Gonna sizzle in the sun
I’m going to blue ridge 2023 can’t fucking wait
So many new and fresh ideas for future travels! Also, finally festivals besides July and August. I looked on the prices, luckily similar to European festivals. Still a lot, but on acceptable level :D
Most of these festivals will end up in my notes for the future, also maybe besides knowing the states un US and major city names, I finally will be more aware of their placement on the map as it will be nesseary to plan a journey 😅
Im going to Inkcarceration for the 3rd time this year and i couldnt be more excited. Not to mention the 30 bands im looking forward to seeing, last year at our campsite we had a tournament of naked people wrestling in a kiddie pool until 3 am. Its always crazy.
In September I’m going to a ghost concert with a friend we both got vip pit tickets to and then literally a week later I’m supposed to be going to louder than life music festival with a different friend. If I’m lucky tho, with that same friend we’re going to try and see a megadeth concert that takes place before the ghost concert in the same city. As a teen I’ve never been to a music festival before but I’m super pumped! With everything going on in September it’s safe to say I’m super excited and can’t wait. Here’s to hoping everything goes to plan
The second Alestorm gets booked on a cruise, you bet your ass I'm trying to get in on that! Sounds like a whale of a time!
I've been to Graspop as a first metal festival ever this year and holy shit I'm hooked. Somehow the crowds of metalheads going at it always scared me looking at video's, yet I've never felt safer at any festival as I did there. People had each other's backs no matter what, it was great! Good to see more of that European mentality towards festivals is appearing in the USA as well.
I love metal but have never been to a Metal festival so thanks for the guide
Thank you
Blue ridge this year will be my first festival. Insanely excited
There is actually a medium sized festival that is only a couple miles from where I live that got started a few years ago. Its called upheaval festival
Another good one for underground sceen is memorial day fest from may 26-28th in San Antonio
No way!! the New Jersey Metalcore band "God Forbid" is back, I should check out the Headbanger boat, they are my favorite Metalcore band, with a great live album
"Fire In The Mountain" looks like David van Driessen is about to rock around the corner with an acoustic guitar lmao
MDF Last year was so fun last year! Lol except the yk…indecent exposure.
Autopsy had a pretty amazing tho
If your going to Blue Ridge, I’ll be there!
Comrade u should talk about the real AMERICA continent = LATAM heavy Metal festivals for example the Mexico Metal Fest, Hell and Heaven open air, Candelabrum metal fest, domination festival, knot fest, the ancient rock in Rio, etc that almost reach European levels 👊🏻☠️🤘🏻
The latin escene underground headbangers/punk/goth is massive huge.
Definitely going to cover all that!
Hey I just watched all your videos and loved them and I gotta ask and hopefully you read this. How do you feel about Blue Ridge Rock Festival? I am completely devastated I spent all my money on other festivals and shows and cannot make it to BRR but man did it blow up! I mean the last few years it was decent but average at best. 2023 though they killed it with the lineup
Thanks for watching! I haven't been to Blue Ridge yet but the lineup this year is very impressive. Hopefully I'll make my way over there
If you're an american or canadian and want to travel down your border I highly recommend visiting Mexico, Chile or Argentina festivals, we have huge lineups and cheaper flights than Europe haha.
thank you for the heads up on the wyoming festival.... i will definitely be there!! when is the next 70,000 tons cruise?
The cruise takes place in January!
I got to say after years of avoiding the cores, I have found tons of mathcore, hardcore, deathcore and power violence bands that kick ass
The US festivals I really want to see before I die are "Progpower USA" and "Mad With Power Fest", and I wish "Paganfest" would make a comeback... I am way more of a Power and Folk Metal person. "70k Tons Of Metal" would also be great to see, if they get their act together, and I could afford it.
80% of American Festivals are powered by DWP. Aftershock, welcome to Rockville, Inkarnation, Sonic temple.
Sonic temple 2023 !!! Already concerned about PFD, and its not even here yet !!!
The 1st Chicago Open Air festival was a huge 3 day line up with Rammstein, Slipknot, Korn, Manson, Hatebreed, Meshuggah, a ton of other great bands over 3 days back in 2016, and a lot of bands were doing free autograph sessions. I got Rammstein autographs there, but the other ones after that the line upsw haven't been near as good sadly : ( one of the best weekends I've had in a while
American venues such as these are generally safe and fun, but within the last decade, major stampedes, storms blowing stages on the crowds, riggers falling off the tops, woman getting kidnapped, drugged, men getting shot in the parking lots.
Why doesn't the media cover any of it? Well, that's on you. We have changed our ticket terms which is a legal binding contract, you risk your life. They provide security, but that's not stopping it. We tend to keep the crowd happy, but alcohol is a big factor, and aids in funds for next year. But at this rate, we might just prohibit alcohol in that public space as well.
All aside, stay in the back if you're first time. You will get knocked out. Take the experience in from the back so you understand how they do their venues. Each venue has its own rituals. Don't disrespect other state venues, it is a truf war like that.
Just wanna add, new england has a shocking amount of locally run death metal and hardcore festivals running out of barns and clubs with dozens of local bands. New England Death Metal Funtime Bonanza and Slopfest being a couple.
Also as someone primarily into metalcore, deathcore, and djent, the festival selections are.... not great over here. The actual touring shows are incredible for that though
The Nuclear War Now! Fest in San Marcos, Tx was beyond awesome! Mostly Black Metal, some Death Metal!
I would actually love to go to Fire in the Mountains 😭
It looks amazing!
Me too. :)
Can you also do a guide on Asian Metal Festivals please?
When looking at this, the main drawback of American metal festivals seems to be the lower diversity of genres. At big European festivals you often find bands from every conceivable genre in the lineup but American festivals seem to limit themselves more to Thrash, Nu Metal, sometimes Death Metal and a lot of Metalcore and Hardcore. It's not a problem if those are the genres you're into, but if you're more into power or folk or symphonic metal, these lineups all don't seem very interesting.
it's a shame you missed the "mountains of death" festival in switzerland...last issue was like in 2012 oder 2013. With bands like devourment, suffocatoin, dying fetus, necrophagist, etc... limited to 666 tickets, funny foodcorners, etc. in a beautiful scenery... you would have liked it
I have only been going to festivals for the last few year and regret it going sooner but as an American I am really god damn jealous of Europe Festivals!!! They got all the good shit I mean ALL OF IT!! It’s really not fair guys lol
Promised myself I was going to Psycho Las Vegas this year but it got cancelled 🤦🏽♂️
please do a Download guide!
interesting that there is a bit of a difference in genre representation between america and europe. I never thought about that.
although tbf nu metal and metalcore are pretty fucking big in europe too. limp bizkit sell out very big venues on their EU tours. still to this day. and while not of that genre, you mentioned ghost are big in the US. well they are also huge in europe.
of course there special festivals especially in northern countries dedicated to death, black or progressive metal. but the US also has some very cool lineups I see every year. and some bands rarely visit europe these days. it's been a while since the likes of deftones, staind, periphery or system of a down toured europe.
I've only attended smaller one day type festivals here in the U.S. Two stand out- Ozzfest in 1999, the last time I saw Pantera live and first time hearing Slipknot. Ironically where I live (Albany, New York) there used to be a popular local band named Slipknot. The funny thing is they were a Grateful Dead cover band!! Anyway the other was in Massachusetts (don't recall the name of the festival or where exactly in Massachusetts it was...sorry...)in the late 90's. My friend's boyfriend's band played (the name escapes me at the moment). The thing I remember most was seeing The Misfits after Cannibal Corpse. They didn't go together well for me..lol...you can't have a horror punk band from the 80's follow a brutal band like Cannibal....it made me not really like the Misfits....
1:48 nemophila hell yeah
What about hell in the harbor
Do you think you'll ever make your way to obscene extreme?
Eventually!
i miss ozz fest
don't sleep on psycho las vegas or fire in the mountains for underground heavy metal festivals
NW Terror Fest!
Love the channel. ProgPower in Atlanta Georgia is a great Progressive Metal and Prog Festival. Check it out when you can 🤘😃🤘.
Would you or anyone recommend getting the vip passes? I am planning to go to my first metal festival next year or so and I want to see if it's worth it. If any one had previously got vip, can you share how was it?
just experience it as everyone is the way to go. you can always go VIP later.
Biggest difference between USA and Euro fests is the simple thing of chatting to strangers. Europeans are so hard to talk to, I know cause I am one (but travel a lot so kind of not bound to 1 type of culture). Americans love to talk. I guess in the UK they do this a bit but the more you go to especially Eastern Europe the less chatty they get. Portugal is alright as well.
Both have their advantages in the end. I would love to visit Psycho Las Vages once. Seems like my kind of thing, especially all the half naked girls I keep seeing in videos. I enjoy me some stripclubs, Europe has them but they are nothing compared to the ones on LV.
As someone who has attended both Maryland Deathfest and Wacken I will say security in the US is a bit more strict. Maybe worth to note for any European attending their first American festival. Especially for people from Germany or other countries where its ok to drink alcohol on the street without a care in the world. DONT DO THIS IN THE US!!! Depending on what state/city/cop you could get in some serious trouble.
I am dutch, you can talk to anyone at festivals here....
@@zeikerd Ja, natuurlijk, maar of ze er zin in hebben. Ik heb er weinig geluk mee over het algemeen. Allemaal ons-kent-ons groepjes waar je amper tussen komt. Nederlanders zijn vooral open naar toeristen maar niet naar andere Nederlanders. Althans, dat is mijn ervaring.
@@DanihelMetalPromotion gewoon schijt aan hebben! haha, ik snap je punt soort van, maar wellicht kijk ik er wat anders tegenaan omdat ik een ouwe lul ben die makkelijk met allerlei mensen ouwehoert
Too bad Arizona doesn’t have any heavy rock festivals :-(
If Milwaukee Metalfest isn’t sold out me and my girlfriend are willing to go to that over Rocklahoma which is literally only about 1-1 1/2 away from us because it’s the same constantly shitty lineup besides one or two badass bands
656 likes on the video, only 10 more to go...
Damn, No Prog Power love :(
I've lived in Ohio my whole life and somehow never heard of either of the two festivals here you mentioned; whoops.
Edit: I looked up their lineups for this year, and they look pretty boring. Maybe that's why I'm not familiar with them.
I think they were over shadowed by Rock on the Range before it closed up
@@thehunterstruck Rock on the Range turned into Sonic Temple
Btw, Death Metal comes from the USA
Sick new world sold out and they wanted you to buy hotel packages that were too much for a frying pan
Rocklahoma?
BRRF well that didn't age well😞
I am afraid I'd take my euro fest attitude to the US and end up in jail.
American metal is such a joke. Numetal was a mistake
Rocklahoma!!
See you at Blue Ridge
Blue ridge is a lot of fun and compared to the other big major festivals in the U.S they have the heaviest lineup. Unfortunately they still do kinda cater to the dumbass Korn, disturbed, slipknot fans but this year they’ve got almost every big American thrash band from the 80’s.
ProgPower USA is a pretty small festival but a wonderful experience