Wednesday
Dec162015
M3 Rock Festival Announces 2016 Lineup
Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 12:01AM This seems really early, but M3 Rock Fest has just announced the lineup for the 2016 event. The festival will take place April 29 and 30, which I say is way too early for a "summer" festival, but whatever. May does get quickly crowded with events.
By and large the lineup is just "meh." There's the staples like KIX and Tesla, but no real standout. Basically, it's just more of the same, but it will still be a fun time. These are the bands we love. Throw in some nice weather and friends, and you've got a fun weekend. Tickets go on sale Friday. The price range is $60 - $850. I have no idea what you get for $850, but I hope it includes a month of rent somewhere!
Reader Comments (12)
On the bright side, Vince Neil will be providing ALL the water for the event.... ;)
Seriously this needs a little more "oomph" at the top of the bill... The Scorpions? , W.A.S.P.? Throw "The Babys" somewhere in the mix for this! Blotz's Ratt? Cheap Trick? What about Angel's Frank DiMino or Punky Meadows? His CD will be out right about then, or STARZ? You know who'd be perfect to headline this hair-fest? David Coverdale's Whitesnake !!!!
It just seems to an old fart like me that the promoters didn't try to hard & have a glut of C-List & D-List bands.
But, and here it is again, costs for festivals like these are starting to trend in the same direction as prices for bands like AC/DC. Which creates--and I posted on this seemingly eons ago--a marketplace where all the high-end buyers (and, occasionally, casual listeners) scoop up VIP packages in the first week while long-time fans (often, though not always, mid-income folks having to pick and choose amongst concerts and festivals) are left to scramble for funds to attend one, perhaps two, of these sorts of events each year if they want to also support local/regional bands they like as well.
The result? You end up with VIP sections and front rows filled with people attending simply for the "experience" of having "been there," documented on an endless loop of view-stealing selfies and craptastic cell-phone videos, scooping up premium eats that supposedly justify the higher prices while strolling the arcade of branded tie-ins that only make sense if the promoters want to keep the damn thing afloat. It is self-fulfilling and sustaining until it ain't.
Which is also a simple result of the fact that has bummed some of you out before when I mentioned it: there are less and less bands to actually book that are truly "classic," and a smaller pool of up-and-comers who fit the groove that a festival hopes to create. If one looks to Europe, you see a more stable talent pool, and also one that can afford to traverse the EU (and beyond) more often because it costs them less to do so than coming to the States.
Not to mention the fact that, generally speaking, the European concert-goer is more dedicated/loyal/niche attendee, with a range of offerings that, thus far, have been only been duplicated with middling success in certain markets . . . unless they take it on the road in a bid to develop something akin to a "new" Ozzfest. Destination festivals--even Aftershock--point to this reality, as do reenergized touring festivals that decide to transform into destination festivals, or versions of both (Orion; Mayhem) that cease to exist.
Not trying to be a bummer. And I apologize for the long rant. Just another of those topics that I often think about.
any helpers out there?
I'm not sure what I'd do without M3, for it is a bright light on the hill that keeps me focused throughout the long cold winters.
Rock on my friends.
Saturday: Steelheart, Heaven's Edge, Every Mother's Nightmare!
Great bands I'm stoked to see... That also means they better beef up the line-up... Teslug and the Also-Rans do not a festival make!
The valid points put forth by Ace, HIM and Shawn are spot on...
Ace: "Hopefully, a real headliner will be added" and "This needs a little more Oomph."
That's something that's been sorely lacking since several years ago when the headliners were RATT Classic line-up sans Crosby (RIP) with Cavazo filling his shoes and Croucier rejoining after 19 years. Or... Scorpions and Cinderella plus the original line-up of Jetboy along with KIX and L.A. Guns when they first got Kweens and the boy absolutely tore the stage apart, spending half the time in the air in bell bottoms and silver stack heels.
... AND you're absolutely right, Ace... Why not add the legendary Cheap Trick as a headliner? Or one of the guys from Angel who are still out there rockin' strengthening the local appeal beyond KIX... They are from the Baltimore/D.C. area, after all. Bottom line, it needs something! Why these promoters just don't get it is beyond me! AND... Too funny, as usual, Ace -- "Vince will be supplying all the water."
HIM: "Booking dozens of mid-level bands ain't cheap." And, as I have also pointed out, to quip, "there are less and less bands still around to book."
Yes, why not book fewer bands and channel it into Poison as a headliner, who the promoter lamented he should have booked instead of Michaels solo as M3 didn't sell out... And why not take a tip from Monsters of Rock Cruise and book Hardcore Superstar and others from Sweden, which would really round out the line up with up and comers, as you describe them.
Shawn, I have also thought for the longest time, Neil should play the entire "Exposed" album with Stevens on guitar. In fact, I asked Neil's current guitarist about it and he said they used to play multiple songs from that album but never got a response. However, I think it would play differently now considering "Hair Metal" has had a legitimate revival over the last several years.
. . . oh wait, I think that was a slam on women. I'm not one for nuance, bkallday. Carry on.