ANOTHER NEW SUMMER FESTIVAL TOUR: THE SHOCKWAVE FESTIVAL
UPDATE, 5/15, 5:45pm EDT: Two new dates have been added, 7/24 in Amityville, NY and 7/28 in Joliet, IL. Full routing below.
Original Post:
There’s a new touring metal festival on the scene this summer! It’s called The Shockwave Festival (honestly, how has no one ever thought to use that name before?), and it’ll run for just over a month in the U.S. and Canada this July and August. The “festival” (in quotes because it’s one stage and plays all indoor venues) promises to be a yearly event, and here’s the lineup for this summer’s inaugural run:
Fear Factory
Voivod
Cattle Decapitation
Misery Index
Revocation
Havok
Dirge Within
Last Chance to Reason
Vildhjarta
The Browning
Forged in Flame
If you read MetalSucks regularly, you probably already know how we feel about all of those bands individually, and hence the package as a whole. But since you come here for opinions, we’ll give ’em to ya:
There are definitely some sweet bands on this bill. Cattle Decapitation, Misery Index, Revocation, Havok and Last Chance to Reason are all great bands, and would make up a really cool tour even on their own. Axl and I have always been “meh” on Fear Factory, but as long as their presence as headliners of this tour doesn’t jack the ticket price up too high I’d definitely pay to see the aforementioned bands and, since I’d already be there, I’d be willing to give Fear Factory a shot at wowing me live. Voivod are a really interesting choice; I wonder whether any of the folks who attend this show for the younger bands (and most bands on the bill are very young) will have any concept of Voivod’s legacy or even know any of their songs? I like it, though. I’m not neither here nor there on Vildhjarta or Forged in Flame, though I’d be willing to give them both a shot based on association with the other cool bands, and as for the Dirge Within and The Browning… well… ya know.
So, in conclusion: despite a few very dubious choices and a headliner I’m less than stoked on, I will still probably check this out. Except, d’oh, there’s no NYC date… so I guess not. But maybe you will, if you live near Albany. Speaking of tour dates:
7/06/2012 Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
7/07/2012 Vogue Theatre – Vancouver, BC
7/11/2012 Pyramid Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB
7/12/2012 Station 4 – St Paul, MN
7/13/2012 The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
7/14/2012 Kool House – Toronto, ON
7/17/2012 Imperial Theater – Quebec City, QC
7/18/2012 Club Soda – Montreal, QC
7/20/2012 Northern Lights – Clifton, NY
7/21/2012 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
7/22/2012 Reverb – Reading, PA
7/24/2012 Revolution – Amityville, IL
7/25/2012 Palladium – Worcester, MA
7/26/2012 Empire – Springfield, VA
7/28/2012 Mojoe’s – Joliet, IL
7/29/2012 Tebala Shrine – Rockford, IL
8/02/2012 Nakai Hall – Window Rock, AZ
8/03/2012 The Marqee Theater – Tempe, AZ
8/04/2012 House Of Blues – Hollywood, CA
-VN
