COUNTDOWN TO THE METAL SUCKFEST: LAST CHANCE TO REASON’S EVAN SAMMONS
photo by Jessica Ann Harvey
The Inaugural Metal Suckfest is almost here!!!! Twenty bands will DESTROY The Gramercy Theatre on November 4 and 5, PLUS there’s an awesome, five-band pre-party at the venue the night before, making this THE can’t-miss hang of the year.
Tickets are on sale now right here, and you can hit up the fest’s official website for more info on the shows, including the complete line-up. In the meantime, we’re counting down to this weekend of chaos and debauchery by speaking to one member from each band on the bill. We continue today with legendary drummer Evan Sammons of Last Chance to Reason, whose debut album, Level 2, was released earlier this year on Prosthetic Records. (And, lest you forget, the band will also be playing support on a chunk of Obscura’s upcoming North American headlining tour with Abysmal Dawn and Enfold Darkness, which MetalSucks is also sponsoring.)
Read our chat after the jump. And don’t forget to check back in the coming days and weeks for interviews with more of the musicians participating in this awesome event!!!
What other festivals have you played before, if any?
We’ve played a lot of little “fests” throughout the years. I’d say most of them have been with slews of local bands around the country when we were out slumming in the DIY scene in our early years, though. When a promoter has 15+ bands on a show, they call it a “fest,” ya know? The most legitly cool fests we’ve been a part of would be SSSW and The New England Metal and Hardcore Fest.
What was your best and worst festival experience (as a performer, not as a fan)? You don’t have to name the specific fest if you don’t want, we’re not trying to get you to burn bridges.
Our best experience would have to be playing the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest. Being a band from Maine (which is part of New England, NOT Canada, mind you!), it was a dream come true to finally play the fest. It was especially cool to play the second stage immediately after seeing our bros in The Contortionist rock the main stage. The fest was right after Level 2 came out, and it was the last day of a long few months of touring. The crowd response was amazing, too. All in all, that was one of our happiest moments as a band.
As for the worst experience… I really can’t think of anything specific. However, a lot of those “non-fests” I mentioned we played back in the day had more bands in the audience than fans.
Any tips to fans for having the best possible festival experience?
Stay hydrated and don’t get so wasted that you miss your favorite bands!
For people who are too stupid to read the poster, which day is your band playing Suckfest?
We will be playing Day 2, November 5, with Cynic, our tour mates Obscura, and a slew of other badass bands.
Can you tell us anything about the set your band is planning for Suckfest?
We’ll be playing material off of Level 2. As usual for LCTR, we’ll be linking a bunch of the songs together in their concept album flow. This will also be one of our first shows with our new guitarist, Mike Abdow. The dude shreds! We’re pumped to have him.
Which band or bands (besides your own, duh) are you most stoked are gonna be at Suckfest?
Cynic is one of our big influences, so it’s badass that we’ll finally be playing a show with them. The whole day is pretty damn badass, though. It’ll be cool to see A Life Once Lost again, we toured with them and Atheist awhile ago and have played with them quite a bit through the years. Fun fact: The first show AJ [Harvey, guitars], Chris [Corey, bass] and I ever played together was actually with The Red Chord and ALOL.
When you were first contacted about appearing at something called “Suckfest,” were you at all concerned that you were being propositioned to appear in a porno movie?
I was actually disappointed that it wasn’t the case…
Is it awesome or weird that Axl Rosenberg’s parents are coming to Suckfest?
Definitely awesome. Parents rule.
On a scale of one to ten, one being a freshly douched vagina and ten being your balls at the end of a performance, how badly will the Gramercy Theater reek of B.O. by the end Suckfest?
7.3: a bulldog’s female parts on a regular day.
Finally, how bad is Suckfest gonna suck?
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Read other entries in the Countdown to The Metal Suckfest series here.
