Artist Entry: Animosity vocalist Leo Miller reflects on Metalfest

He got game.

Leo Miller here, writing from the Canadian border at Niagra Falls.

We just finished up the very deep cleaning of our van before we cross the border -- those immigration people will find anything and we don't want the next blog entry to look like what happened to Brain Drill, if you know what I mean.

If you don't know what I mean, just Google search "I had to life my nutsack..."

Having just finished up our second/third (we played twice last year) New England Metal and Hardcore Festival performance, I thought I would give you all a look into what the festival is all about from our point of view.

This is pretty much the only established heavy music festival we have in these United States, so it definitely makes for an eventful weekend.

To be honest, I can't really say the whole shindig is about the music. Most of the bands are given literally 15 minutes of fame with no sound check whatsoever. Honestly, you gotta just get on stage and rip it as hard as you can and if you aren't having fun, then this is the time to pretend -- if anyone caught our set, that was some grade A pretending.

All musical performances aside, the fest seems to be more of a big publicity stunt and a fun one at that than a concert. Like I said, there is not much done in the way of making the bands sound good or different from each other but rather just to showcase which bands are kicking in 2008.

It's the one time of the year where nearly every touring band in our community is together and in a lot of ways functions as a big family reunion. There is a lot of photo shoots, interviews, handshaking and dude kissing, but by the end of the night, everyone removes their Bluetooth earpieces and things turn into a pretty awesome party with a bunch of friends that you never get
to see.

I actually missed about every band that I wanted to see this year, but I was able to go to the most punk rock show of my life at a near by warehouse to see Disfear and Toxic Holocaust, which was a blast.

For many people involved, Metalfest can mean a lot of stress and a big hangover, but when all is said and done, this event is a 10 year staple in our community that everyone looks forward to each year.

Props to Scott and everyone involved for keeping this thing going.