thePULSEPossibly the Most Amazing Line-up of Hard Rockers Ever Assembled
By Steph Moore
Heavy MTL is one of North America’s premier destination heavy music festivals and this year takes over Montreal, Canada on August 11th and 12th. The event is held in the breathtaking Parc Jean-Drapeau (www.parcjeandrapeau.com) at Ile Saint-Helene and kicks off on August 10th with a “Heavy in the City” celebration.
Since the very first edition of the Festival in June of 2008, audiences have been treated to heavy-hitter bands including Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Disturbed, Three Days Grace, Dethklok, Anthrax, Type O Negative, Mastadon, KISS, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Slayer, and many more who’ve shredded their way through a gloriously face-melting weekend of the heavy music we love ~ and this year’s line-up carries on the tradition in spades:
Saturday, August 11
* System of a Down
* Periphery
* Veil of Maya
* Job For a Cowboy
* Goatwhore
* Fleshgod Apocalypse
* Rose Funeral
* Origin
* Exhumed
* Cannibal Corpse
* Between the Buried and Me
* Kataklysm
* The Faceless
* Deftones
* Five Finger Death Punch
Sunday, August 12
* Slipknot
* Marilyn Manson
* Lamb of God
* Dethklok (talk about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!!)
* Suicidal Tendencies
* Voivod
* Trivium
* Gojira
* Sword
* Overkill
* Emmure
* Cancer Bats
* High On Fire
* Dance Laury Dance
* The Agonist
* Iwrestledabearonce
Insane line-up, right??? Told you!
A full schedule of artist set times will be available on HeavyMTL.com in the weeks prior to the festival, so it’s a good idea to go online and join the mailing list. Festival headliners are the last to play on each given day and hit the stage between 8:00pm and 10:00pm (subject to change). Their sets usually run 90+ minutes, while up and coming artists’ run about 30 minutes.
The Festival really is dedicated to the fans, so ~ although detachable camera lenses are not permitted ~ it’s absolutely fine to bring your digital camera and shoot this amazing concert…and believe me, you’re not going to want to pass up the opportunity to get pix of the legends and the future legends alike. The Info General Information tab on the site has a ton more great tips, facts, and advice for festival-goers, too, like their section on food and drink ~ a variety of foods are available onsite, and beverages from water to beer and other spirits are, too…you can bring a clear plastic water bottle to the site (you may be asked to empty it before entering the event) and use any of the water refill stations provided. Now here’s something that might perk up some ears ~ YES, the legal drinking age in Quebec is 18, so if you’re planning to drink (SAFELY, PLEASE!), you’ll have to bring two valid forms of ID with you. And keeping in mind that everyone has different circumstances and for one reason or another might not be able to attend both days of the festival, the organizers make available several ticket options. Tickets are already on sale, so head to heavymtl.com/en/tickets to purchase yours ASAP!
Ile Saint-Helene is an absolutely amazing backdrop for everything that goes on during the weekend ~ there’s no camping allowed on site, but heavymtl.com/en/faqs/travel-stay will bring you to a list of nearby places where camping is allowed, plus a rundown of hotels and directions to the venue. There’s even a recommendation as to how to dress/what to bring based on Montreal weather in August ~ so basically, on top of providing two days of the best in heavy metal and hard rock music (and keep checking the website as a few more bands will be added to the line-up, as will several special events ~ and there’s a Heavy MTL feed at heavymtl.com/en/heavymtl-news so you can read posts directly from the people in charge), the organizers are making the event as fan-friendly as possible, no matter where you’re traveling from ~ and this is one roadtrip that is 100%, totally, undeniably WORTH IT!
Check out videos from past years at www.youtube.com/heavymtltv and pix at www.flickr.com/photos/heavymtl to get a feel for what awaits you at Heavy MTL 2012, and bookmark heavymtl.com to stay up-to-date on all things Festival-related (including Tweets from the bands themselves)!!
