Monday, February 25, 2013

Orion Music + More Festival 2013


Set to take place in the heart of Detroit Rock City, this year's OM+M is going to Belle Isle, right where the Detroit River meets the mouth of Lake St. Clair.  I for one an very excited to see the festival so close to the Canadian border, as well as being close to AFGM operations here in Toronto.  Not to shabby for a 4 hour drive down the 401 highway.  This is just a shot in the dark but I feel Metallica and OM+M chose this location for two reasons:

1. Detroit has a long standing history behind its music roots and some of the most notable musicians (Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Jack White, Smokey Robinson, and more) of past and present are from the city.  This looks like it is meant to revitalize the city's national/global image and bring some good ol rock n roll (as well as some well needed funds) back to the city.

2. The festival and isle border the Canadian city of Windsor.  The Windsor border is the largest crossing of it's kind between the two countries.  This makes ALL Canadian fans eager to get their passes and scoot across the border for some cheap(er) beer and some great tunes!



"Last year's Orion Music + More Festival was hands down the highlight of the Metallica calendar. A great time was had by all, especially the band members.  The fact that it also resonated with enough of our fans and friends that it warrants another go-around in '13 is beyond exciting. I can think of no better place than the Motor City, with its rich and diverse history of music, for the second ride on our Orion festival train. Bring it the fuck on!" -Lars Ulrich

So of course the announcement of the bands wouldn't as fun if they didn't have some sort of visual media to go along with it.  Luckily enough, the festival (C3 and Metallica) launched the promo video for the festival as well.  Check it out below:


Here's a listing of the 2 day lineup in case you missed a few from the video:



One of the biggest changes you will see this year for the festival is the expansion of the electronic dance tent that will be headlined by Bassnectar.  Other perfomers like like Dillon Francis, Dirtyphonics will be seen on this stage.  A massive dubstep contingent comprising Borgore, Datsik, 12th Planet, Adventure Club and Destroid is being prepared as well.

"For that, we have to blame our kids.  Hetfield and I went with our kids to watch Skrillex at a festival we were both playing, and we were blown away by his presentation – he had 25,000 kids going insane. We thought, 'We’ve got to get that!'  A lot of those guys come from a background in heavy music, and you can hear it – Bassnectar is a huge metal fan. A lot of the rock fans might be skeptical, but when they see it’s about energy and unison, they’ll relate to it."-Lars Ulrich

Detroit will also see the return of James Hetfield's Custom Car & Motorcycle Show, Kirk Hammett's Crypt, Lars Ulrich's Hit the Lights Film Tent and Robert Trujillo's Vans Vert Ramp alongside the Metallica Museum and many other fan favorite attractions. 

Tickets will go on sale at 10am (EST) on Friday, March 1st, 2013 for a cool price of $150 for the two day festival ($750 for VIP).  And another killer bonus of this festival is the return of NO SERVICE FEES!

No Service Charges. No Surprises. No Kidding.

That’s right. The price you see is the price you pay. Our service charge-free pricing means that no service fees will be added to the published ticket price. We want to de-complicate the ticket buying process by making it clear and simple, with no surprises waiting for you when you check out. -OM+M



"Our idea was to bring North America the kind of festival experience you get in Europe, which is all about diversity and new experiences. When we first proposed this, people were like, 'Why isn’t Metallica doing a metal fest?' That surprised me; we weren’t interested in doing that. Admittedly, a lot of things we put together could’ve been weird, but we were stunned how people really vibed on it." -Lars Ulrich

***POST-FESTIVAL UPDATE***

So the weekend has left so abrubtly that we are now thankful for the people who pulled out their cameras and recorded some of the footage (for all those not able to attend the festival in Detroit).  On the schedule, a group by the name of DeHaan was scheduled to perform.  For those wondering, DeHaan was the name of a character in their upcoming film "Through The Never".  Metallica threw us a fast ball and we swung...and missed.  The guys came out on stage and ripped everyone some 'metal up your a**' and played their debut album "Kill 'Em All" is it's entirety!  Check out the footage below:

Part I:




Part II:




Part III:

No comments:

Post a Comment