Words by Bill Foster, Jerry Hilsinger and Mack Rains. All Photos by Bill Foster
“Slayer,” the shout rang out randomly across a field. “Yeah! F@#$% Slayer,” comes the response from three different directions. On the third day of the fest held on Bonnaroo’s home turf, randomly shouting “Slayer” became Exit 111’s equivalent of a Bonnaroo high five. After two seriously frigid nights camping, one could feel the energy shift and one could feel a community forming. It wasn’t Bonnaroo but its own, new thing. I was seriously concerned about the crowd at this festival beforehand. We’ve talked before about diversity at music festivals and my view that everyone at a major festival has something in common: Seeing great live music is so important to them that they will spend four days camping under uncomfortable conditions to experience it. Simply put, jerks don’t attend normally. However, by nature of the music on offer, I thought the Exit 111 crowd would be older, more male, more aggressive and I wondered how that would change the feeling. The answer was that it didn’t change it at all. Instead, everyone I met was as friendly as at any hippie fest and maybe more so. The love of music is universal. On Sunday, as I photographed some intense mosh pits (and even crowd surfed myself), I realized something:
Moshing is an expression of community.
It’s aggressive and furious and mildly violent but there is an order to it and a set of rules. People help each other and protect folks who aren’t involved. I didn’t see a single fight or a single truly angry person all weekend. Crowd surfing is community. Headbanging is community. Metal is community, just like every other form of music, and it was glorious to watch. I couldn’t believe how jacked up and excited I was watching sets by Of Mice and Men and Tetrarch, music I might not listen to in the car but enjoyed the hell out of live, and a large part of my enjoyment was the love of music emanating from the crowds. Radiate positivity, indeed.
The festival wasn’t perfect. Whomever was responsible for programming in the sports bar and didn’t have the Vols game or the Florida-LSU game on the big screen should be forced to go on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd and no ear plugs. The crowds for Cheap Trick and ZZ Top were exponentially larger than those of the band playing on the larger stage at the same time. The car show was out of the way and kind of a dud (but the motocross was incredible). The beer selection was flat out lousy, and they mostly ran out on Sunday evening. But, it’s a first year festival and all-in-all, they knocked it out of the park and all four us had an even better time than we expected. -Bill Foster
Here are some day three highlights.
Tetrarch
Tetrarch opened the third day on the Rise Above stage. They originally hail from Atlanta, Georgia, with founding members Josh Fore and Diamond Rowe. Their music is heavily influenced by Korn, Marilyn Manson and they even performed a few verses of “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit. The highlight of the show was the Gifted Goddess of Guitar, Diamond Rowe. Her engagement with the crowd and photographers demanded respect and attention. I am now a fan and looking forward to the future and success of this band. -Mack Raines
Plague Vendor
Dirty knee punk rock band Plague Vendor will blow your mind. They have a great sound and their songs hold true to the punk style. But singer Brandon Blaine is the real show. Whether belting vocals, punk dancing, crowd surfing, or singing from the middle of the mosh pit, he does it with exuberance, getting the small crowd to pull in for an intimate performance. -Jerry Hilsinger
Of Mice & Men
California metalcore band Of Mice & Men put on a great show. Lead vocalist Aaron Pauley changes pace and amplitude often during their set. He had great stage presence and continually engaged the crowd. Pauley called for a pit to be opened up at one point while he led the mosh up with “Warzone.” Other set highlights included “Earth & Sky,” “Taste of Regret,” and “Mushroom Cloud.” -JH
Lamb of God
I don’t know if I need to say more than LAMB OF GOD. I was seriously blown away by their live performance and the moshpits were brutal. -MR
Deftones
Deftones sound has evolved since I bought their first album Adrenaline in 1995. Although I haven’t loved every album since then, their live performance was comparable to when I saw them in 1998. They performed “Around the Fur,” “Be Quiet and Drive,” and closed the set with “Head Up,” which may be the heaviest song they ever recorded. Chino Moreno’s soft sultry voice combined with his high pitched proverbial screams keeps me wanting more from this band almost 25 years later. -MR
Ministry
Ministry closed the night on the Rise Above stage. They continue to have the industrial sound they had in the 90’s. A few songs hit home for me growing up in that era of music. Their performances of “Jesus Built my Hotrod,” “Just One Fix,” and the Black Sabbath classic “Supernaut” were some of the highlights. -MR
Coheed and Cambria
It’s Rush covering Fall-Out Boy. I can’t decide if that’s awesome or awful but man that dude has some hair. -BF
Guns and Roses
G-n-R is one of the most important bands in my life so I’m not even going to pretend to be objective. I was going to like this show no matter what. In fact, I had heard that Axl was fat and out of shape and that he couldn’t sing any more and I had low expectations. Maybe it was because I didn’t expect a lot, but I thought this show was fabulous. Look, it’s a shock. Comparing the sexy, snake-hipped, dangerous punk from 1990 with the melted Ken-doll on stage will make even a younger man evaluate his own mortality. He has the most creepily perfect teeth ever and he has had so much surgery that his face can’t make expressions. He looks like Elton John singing with Skankbanger. But he can still hit a high note (at least most of them) and the band is phenomenal. Slash is Slash, eternal and unchanging. Sporting a Shooter Jennings baseball T and a Prince sticker on his bass, Duff looks cool, relaxed and healthy. Dizzy Reed is there on keys as skilled as ever. Richard Fortus, who has been with the band since 2002, was exciting to watch and an incredible lead player.
As for the show, it was as bombastic as one might have expected. Although the light show wasn’t the equal of Ghost (who could be), it was spectacular. Axl played a piano with a Harley as bench, fireworks went berserk during “Paradise City,” Slash played an incredible solo that was either “Loan Me a Dime” or a blues mixed with “Maggot Brain” depending on if you ask me or Rusty. It was all great. They played covers of “Wichita Lineman,” (!!!), the Misfit’s “Attitude,” “Black Hole Sun,” and “The Seeker.” They played over half of “Appetite for Destruction.” They played “Locomotive” for only the second time since 1992. They are a different band than the band I fell in love with, but if you go in with the right frame of mind, there is still a band there that is taking chances, having fun and trying to give everyone everything they can, every night. -BF
