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Scion Rock Fest 2011 was a logistical marvel. My complaints were few: the long line at will call hours before the fest; the setup that had Immolation sounding like Darkthrone; the fact that my backpack was allowed into only three out of the fest’s four venues; the fact that scheduling Morbid Angel at the same time as Municipal Waste and Anaal Nathrakh meant that basically the entire festival would try to see Morbid Angel, filling that venue to such capacity that eventually even all-access passes were denied. These were annoyances, not dealbreakers. I had a great time.
In fact, Scion Rock Fest 2011 was such a logistical marvel, it made me sad. Scion is known for its immense generosity and professionality towards metal musicians. Too bad their own community – labels, promoters, fans – is not known likewise. It makes sense that the most well-run, best-paying show you’ll ever play would come from a mega-corporation. But in terms of supporting its own, I’d like to think that the millions-strong metal community worldwide could give mega-corporations a run for their money.
The thousands at this fest did not wring their hands over corporate involvement in metal. They basked in it. Two outdoor tents, a club, and a theater hosted 26 bands. (See lineup above.) Perhaps by design, the premises lacked alcohol (except for the theater). So bad behavior was scarce. Fans happily bounced from venue to venue, queuing for some bands (Wormrot, Floor, Atheist, Obituary, Morbid Angel), and eating burgers from the Grill ‘Em All trucks. To order the Witte Burger (beef, bun, cream cheese, deep-fried bacon, beer-and-Sriracha-soaked onions, malt vinegar aioli), my friend Robert merely pointed several feet away, where Dave Witte himself was standing.
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Wormrot & 4/5 of Fuck the Facts
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“Festivals suck, but you have to do ‘em”, I heard one band say (off-mic, of course). That makes sense. You play with rented backline amidst a stacked lineup that makes fans enjoy a lot a little. But that same band also touted the best aspect of festivals: socialization. Where else could I see two of my favorite grindcore bands, one from Singapore (Wormrot) and one from Canada (Fuck the Facts), take a group picture together? Bands whom I highly respect became fanboys and fangirls themselves. Fuck the Facts bassist Marc Bourgon couldn’t stop raving about Black Breath. At his hotel room after the fest, we looked out the window, and there was Black Breath returning to the hotel. Bourgon then cranked up Black Breath’s “I Am Beyond” on his phone, and we headbanged to THAT RIFF.
Socialization is the best aspect of metal festivals, but riffs come a close second. Fuck the Facts debuted explosive new material. Obituary delivered booming variations on their one song. Dark Castle electrified the air with shivering tones and feral screams. Nails looked so murderous that they might as well have wielded actual axes.
My band of the fest was Wormrot. Their Abuse album is good, but I don’t listen to grindcore recreationally. I do, however, love to see it live, and Wormrot were as perfect a grindcore band as I’ve ever seen. Their secret was variation: knowing when to stop playing a riff, how long to pause before the next one, and what beats to play underneath. In other words, they knew how to kick ass. Drummer Fit unleashed an array of blastbeats, d-beats and skank beats that glued my jaw to the floor. I felt like a puppet whose strings the band controlled. They pushed, they pulled, they teased, they blasted, they demanded obedience. I was glad to surrender.
Pictured front: Immolation
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If you attended Scion Rock Fest 2011, please share your memories below!
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Sounds like a good time. Great line: “Obituary delivered booming variations on their one song.”
I’m curious to hear how Morbid Angel performed and if they played any new songs.
Basically a great show. I saw Wormrot, Fuck the Facts, Dark Castle, nails, Agalloch, Obituary, Morbid Angel, and Anaal Nathrakh. Sounds like a lot but it went by quickly. Wormrot, Nails and Obituary stand out in my opinion. Anaal did not sound as layered (no samples?keys?) as they do on record but looked like a post apocalyptic beyond thunderdome band…I felt bad for all the people who showed up for MA but got stuck in that line- Why was there such a huge area in the upper level “reserved”? I never saw more than 5 people in it and it was at least several hundred seats. Kinda a waste IMO especially for all the people waiting in line. Overall though, can’t complain it was paradise for metal.
This was such a killer line-up, it’s tough not to be insanely jealous of you West Coasters. Scheduling Anaal Nathrakh and Morbid Angel to overlap would’ve been a major bummer, though. Did anyone get extra time because of Kvelertak’s absence? And holy shit, any word on Dispirit’s live presence? My soul frequently weeps Weakling’s absence.
That festival was amazing by any account and it was truly hard to pick which bands to see as I really wanted to see every band there. I ended up picking Wormrot, Fuck the Facts, Atheist, 2 songs from the Body, 2 songs from Immolation, one song from Municipal Waste, 2 songs from Death Angel, 2-3 songs from Necrite, 5 songs from Integrity, and all of Anaal Nathrakh. Met some really cool people and even got to smoke a J with Kelly Shaefer! Got some demos from some people in bands like Crypt Keeper and Colombian Necktie. They’re both really good so check ‘em out if you wanna hear some good punk.
Wormrot and Anaal Nathrakh were the best performance-wise for me. Vicious and sounded great for the most part. Vocalist from AN pulled off the melodic vocals very well. I got stuck 3rd in line to get into Morbid Angel with the express pass and they didn’t let anyone in despite the fact that people were continually leaving the premises. The guards at the line were total douchebags; they should have told everyone from the beginning that they weren’t going to let anyone in. Some guy even made a sprint for the door without avail. But Anaal Nathrakh completely ruled so I was happy anyway.
I remember seeing Dispirit with Neurosis in SF and I’m pretty sure they played some new material that was really fast paced if I’m not mistaken. Curious to hear how the new material sounds on record.
Necrite sounded really good too by the way.
Haha a band called Integrity played there, ironies!
The venue set-up was pretty stupid overall…having Crom and Floor play the giant Theater full of no one was a total fumble, Floor should have been in the Sludge/BM tent and Crom should’ve played the “fast” tent. All the crappy rethrash should’ve been with Death Angel and Municipal Waste in the Glasshouse (didn’t step foot in there!) and Immolation and Atheist should’ve been in the Fox before Obituary…most folks seemed to segregate themselves to the genres they wanted to see anyway (there was zero longhair during Bastard Noise or Integrity).
Also, have more food than just the woefully slow Grill ‘Em All (Nom Nom and The Grilled Cheese Truck would’ve ruled!) and have some fucking vendors selling beverages for dehydration’s sake. It was free, so I can only complain so much, but Power Of The Riff was pulled off way, way better last summer. Lastly, someone needs to tell the city of Pomona that it’s not 1986 and to get credit card parking machines (fucking quarters…seriously???) and if the are going to have an all day event, maybe make the two hour parking all day with those little bags that go over the signs…after all part of doing these sorts of things is getting folks to patronize local business and not getting a parking ticket to do it!
Kvelertak was replaced by Black Cobra. I got to take in Morbid Angel from the floor standing next to the guys in Immolation, which was cool. Morbid Angel sounded fantastic and did play at least one new track. They are not really my thing though, so I can’t really indicate whether they lived up to anyone’s expectations. I left early and caught some of Anaal Nathrakh. My highlights were Wormrot, probably Dark Castle and ordering the Witte GrittE by pointing to David Witte and saying “I would like his signature burger please.” I really liked that the musicians were walking around and talking to fans. One disappointment I had was the lack of quality merch booths. I liked the presence of local vendors at Power of the Riff last year. They should have done the same here. I did snag a pretty wicked Wormrot shirt though.
Awesome fucking fest. I’ll agree that the organization was way off during the first part of the day — they had one staffer trying to wrangle a massive, massive line and they stupidly had it running across an unblocked street. There weren’t even cops on hand til several hours later.
But all in all it was a blast once the bands got going. I watched Wormrot and Dark Castle, then bounced around between Fuck the Facts, Cough, Primate, Bonded by Blood, and Black Cobra (filling in for Kvelertak). Around then I left the Fox Theater to hit up the Grill ‘Em All truck, and got stuck in a re-entry frisk-line to the main part of the fest. I lost almost 30 minutes and wanted to kill something. So I got back in there and utterly destroyed a Molly Hatchet burger (bacon, maple syrup, fennel sausage gravy!).
At this stage the lines to the Glass House and Fox Theater were getting retarded. I made the strategic decision to skip Atheist and Immolation in order to get in prime position for the heavyweights over at the Fox. Luckily my express pass finally worked on the Fox theater line, and I was able to see all of Agalloch, Obituary, and Morbid Angel.
To me, Obituary owned the night. It felt like a homecoming. I was back by the sound guy, and the sound was as perfect as you could hope for… fucking crushing. The only option was to headbang en masse, and boy did we. I’ll try and post video of Chopped in Half later today. Agalloch were about as boring live as they are on record (sorry), but I was surprised to see the singer in leather pants. Looks like we can stop crying hipster band already — these dudes are still nerds. Morbid were… silly. David Vincent still thinks he’s in Motley Crue. His stage banter rages from charmingly retarded to… embarrassingly retarded. They debuted one (maybe 2?) new song, and it slotted in nicely. I remember thinking “cool riff” once or twice, but it was hard to distinguish from the rest of the churn.
Earlier on… Wormrot and Dark Castle were both brilliant, in the exact opposite ways. The bands I bounced around between were all fun, but none completely held my attention. Bonded by Blood were pretty boring, and Primate felt tossed-off rather than essential.
At the end of the day it was a blast, and I felt seriously depressed that I probably won’t get to go next year when it’s held in another part of the country. Curse/bless you Scion! (PS i got free Magrudergrind swag and scion socks. sweet?)
All in all, a great show. Great performances, all around. Not used to a California crowd but long-haired thrashing youngins were out in full force. Also, it seems like everyone got in who wanted to get in, which rules.
Dark Castle’s new stuff sounded incredible. Floor were heavy as a motherfuck. Black Cobra was a nice addition due to Kvelertak’s cancellation but their sound didn’t carry on such a massive stage.
Agalloch reigned supreme for me…
1. Into the Painted Grey
2. Falling Snow
3. The Watcher’s Monolith
4. Not Unlike the Waves
5. Our Fortress is Burning II: Bloodbirds
Capping off the line to see Morbid Angel was disappointing but it’s a free show so it seems unreasonable to complain too much.
The way the entrance/exits were laid out was not conducive at all to leaving the grounds to grab water/food (which was overall lacking) outside the festival grounds.
Scion line-ups are consistently great. They seem to have a pulse on heavy music and I appreciate their mix of classic and new bands. To me, nothing will beat the first Scion line-up. It was as if someone had asked me who my favorite metal bands are of the past 10 years and then created a festival purely based on m response verbatim.
I have nothing but envy for the lot of you. Had a great time in Columbus last year, but not being on facebook and not having the money to travel right now meant I had no chance of going this year. I didn’t even find out about this year’s fest until all of the passes were already taken. Oh well.
I’ll be in LA visiting friends in mid-June. With any luck, I’ll get a chance to see a great metal show then.
I had a great time despite my friends flaking, going alone and the inability to acquire a press/photo pass. Hahaha. I was front and center for Wormrot. That was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen. Dark Castle and Cough were so, so epic. I didn’t set foot into the fox theater. Seems everything I wanted to see were in the tents and glasshouse.
I got video of wormrot, woe, bonded by blood, death angel, municipal waste and woe. Ill drop a youtube link in here if cosmo is cool with it!
Links to videos and photo sets from this fest are more than welcome here!
I wish this was in NYC. Agalloch, Morbid Angel, Woe, Immolation, and so many other great bands
Shot this for Brooklyn Vegan with Genie Sanchez. Fred put together a great post with lots of videos:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/03/scion_rock_fest_7.html
I can basically say the same as everyone else. Great lineup, great bands, great great great. I thought that maybe security was overdoing it after my fifth full-body/backpack search. And sixth. And the lines were a bit nasty at times. Sad to see so many Morbid fans waiting outside when the band was already halfway thru their set. Press passes were actually IMPOSSIBLE to get, as Scion had planned it that way to keep control over media output. But you know what? That’s fine, I understand. Their gig, their rules. I had to resort to my supreme photojournalistic bullshitting/namedropping skills to get into just about any venue, and eventually that wasn’t cutting it, either. Finally, thanks to some cross-country help from Fred at BV, and Johnathan at Scion, I got myself and Genie some Junior press passes (3 songs and yer outta here, no sidestage) for the last three bands. I do also want to give a big “thanks, buddy!” to Dave from Scion who was hanging at the entrance of the Fox. Without him, I never would’ve even stepped foot inside the place, whether i had a Junior pass or not.
All in all, it was a great experience. I would’ve preferred it on a field, on two stages, with beer, but what are you gonna do. Scion brought a shit-ton of really good bands together, in the same place at the same time, for FREE. Can’t say shit.
P.S. Christian Mistress fuckin rules!!!
The most depressing thing about this for me was that I live on the west coast but couldn’t go, and I know there won’t be another one here for at least a couple years. Bref.
You guys have probably seen the Wormrot video for “Born Stupid” which is in my opinion the best song off abuse. Thing is some Grind bands have a song where they pack all the stuff they’re about (Circle of Dead Children has “Destiny of the Slug”), I was reading the article and just felt like blasting it a couple of times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKb18QCYnnU
I got (mostly) HD footage of:
Wormrot
Fuck The Facts
Primate
Atheist
Immolation
Morbid Angel
Anaal Nathrakh
over @ http://www.youtube.com/user/fullmetaljoker#p/u
I caught partial sets from Woe, Death Angel, Bastard Noise and Obituary’s last song but didn’t get any decent footage.
Sad I missed Floor, Nails & Agalloch but there’s only so much you can do when trapped in a venue or waiting inline. Regarding the parking situation, I parked in a lot near the Fox Theater and didn’t pay a dime. The burger trucks seemed cool, but they had taco and sandwich shops all along the streets so I choose to eat for cheap outside.
personal highlights were:
FINALLY seeing Fuck the Facts after waiting like 5 years, bullshitting with Wormrot near the merch tent, shaking Dave Witte’s godly hand, Immolation ordering kabob’s after the show.
ANAAL NATHRAKH > Everyone.
Well, here’s a couple of songs toward the end of Wormrot’s set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hl-k08nXYA
Bonded By Blood’s first two songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orabah2vNQM
Still gotta upload Black Breath, Death Angel, Municipal Waste and Woe.
I have some footage of part of one song from Morbid Angel (“Immortal Rites”) which is fairly decent (I was right up front, right side of the stage by Trey… unjostled, clean footage). I’ll upload tonight and post a link.
I flew in from St. Louis, MO for the show and would say it was definitely worth the trip. Was bummed about Kvelertak, but used that time to have some brews with the other (uniformly kind, engaging, and cool) concert-goers. Highlights were Christian Mistress (b/c their lead guitarist could shred like a mofo), Agalloch (b/c they played pretty much exactly what I hoped they would play and did it extremely well), and Obituarid Angel (b/c I was getting pretty drunk by this time and they kind of blended in to one another but were ferociously powerful). As someone else mentioned, they played (at least) one new song which, in this setting, sounded about like their older stuff (to my ears, old-old stuff… i.e. ~Altars~).
Chance would have it that I got to meet Cosmo while waiting at the will call booth for my bracelet, so that was pretty cool. Thanks for sticking around to chat, Cos! It was a real pleasure!
Cheers to Scion for pulling this off with minimal problems. No matter what, the pros outweighed the cons. Well, almost forgot… my friend bought a shirt from the Obituary merch booth inside the Fox and arranged to pick it up after the show… by the time we left Morbid Angel’s set (they were still on stage) to pick it up, they’d packed up and gone! His $15 AND shirt in tow! That did suck. Anybody know how to get in touch with the band / merch dude? Weird question, I know…
Death Angel – Seemingly Endless Time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd8smyngcLo
Woe – Solitude – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K3jou9R0nw
Obituary – Chopped in Half
the sound is worthless — Obituary are too manly for my puny iphone mic — but the crowd was pretty into it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khutP_ZNynw
Link to my youtube account where you’ll see the rest of the Scion Rock Fest vids, plus vids of past shows!
http://www.youtube.com/starhaad