The festival extends throughout two nights. Friday’s lineup features Through Broken Glass, Stabscotch, Sommer and one band to be announced. Saturday’s lineup includes Siddius, These Lines Define, Bacchanalia and two bands to be announced.
Doors for the all-ages shows open at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday. Cost of admission is $5 each night.
In an email interview, promoter Josh Johnson said the fest gives the venue an opportunity to celebrate “original, independent” metal bands and to expose audiences to regional music.
“We strive to provide a safe environment for concert goers of all ages, and Metal Fest is a fun way to get a lot of fans and bands together to celebrate the amazing talent that we have in Indiana,” he said.
One of those bands, Bloomington-based Bacchanalia, has been active for almost a year, but its members have struggled to coordinate their schedules enough to play shows, vocalist Taylor Wood said. Though the band played a house show in front of friends around Halloween as a warm-up, Metal Fest will be Bacchanalia’s first official show, Wood said.
Wood, a 24-year-old senior, said Bloomington’s metal scene is fairly small, at least compared to other local music scenes. But he said he hopes Metal Fest will give Bacchanalia a chance to get closer to other bands in the scene.
“I think we’re all looking forward to getting to know other bands and getting to know each other,” he said. “If you make connections, you can have each other’s backs, and if you hear of a show, you can let others know.”
Bloomington doesn’t necessarily lack show opportunities for metal bands, Wood said — house shows are sometimes an option, and some bars dedicate nights to heavier music.
But those bar nights mix metal and punk and are often set for the same time each week, and he’s run into reluctance from people in the house show scene, he said. He said they can be hesitant to host metal bands because of the music’s “rowdy” connotation.
So even with those venues, Wood said he’d like to see more events like Metal Fest that give the spotlight to metal bands.
“There’s plenty of opportunities already, but we’re always for there being more of that,” he said. “We’re down to play basically anytime, anywhere.”
