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Alex Martel can’t wait to see the Deftones play at the 10th Amnesia Rockfest this June.
They are one group, he says, that have maintained a high standard of performance and musicality for the 15 years that he has been following them. The California based alt-metal band will perform their 1997 album Around The Fur.
“I’m also a huge Ministry fan and they will be playing with Skinny Puppy for the first time since 1988.” A Ministry show at Capital Music Hall was the loudest concert he’s ever been to. “It messed up my hearing.”
Martel is also touting the first appearance by Tenacious D in Quebec as a real coup.
Why does his opinion matter? Amnesia Rockfest is Alex Martel’s baby. The precocious metalhead founded it a decade ago in his hometown of Montebello, Que. That year, the 17-year-old CEGEP student hired three bands and 500 people bought tickets.
Last year there were 90-plus bands and about 200,000 people passed through the gates.
This June 18-21, more than 100 bands will play and the list of artists is pretty impressive. Some pre-sales without the full lineup have sold out for 2015.
It’s a real accomplishment that Martel just wants to keep on rockin’. “I want to keep doing it forever,” he says.
“I have lived in Montebello my whole life and there was nothing like this in the whole area. You’d have to go elsewhere to see shows and festivals.”
There used to be huge St. Jean Baptiste celebrations at the Montebello marina when he was a youngster and he thought: why not do something like for rock music?
His event pumps a lot of money into the town in a very short period of time and provides work for many locals including his mother, father, siblings and grandmother, who is in her 80s.
“We are doing OK. Last year was a bit tough because we had an issue with a grant that didn’t come through, but today we are fine.”
First and foremost, System of a Down, a sought-after band among festival-goers, will headline the festival June 20. The Armenian-American rockers have sold more than 40 million records worldwide.
Martel, who is now 28, says the Rockfest organization asked their fans who they wanted to see and System of a Down was the No. 1 pick.
“I have been working on this for the past year. It’s kind of weird to see it come out now, but obviously this is the best lineup we have ever had and I’m super proud.
Martel did have some insight for this year’s lineup provided by Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Fat Mike of NOFX, who are acting as curators of the 10th anniversary edition.
“Their involvement happened quite naturally. I became friends with them and they like Rockfest. Tim wasn’t even playing with Rancid last year and he came to the festival. For this year, we exchanged some ideas and worked together on some stuff. It’s really cool to have people like that involved in the festival,” Martel said in an interview. Much of the relationship involved discussing bands, who might come and who might not.
Like others in the business, Martel goes to as many festivals as he can. In fact, he’s just back from a metal fest in Japan where the audience was, not surprisingly, much more polite than he’s used to.
Martel says there will be some local bands playing a part in the weekend event. They will be on the main stages, not set aside on their own stage.
“We have found out that people want to see the best local bands opening the main stages.”
The cult band The Pixies will be there, luring their followers to the lights of Montebello along with Sublime with Rome, Rancid (who will perform the album And Out Come The Wolves) and Bad Religion.
Punk rockers such as Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello, Propagandhi, Goldfinger, Less Than Jake are coming. And several disbanded groups are reuniting for one show: Banlieue Rouge, Groovy Aardvark, Subb, MAP and Blind Witness.
Tenacious D isn’t the only comedy coming to Rockfest: Ottawa’s Tom Green will be there along with Jackass alumnus Steve-O making appearances.
The festival takes place at the Montebello marina, about two hours from Ottawa. For the full lineup and ticket information, visit amnesiarockfest.com.
AC/DC coming in September
Wednesday was a big day for music announcements in Ottawa, including the fact that the rock icons responsible for You Shook Me All Night Long, Thunderstruck, Back in Black and Hells Bells are coming to TD Place on Sept. 3.
The Australian rockers are about to embark on a massive world tour in the fall, with other Canadian dates in Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.
