Are you a fan of 80s metal? If so, the M3 Rock Festival, taking place the first weekend in May at Merriweather Post Pavilion, seems explicitly designed to make your head explode. Featuring two days of live performances from some of the greatest bands to uncap a can of Aquanet during that long-gone and dearly-missed decade, the M3 Rock Festival is a weekend of paradise for fans of teased hair and screaming guitars. And we at RVA Magazine will be getting one lucky couple out there in for free! So get stoked, and read on for details.
Are you a fan of 80s metal? If so, the M3 Rock Festival, taking place the first weekend in May at Merriweather Post Pavilion, seems explicitly designed to make your head explode. Featuring two days of live performances from some of the greatest bands to uncap a can of Aquanet during that long-gone and dearly-missed decade, the M3 Rock Festival is a weekend of paradise for fans of teased hair and screaming guitars. And we at RVA Magazine will be getting one lucky couple out there in for free! So get stoked, and read on for details.
It all starts at 5 PM on Friday, May 3, with a relatively abbreviated lineup, at least in comparison to Saturday’s festivities. However, you’re definitely going to want to be in attendance on Friday night, as perhaps the best band of the entire weekend is closing out the first night’s musical program. I am referring, of course, to WASP, the Blackie Lawless-led kings of parental shock-rock in the glory days of the PMRC. Terrifying Tipper Gore’s legion of easily spooked housewives with singles like “School Daze” and “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)”, WASP also proved they could seriously kick some ass with great albums like Inside The Electric Circus and The Headless Children. Blackie Lawless and co. are still out there doing it to this very day, and you can expect them to set the stage ablaze with rock n’ roll on Friday night.
But that’s not the only reason to show up for day one of the M3 Festival–Kix will also be playing that evening. Maryland’s own favorite sons have never quite gotten their due, despite the success of power ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes” (and Chuck Eddy’s fervent evangelizing). But if you want to hear some incredibly catchy hard rock tunes, you need look no further. They’ll also be joined by Danger Danger, whose legendary hit singles “Naughty Naughty” and “Bang Bang” proved that this band never heard a word they liked that wouldn’t sound even better doubled. And, in a total reversal of what’s come before, the evening will begin with a performance by Bad Seed Rising, a Baltimore quartet whose oldest member is 14. If nothing else, that will be interesting to watch.
Saturday May 4 constitutes the true main event, and its headlining act is the guy with the most present-day hype surrounding his brand (if not his actual music). The Bret Michaels Band may not thrill people in quite the same way that seeing Poison themselves at the top of the bill would, but you can be sure that Bret will give fans a hell of a show regardless of who is backing him up. Whether he’s doing songs from his popular 2010 album Custom Built, or busting out old Poison tunes like “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and “Talk Dirty To Me,” his show is guaranteed to satisfy.
But Bret Michaels is just the beginning for Saturday’s lineup. With doors opening at 10:30 AM, Day Two of the M3 Rock Festival promises a full slate of awesome music. Highlights include Dee Snider’s legendary gender-bending outfit, Twisted Sister; Jackyl’s chainsaw-weilding backwoods rock n’ roll; and RVA’s own Firehouse, who found the “Love Of A Lifetime” back in 1991 and will surely tell M3 attendees all about it as a sea of cigarette lighters (or maybe cellphones) are held aloft. With a dozen more groups on Saturday’s bill–including King’s X, Steel Panther, Great White, Loudness, and many more–there’s guaranteed to be something for every fan of hard rock and metal.
WHAT: The 2013 M3 Rock Festival Comes To Merriweather Post Pavilion!
WHO: WASP, Kix, Danger Danger, Bad Seed Rising, Bret Michaels Band, Twisted Sister, Jackyl, Firehouse, Great White, Steel Panther, King’s X, Loudness, JSRG, Love/Hate, Steelheart, Tuff, Trixter, Streetlight Circus, Korupt, In The Pink
WHERE: Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pky, Columbia MD (Click here for directions)
WHEN: Day One–Friday, May 3, Doors open at 5 PM; Day Two–Saturday, May 4, Doors open at 10:30 AM
ADMISSION: Day One–$25-$45 in advance; Click here to purchase tickets
Day Two–$40-$60 in advance; Click here to purchase tickets
And you could be seeing all of this for free! While tickets were only available at first in two-day packages, the fine folks at Merriweather Post Pavilion have recently made single-day passes available for purchase as well, and in celebration of that fact, they’ve given us two single-day tickets to each of the M3 Festival’s two days so that we may pass them along to one lucky RVA Magazine reader! Just enter your info into the handy widget below, and be sure to keep an eye out for extra chances for entry. Giveaway ends on Friday at 5 PM, so don’t delay–enter now!
