Meet The New Fest
When word got 'round that someone was setting up a big multi-day metal festival to be held in Pinellas County a couple months from now, the local extreme-music community greeted the news with what outsiders might deem as an unexpected degree of skepticism.
Online forums (particularly the cesspool of woeful grammatical incompetence and sophomoric shit-talk that is coffeestain.com's graffiti board) became peppered with messages warning Bay area bands to watch their hindquarters with regard to seeking a slot on the bill. All of them mentioned last year's ill-fated Metalfest 2003. Some of them stated flat-out that Pinellas promotion company Past 2 Present Productions, and its principal, Tim Bryant, were behind the upcoming two-day event. And none of them had anything nice to say about either.
The back story: In early 2003, Past 2 Present announced it was putting together a massive European-style metal festival, to be held at Tampa's East Bay Raceway over the 4th of July weekend. A list of headlining national acts (mostly second-tier '80s hair bands like Firehouse and Bulletboys) was touted, and local heavy groups were solicited to submit for a set. As it sounded like quite the big deal, many did, and found that Past 2 Present was accepting unsigned acts on a pay-to-play basis; several regional bands reported laying out between $200 and $400 to bag a confirmed slot.
In the wake of the February Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed more than a hundred rock fans during a set by California blues-metal dinosaurs Great White, Past 2 Present decided that a portion of Metalfest 2003 proceeds would go to the victims, an announcement that garnered national attention. But only days before its scheduled date, the festival was postponed. Bryant explained that the Hillsborough County Fire Marshall's office had vetoed the shindig, because Past 2 Present's projected attendance was far higher than the Raceway infield's code capacity. Metalfest 2003 was rescheduled for the end of August, but the fact that Bryant waited until a week before the original date to clear things with the Fire Marshall didn't go unnoticed.
Metalfest 2003 never happened. No official explanation was given for why the reset end-of-August date didn't go off. Past 2 Present's website was taken down. Tim Bryant became an extremely difficult man to reach (we made vigorous attempts to track down Mr. Bryant for comment on this piece, and all proved fruitless). And many Florida bands claim they were never refunded the money they paid to be a part of the show.
So you can see why the local scene might be a bit leery about the Sun 'N' Steel First Annual Florida Metalfest, scheduled for March 6 and 7 at Largo's Pinellas Expo Center.
But perhaps they needn't be.
"I had heard about [Metalfest 2003], and the guy who did that show sent me an e-mail saying, 'Florida's my territory' and this and that, and I'm thinking, wait, he's never done a show," says Jack Koshick who, with Robert Grohl, is putting on Sun 'N' Steel. "He goes and says you can't call it Metalfest. I copyrighted 'Metalfest' back in 1987. I don't know where this guy's coming from."
Koshick is a veteran promoter of concerts and World Wrestling Entertainment throwdowns. For 18 years, he's produced his hometown's Milwaukee Metalfest, hands down America's biggest underground and extreme metal event. With Grohl, he's put on New Jersey's March Metal Meltdown for five years running. He says Past 2 Present has nothing to do with their upcoming festival. Their decision to bring a big, brutal shindig to the Bay area not long after last year's debacle is more coincidence than anything else. Koshick is loath to divulge any specific headlining names before everything's confirmed, but says the bill will be geared decidedly more toward the ultra-heavy sounds Tampa helped make famous than the glam-rock sounds of yesteryear.
"[It's because of] the kind of e-mails I've been getting over the years asking why don't we bring this thing to Florida," he says. "Face it, Florida is the birthplace of death metal and black metal so … I went down there, and it's still pretty big. It just makes sense."
Koshick is also calling on unsigned Florida bands to submit their material. He's up-front about the fact that acts will have to come up with some out-of-pocket cash, should they be accepted, but he's working it in a way with which most groups should be familiar: the bands will have to buy a block of tickets up front, which they can then sell to their fans. Whether they recoup their investment, and make some money on top of it, depends on their draw, and how hard they're willing to hustle.
"If a band can't draw 20 fans, they've got no business being on the show. I don't think it's a lot to ask … it's really the only way I'm assured that the band's even working for me," he says.
Acts interested in submitting for Sun 'N' Steel can find contact info for both Koshick and Grohl at www.metalfest.com.
I'd Like To Thank The Academy
The Florida chapter of the Recording Academy (also known as The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, or NARAS, the guys who give out the Grammys) is now accepting submissions, too; they're gonna throw a Grammy Showcase down in Miami on March 17, and every unsigned band in Florida or Puerto Rico is invited to try out. They do this sort of thing all over the country, but you don't get a Grammy if you win, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how much you respect Creed. Instead, you play in front of a bunch of industry honchos for connections, pride, and many thousands of dollars' worth of gear and studio time. The deadline for submissions is nigh — January 23. Send 'em to The Recording Academy, 311 Lincoln Road, Suite 301, Miami Beach, FL 33139, and check out www.grammy.com/ florida.aspx for more info.
One Last Fest for The Road (I-4, To Be Exact)
Axis, Orlando's culture/nightlife/ pictures-of-hot-chicks magazine, is gearing up for its annual music conference, FMF2004, and you should definitely check it out. I went with my band last year, and had an absolute blast playing and running around downtown checking out the myriad clubs and acts. They do something like 150 bands in 15 venues, all within walking distance, over the course of three days (April 15-17). All kinds of powerful O-Town industry types hang around, get lubed and decide on a whim to help people get record deals they'll lose three years later when their first record finally comes out and tanks. Whatever. It's fun. Send a three-song demo (CD/DVD only, please), press kit and 25 bones, along with the form you download from www.floridamusicfestival.com, to: FMF 2004 Submissions, 116 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801 before Feb. 28.
Contact Music Critic Scott Harrell at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or by e-mail at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2004.