ALL PHOTOS: DAVE BARNHOUSER | The summer concert season is officially under way, and with it comes the M3 Rock Festival. With fans travelling over great distances to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, it has turned into an annual rock ‘n’ roll pilgrimage.
In its sixth year, the festival revives the hard rock and hair metal bands of the ’80s and early ’90s, a stark contrast to many modern festivals highlighting the latest and (maybe not-so) greatest bands of today. Think less Foster the People and Cage the Elephant, and more Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Faster Pussycat. This year’s lineup definitely did not disappoint (well, mostly), and the rock ‘n’ roll spirit of the ’80s was alive and well.
DAY ONE | The closer I got to Merriweather Post Pavilion, the darker the skies became. The gates opened after waiting about 20 minutes, and the rain began. Without taking in too many sights, I made my way to the 9:32 Bar (the MPP offshoot of DC’s 9:30 Club) for a dry spot to have a beverage and wait for the music to begin.
Local openers Bad Seed Rising began the day with their brand of energetic power pop/rock. The quartet—ages 12-16—played with cohesiveness and confidence well beyond their years.
The first surprise of the weekend came next, in Winger. No longer sporting spandex pants and hairspray, singer/bassist Kip Winger now has a grey streak in his curly hair, and was wearing stylish glasses, giving him a more mature look.
I’ll admit, I have never been a fan of the band or their music, save for Reb Beach’s guitar mastery. I would also have to admit that Winger surprised and impressed the hell out of me at M3. While still not a fan of their music, Winger was tight, precise, and overall sounded really damn good. During their set, Kip announced what a number of other bands would echo throughout the weekend—a forthcoming new album. This was welcome news to myself and the fans in attendance that the bands would not be content to ease back and only rely on their classic material to carry them through the years—they’re still moving forward.
A highlight of the weekend was during Lita Ford’s set, midway through the first day. During the third song of her set, “Living Like a Runaway,” Lita was joined onstage by her old bandmate, Runaways singer Cherie Currie.
After playing “Queens of Noise” and “American Nights,” the crowd erupted as they began the Runaways hit song, “Cherry Bomb.” Currie was in fine form, and the pair seemed to recapture a spark, playing music from their teenage years. There were slim hopes from some of the crowd (ok, me) that Runaways member Joan Jett would make an appearance with Lita and Cherie following the three reuniting earlier in the week, but it was not to be.
Heavy metal radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk took to the stage to introduce Extreme, informing the crowd that they haven’t played in the U.S. in over five years. The lights went down, the intro music began, and the Boston rockers blared onto the stage playing 1990’s “Decadence Dance.” When I say “blared,” I could also mean “loud as hell,” because the volume had significantly increased from the first three bands. I’m not trying to be a curmudgeon, but there’s good loud and bad loud, and Extreme went just over the line into bad loud, which was especially noticed with the clangy tone of the acoustic guitars on some songs.
This would be the only downside of Extreme’s performance. They sounded incredible, especially the backing harmonies from bassist Pat Badger and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Nuno, on a break from his guitar duties for singer Rihanna, was absolutely brilliant. Singer Gary Cherone led the band through older favorites like “Kid Ego,” “It’s a Monster,” and “Rest in Peace.” After a bit of confusion over whether they were over their time or if there was time for another song, they closed their set with “Hole Hearted.”
Closing out day one were local rock ‘n’ roll heroes Kix. Led by audacious singer Steve Whiteman—a criminally underrated rock frontman—Kix came out swinging, playing classic favorites like “No Ring Around Rosie,” “The Itch,” and “Girl Money.” Whiteman was full of swagger, belying his age with jumps and struts that would give Jagger a run for his money. Guitarists Brian “Damage” Forsythe and Ronnie “10/10” Younkins worked brilliantly together.
After a fantastic set, Kix closed the show with their staples “Midnight Dynamite” and “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” showering the crowd with balloons before bidding them goodnight.
DAY TWO | Day two was off to a much better start. A slight breeze and the sun shining bright—it was perfect weather for an outdoor show. After ambling around and checking out the booths, I made my way to the Festival Stage, a second stage set at the bottom of a hillside surrounded by trees, where Heaven’s Edge was opening up the day. The bands went on an alternating schedule nonstop throughout the day, between the Festival Stage and the main Pavilion Stage.
Southern rockers Keel opened the Pavilion Stage with a pretty solid set that featured a cover of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night.” Kind of an odd choice for this show, but it worked and sounded damn good.
Up next was one of the best of the day, when John Corabi took to the Festival stage. The babyfaced Corabi is no more, with the former Motley Crue singer now sporting a big beard and resembling Rob Zombie in hippie clothes. At the end of the set, he said, “About 20 years ago, I did a record with some lads from LA…”, referring to his 1994 album with Motley Crue, which drew HUGE applause from the full hillside of fans. The crowd went wild for “Uncle Jack,” and the closer “Hooligan’s Holiday.”
After sets from Jack Russell’s Great White and Femme Fatale, the pavilion filled up once again for Stryper’s set. I have never been a fan of their music, but I really have to give it to them—these guys sounded amazing. Beginning their set with obligatory bible-throwing, Michael Sweet’s voice was soaring and operatic. Even though a strident Christian band, their music transcended boundaries, to where even a guy in a Goatwhore shirt was rocking out to songs like “Free,” Kiss’ “Shout it Out Loud,” and “Soldiers Under Command.”
Eddie Trunk took to the Festival Stage to happily introduce Red Dragon Cartel, former Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee’s new band. The crowd erupted when they kicked things off with “The Ultimate Sin,” and kept the enthusiasm going for the new original songs. My personal favorite moment was when singer D.J. Smith said it was time to “Pay tribute to the late Ray Gillan,” and went into “High Wire” by Badlands, Jake’s band from 1989. Jake, having been away from the music scene for years, was beaming, shredding, and sounding better than ever.
The most mind-blowing surprise of the day came next in Queensryche. A much-publicized split with original singer Geoff Tate left many fans divided, and seemingly a lot to prove for new singer Todd La Torre. It didn’t take long—La Torre was simply incredible, singing songs from throughout the band’s history like “Breaking the Silence,” “The Warning,” and “Eyes of a Stranger.”
La Torre and the rest of the band played with such power and precision that while there a few dissenters remaining loyal to Tate and the vast majority of the crowd (myself included) were completely blown away and clamoring for more. After all the legal drama this band has been through, it was heartwarming to see some justice done to such great songs from the past.
Foregoing Autograph for a chance to sit and relax with a bite to eat, I stood outside the pavilion watching the video screen as Sebastian Bach’s set began. Opening with Skid Row’s “Slave to the Grind,” things were not off to a great start. Bach’s vocals were inconsistent, and the band had no chemistry. Things were only about to get worse.
Calling the audience “motherfuckers” at least five times within the first two songs, Bach demanded the band stop the show after starting the third song, “Big Guns,” because the audience response wasn’t what he was hoping for. His ire continued into the next song, when he took issue with a question I asked him in our pre-M3 interview about touring in the ’80s vs touring in 2014. His retort was, “We sold out Merriweather in 1989, and we sold it out in 2014, so there you go, dude.” I didn’t have the heart to go tell him that he didn’t sell out M3.
The set only got worse from there with Bach alternating between his high-pitched scream and Beavis-like yelling. After the set was over, the most common reaction overheard as people filed out of the pavilion was “Why was he so angry? All the other bands are so happy today.” Why, indeed.
After catching some of L.A. Guns’ set on the Festival stage, rain showers appeared, so into the pavilion for Night Ranger I went. In stark contrast to the set we had just seen, one of the oldest bands of the day were the ones smiling the biggest, and having a hell of a good time.
A fantastic set full of big guitars from Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra, and perfect harmonies from every member made this a real treat and had the crowd reeling. They even mixed in 2 hits from bassist/singer Jack Blades other famous band, Damn Yankees (“Coming of Age” and “High Enough”), along with Night Ranger standards like “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me,” “Sister Christian,” and “(You Can Still) Rock in America.”
I opted out of heading over to the Festival Stage for Slaughter’s set (I hear their drummer, Zoltan Chaney, was absolutely insane), opting to take a breather before the festival’s closer, Tesla.
This was the band I was looking most forward to seeing, having seen Tesla back in 1989. The band hasn’t lost a step, and was in top form, truly deserving of the headlining spot of M3. Singer Jeff Keith’s raspy voice is the same as it ever was, and as they started with “Hang Tough” and Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out),” the crowd was giving them their due, and then some. They debuted a new song called “MP3” from their forthcoming album, a song “with lyrics about technology and how we miss simplicity, vinyl albums, family values…” I can definitely get on board with that.
They feverishly advanced from one song to the next, all with a comfortable ease and unity within the band members. After hits such as “Love Song,” “Signs,” and “Modern Day Cowboy,” Tesla didn’t even bother leaving the stage for an encore, mostly to due being five minutes from the 11pm curfew. The crowd demanded more, and they closed the night with a superb rendition of “Little Suzi.”
Seeing these bands throughout the weekend, some of which bring back many fond memories of days gone by, was bittersweet. The M3 Rock Festival, aside from the purely musical aspect, serves to many as a portal back in time, to fun, simpler days before the digital revolution, hell, before cell phones. People travel from near and far for the experience, and the crowds have brought the festival back 6 times. Just days after the festival, organizers announced that it will return in 2015.
In the immortal words of Dee Snider, “You can’t stop rock n’ roll.”
Be sure to read our three-part M3 interview series with members of Tesla, Queensryche and more. The interviews can be found here, here, and here.
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DAY ONE
DAY TWO
