Spring is in the air and that means music festivals all over the world. One such festival we always attend is the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival, held at the Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts. We caught up with festival co-founder and talent booker Scott Lee to get his take on the 17th edition of the festival, taking place this weekend.
We started off by asking Scott about this year’s line-up:
“It’s great! We have a lot of diversity this year. Friday where you have Between the Buried and Me, The Red Chord Cavalera Conspiracy, Corrosion of Conformity (BLIND), and Within the Ruins, that day is stellar. Testament, Exodus, Nuclear Assault’s final new england appearance, so proud to have that. Nails is really exciting! Sunday has Motionless In White. People gave me a little crap for that, which is funny to me. They are just as much a metal band, with hardcore roots as anybody else. Just because they wear makeup and the type of label they are one, whatever. They are a metal band. They have done metal tours. They did Mayhem and other metal tours too. They are an awesome band. And they wear make up. So did Kiss. So do The Misfits. So does Dimmu Borgir. Who cares? The lineup is super stellar. Code Orange headlining upstairs on Saturday. Overcast… and there might be a surprise for Saturday for the hardcore world.” (Editor’s note: now revealed to be Turnstile).
Scott also discussed the significance of having two legendary Boston metal and hardcore stalwarts on the bill together in Overcast and the recently reactivated guys in The Red Cord:
“Oh they came up together you know? They came up at the same time, in the same vein. Same kind of New England thing. You wouldn’t be surprised to see a split 7” from the two of them. Actually that would be really cool! There are all kinds of genres this year, it’s a really good mix. It really is an all-star lineup . I am not going to be like “it’s better than last year” or “its better than the year before”. I hope people see what we are doing here and getting excited about it. There are not too many times you will see Nails and Testament on the same bill, on the same day.
Scott Lee, photo by Jeremy Saffer
Returning to the fest for a second straight year, Nails put on one of the most intensely violent shows ever at last’s year’s fest. We vouched for being terrified at the level of aggression the band coaxed out of the rabid fans in the pit. Just complete bedlam. This year they are on the main stage, and Scott shared his thoughts on the band:
“Being terrified is part of the game, my friend. I went and saw them at This Is Hardcore and it was amazing to me. That band is no joke! It’s great how they are true to their craft. They are really great people too. They write really great music. If you haven’t heard this band, you need to check them out. They are the real McCoy.”
On the complaints on a yearly basis about certain bands, and certain types of bands on the bill which he helps bring together:
“It’s called the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. It’s bringing metal and hardcore tied into together with the entire scene like this: everything everyone here has ever done. It is not called the New England Death Fest. It’s not called the New England Hardcore Fest. It’s not the New England Metal Fest. It has a long name so everyone abbreviates it to NEMHF. With these bands, it doesn’t matter. The majority of these bands are fans of the music of the other bands too. If you are close-minded, I can’t argue with every single person about this that or the other the thing. This is what the scene is meant to be, open-minded. That’s what it’s supposed to be, for me doing this. We are not putting Black Veil Brides on, we put on Motionless In White. Motionless In White is a metal band. The whole kit and kabboodle on the situation is this: if you have enough time to ridicule, then you should go get another hobby.”
KEITH CHACHKES