South Africa: in a collaboration between bands, venues, and role players from four different cities, South Africa will soon experience it’s first ever FaceMelt Fest – a synchronized day festival event which celebrates the birthday of local music media moguls The Metalist za. Show date is set for 03 December in the coastal cities of Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, plus inland at the major urban hub of Johannesburg.
“The concept of the FaceMelt Fest is to create a ‘Metalist Day’ – celebrating our birthday. We aim to grow FaceMelt Fest as a brand of its own and use it as a platform to further expand the To The Stage brand as we shift our focus to bigger events.” ~ Matthew Cox (collaborative organizer, To The Stage/The Metalist za)
Each city’s event showcases a strong line-up of locally sourced bands, yet also includes at least one visitor from another city.
“To me, FaceMelt Fest is essentially The Metalist za‘s birthday celebration. Our goal from the beginning has been to promote South African metal, and FaceMelt is essentially a showcase of the the bands we have been working with for the last two years. Hosting it in four cities at the same time, to me, represents our attempts at unifying the scene. FaceMelt is not only a celebration, but also an attempt to expose the touring bands to a new crowd of potential fans – hence why each show has a band from another city.” ~ Sammy Slabbert (collaborative organizer, To The Stage/The Metalist za)
This is not the first time an attempt at synchronized events have been made for underground acts, following RAMfest in 2014, and last year’s M.A.X Campaign. Logistically, it is a challenging affair, but with a national network having laid firm roots in recent times, team members at To The Stage (live event affiliate of The Metalist za) are confident that the new day-festival concept will proceed without a hitch as each city waits in readiness.
“With FaceMelt Fest, we basically want a show to remember and a show to look forward to once a year, and to share our scene’s talent throughout South Africa; and the timing just so happens to be around The Metalist za‘s birthday” ~ Peter Manion (collaborative organizer, To The Stage/The Metalist za)
Announcements have recently been concluded for all four shows and collectively represent a line-up of mammoth proportions. See each cities listings (cities A-Z) below:
Cape Town @ Mercury Live (open from 17h00):
17:30- Last One Alive
18:30- Imperial Destruction
19:30- With Dawn
20:30- A Price On The King’s Head
21:30- All We’ve Known (visiting from Port Elizabeth)
22:30- Mind Assault
23:30- Bulletscript
00:30- Megalodon
Durban @ The Winston Pub:
18:00- Minority For The Masses
19:00- The Overmind
20:00- Your Cynical Sanity
21:00- Desolation
22:00- Theatre Runs Red
23:00- Bleeding Spawn (visiting from Middleburg)
Johannesburg @ Rumours Lounge:
Front Stage:
16:00- Legions Ablaze
17:00- Nerve Zero
18:00- Adorned in Ash
19:00- Octainium
Main Stage:
16:30- As We Fall
17:30- Deadline
18:30- Raptorbaby
19:30- Riddlebreak
20:15- All Will Fall (visiting from Bloemfontein)
21:00- Hope is for Heroes
22:00- Red Helen
23:15- 40 Day Journey
Port Elizabeth @ Pool City:
19:00- Undead Generation
20:00- Monolith
21:00- DevilSpeak (visiting from Cape Town)
22:00- Mezzanine Floor
23:00- Forsaking Fate
With all systems set to go, all we need do now is wait. For updates and information, follow each city’s event (link supplied in highlighted venue names above) and keep a finger close to the pulse with regular news updates.