Review: Milwaukee Metalfest ’24
I decided a year ago (2023) that I’d make it a point to hit Milwaukee Metal Fest (MMF) in 2024. In fact, that decision led me to buy tickets to Blades Of Steel last year and 2 Minutes To Tulsa back in March. To date, I haven’t seen a bad fest yet and this year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest was epic and monumental – in a lot of ways.
FRIDAY, MAY 17, 9:30AM
Pre-Metalfest
CAUTION: Awkward Travel Log Ahead
Friday was a fun day leading up to the event. I spent the morning with my wife trekking around Milwaukee seeing the sites (including Lake Michigan) and visiting iconic music venues such as The Pabst Theatre, Club Garibaldis, and The X-Ray Arcade. I’m originally from Northern Illinois but haven’t been back to Milwaukee since the late 80’s, so for me visiting this great city was literally like seeing it for the first time, nerding out over everyday locales like this.
To the chagrin of my wife, we visited the address of apartment #213, 924 North 25th Street, the former home to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Said apartment and building are long since gone; the location is now a vacant grassy lot, similar to what I found when I visited Madison (Wisconsin) three years ago to see the former site of club/bar O’Cayz Corral.
I think I expected to see a lot of people stopping to gawk at the former Dahmer site but my wife and I were the sole tourists that day staring at a vacant lot and shooting photos of it. Props to my wife for being a good sport about all of this.
Below: The empty lot where Dahmer’s apartment building was located.
FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2:20pm, Milwaukee Metal Fest
Two hours later it was time to head over to The Rave / Eagles Ballroom. Normally I’d panic about traffic congestion and getting to the venue on time, but Milwaukee was surprisingly easy to get around in and the traffic was akin to what I’m used to in Albuquerque. In some respects, it was better.
For the record, I like Milwaukee much more than Albuquerque where I’ve lived since the latter half of the 90’s. I felt the same way about Tulsa, Oklahoma when I was there a few months back for the 2 Minutes To Tulsa metal fest. Tulsa’s a pretty cool cosmopolitan town with a healthy arts and music scene. Both cities were great to visit.
If you’ve never been to The Rave / Eagles Ballroom, it’s a behemoth of a building not to mention a historic landmark that’s been around forever. You enter at street level, wind through a vacant space, and end up in “merch central.” This room is huge and its jam packed with nothing but vendors hawking their wares ranging from records and CDs to t-shirts, patches, etc. If you hit every booth in this room it’d take at least an hour to cover it all. Here’s the cool thing about how it’s set up: A.) You don’t need a ticket to the fest to enter and browse the merch. B.) There’s a bar in inside to grab a few drinks and hang out for awhile.
In the back of the room is a meet and greet space for bands and fans. When I left Saturday night to head back to the hotel I spotted Jeff Beccera from Possessed meeting fans there. I was jealous, I really wanted to speak with him. He’s a cool, down to Earth guy who genuinely loves interacting with his fans. Plus, he’s fucking Possessed, a true legend!
Once you figure out how to navigate and leave this room, you walk up a short flight of stairs leading to The Rave Bar, aka, “Dunable Guitars / Martyrstore.net stage.” It’s a small space with a killer bar which might accommodate a 100 or so people. Near The Rave Bar was a much larger room, “The Century Media Stage” which was better equipped to accommodate several hundred (or more) rabid metal fans on a much larger stage. A friend of mine told me that the Havok show at the Rave Bar was insane, bodies were flying everywhere!
And right around the corner were the – wait for it – “STAIRS OF DEATH!” which led to the second floor where you’d find – Yep, you guessed it – the “STAIRS OF DOOM!” leading to the third level of The Rave where the grand ballroom was located. The second floor housed a vendor or two and a larger bar. I think this one might’ve had chairs to sit down on which for me would become a necessity throughout both days.
The grand ballroom is a huge, cavernous space capable of accommodating a few thousand fans. The ballroom itself is a spectacular sight with its wood floors and classic art deco architecture. As you might guess, there’s a ton of bars and even a balcony for VIP access. This was the “Indiemerchstore.com” stage.
The first band I caught on Friday were black metallers Uada on the Century Media stage. I knew of them but hadn’t listened to them prior to seeing them here. They were intense, mysterious, and super heavy. They won me over immediately. Now remember, there’s three stages loaded with bands playing at the same time (or staggered times), so I leave Uada early to catch what I can of Lords Of The Trident (LOTT) on the Indiemerchstore.com stage (third floor). I hated those stairs and they certainly hated me back.
It’s my first-time seeing Lords Of The Trident live and damn are they impressive. The stage they’re playing on is huge and they command it like old pros. Just for clarification, this is the venue bands like Korn and Queensryche play when they pass through Milwaukee and play The Rave.
The crowd is into LOTT’s exuberant brand of power metal and I’m digging what I see and hear from these guys. Again, I have to leave early because of time constraints and head down the stairs of doom and death to get to the Century Media Stage on the first floor to see Bewitcher rock some serious blackened thrash to a very receptive audience.
After maybe 5-7 minutes it’s back up to the third floor to see Night Demon, a band I’ve been a fan of for a while but hadn’t truly appreciated them until seeing ‘em at MMF. Night Demon plays a melodic style of European influenced power metal which floored me, they were that good! I rank them right up there with Jag Panzer and Cloven Hoof as one of the best bands working this genre of music.
It’s back down the stairs to the first floor to catch another “must see” band, the truly incredible Nunslaughter, who deliver a live show beyond anything I expected; they were great. And the show was topped off with an appearance by the dancing “nun” towards the end of their gig, yea!
By now the heat and humidity inside the venue is reaching fever pitch. We’re all hot, we’re all sweaty, and it’s uncomfortable inside The Rave. I periodically stop to grab a beer and a shot, both of which were waaaaaay overpriced but it’s MMF, so fuck it.
Next up, I catch a little bit of Profanatica at the Century Media Stage before heading upstairs to catch nearly all of Eternal Champion’s gig. Profanatica didn’t make much of an impression on me with their black-ish/death-ish set, but I really got into Eternal Champion, another solid power metal band up on the third floor in the big ballroom. Their set was pure steel. Like Night Demon, I’m keeping an eye on this band going forward.
The ballroom’s filling up in anticipation of Overkill who are next, so I make the tough decision to forgo seeing Incantation on the first floor and stake out my spot close to the stage, and I’m thankful I did. I’m a longtime Overkill fan going all the way back to 1986 and seeing them live / in person was another BIG moment for me. By now the crowd is huge and getting bigger and when the band hits the stage they remind me why I’ve been a fan so long: They’re true metal masters. The place goes wild and the band tears it up!
When you talk about the godfathers of speed/thrash, Overkill stands side by side with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. Their set at MMF was a blistering frenzy of greatest hits and a song or two off their new record ‘Scorched.’ I’m glad I stayed for the whole thing even though I missed Doro’s set, unfortunately. Looking back on it, it was worth it.
I rounded out Friday night with Symphony X in the big ballroom following Overkill’s set and Hammerfall at the Century Media Stage on the first floor. Both bands were good with Hammerfall being the better of the two. For me personally, Hammerfall defines what the spirit of metal is all about. They had the look, the sound, and banged out a set for the ages.
That was Friday night. I didn’t stick around for later bands opting instead to leave and get something to eat before spending what was left of the evening with my wife in the big bad city of Milwaukee. Day one was good, no regrets.
The cost of booze, traversing the stairs of “doom and death,” and band time slots were the negatives of the fest overall. The way I see it though? If these are my only criticisms of this event, I’d say MMF was a huge success. On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of how good Milwaukee Metal Fest was (Friday & Saturday), I’d give it an 8.
SATURDAY, MAY 18
It’s 9am. I wake up achy and exhausted. Marching up and down the stairs at The Rave / Eagles Ballroom took its toll on my lower back and legs. I’m old and out of shape. I jokingly refer to it as “cardio for metalheads.” I get to the venue and catch part of Embryonic Autopsy at The Rave Bar – who are raging out full force – getting ready to head to the big ballroom on the third floor. For the few minutes I catch EA’s set, they’re great. I’m literally five feet from them. The slam of their music through the PA is punching me in the chest – hard. They’re loud, they’re heavy, and it’s the perfect way to start Saturday off.
I leave Embryonic Autopsy to climb the stairs and hit the Grand Ballroom for Skinless. I’m there in time to grab a shot and a beer and hit stage left (my left) to catch the Skinless set. I’m propped up against the barrier, maybe 10 feet from the band. Bring it on!
I’ve always been curious about Skinless. Prior to MMF I was familiar with their record, ‘Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead,’ but seeing them live was unlike anything I think I’ve ever witnessed with a death metal band. They were the definition of “Firestorm.” Their enthusiasm, their energy, their set was off the charts good!
Their live show was among the best I saw over the course of Friday and Saturday. Seeing Skinless live was like standing next to a thousand cannons going off simultaneously, that’s how loud and heavy they were. I don’t take this lightly when I describe their performance as brutal, vicious, and super tight in a surgically precise way. Every member of Skinless didn’t look like they were having fun, THEY WERE HAVING FUN rocking out and digging the fan reaction they were getting, and all of that energy bounced back on all of us watching them. Both Skinless and Embryonic Autopsy have set the bar high for Saturday, so far.
<Enter the crowd surfers>
I’m sure there was crowd surfing before the Skinless set, I just hadn’t noticed it until being that up close and personal with ‘em, and man was it intense! Props to Rave security for not overreacting and going after fans aggressively for doing this. The crew practiced what I called, “catch and release.” Come to think of it, I never saw security being overly zealous with any fans nor did I see fights breaking out amongst the concert goers. It truly felt like a real community of like minded metal heads both days.
I stuck around after Skinless to watch Terrorizer for about ten minutes. I think, if I’m not mistaken, the lineup included Pete Sandoval and David Vincent. The lead singer stalked the stage and had a look in his eyes that screamed “murder!” while the band churned out a vicious brand of death-grind behind him. It was a mountain of crunch.
A somewhat fatigued me headed back down the stairs to see Death To All crank out some cool Death classics. If you’re not familiar, Death To All is comprised of former members of the band Death who deliver a greatest hits set and often perform a Death record in full. They were a fun band to watch and man were they good. I really hope Death To All continues into the future and maybe finds time to write and record original material as well.
It’s back up to the third floor ballroom to catch Municipal Waste. Another beer, another shot, and I’m ready to go up front, stage left again (my stage left), leaning up against the barrier. After what seemed like an eternity, the Wasters hit the stage and the place went nuts! If the Skinless set was heavy-crazy, Municipal Waste took that level of insanity and raised it ten times higher. Crowd surfing, crowd surfing, crowd surfing!!! And a plastic garbage can got moshed up and crowd surfed too! Not only are these guys the best at what they do with their brand of crossover speed/thrash, they’re absolute masters at how to work a stage and a crowd.
I left Municipal Waste after 10 minutes (or so) to catch two bucket list bands for me: Possessed and Deicide, both on the Century Media Stage, both playing back-to-back sets. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea too; the venue filled up quick.
I discovered Possessed in 1986 after buying their ‘Seven Churches’ record. The sound on that album blew me away and kind of helped open the door for me regarding extreme music (black, death, etc.). The same holds true for Deicide whom I was a fan of prior to the release of their first record, one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. Deicide is no stranger to MMF having played it for the first time in 1992 with peers Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Cancer, Brutal Truth and Malevolent Creation, among others.
Both Possessed and Deicide are godfathers and trailblazers in the genre of extreme metal and it’s not an over exaggeration to label them icons and legends, it’s stating fact. To see both live, what a moment in my life. I had a front seat in the balcony overlooking the stage and by god (or Satan, for that matter) I wasn’t moving. My line of vision to the stage (and backstage area) was spectacular.
Possessed took the stage to set up their rigs and soundcheck. Get this: even before they played, they OWNED the stage AND audience. Founder/singer Jeff Becerra made his way front and center and at this point the crowd went crazy with not even a single note yet to be played!
Possessed performed to a near capacity audience pitting and crowd surfing like there was no tomorrow. The band’s show was the definition of “pure aggression” and “brutality.” Just when you think they were winding down towards the end of their set, they ramped up the energy level and went for broke. The wilder the crowd was, the more intense Possessed got.
They looked and sounded epic. And correct me if I’m wrong but I think I saw Athenar from the band Midnight in the middle of the crowd towards the end of Possessed’s set, crowd surfing. I wasn’t surprised since the drummer for Possessed was wearing a Midnight shirt – probably not a coincidence.
Founder/singer Jeff Becerra had a smile on his face the entirety of the band’s performance. Possessed had this onstage charisma – not to mention look – of pure metal. They exuded it, striking a very intimidating presence jamming out the loudest, rawest, death-thrash mankind will ever experience. Onstage their set was pure devastation. Out in the audience? Pure mayhem.
Next up was Deicide. Possessed broke down their stage while Deicide members casually strolled to their respective spots and sound checked. I spotted Glen Benton behind a wall of speakers doing prep work – his stage left. Asheim is already sitting behind his drum kit, ready to roll. There’s no pomp and circumstance, just a band doing what they do best: Getting ready to destroy both stage and audience as soon as they get the green light. Deicide was prepared, they were consummate pros, and it showed.
Soon enough the band gathered ‘round and launched into their set unleashing a literal firestorm onstage and in the audience as well. Benton sounded great and the two new guitarists were spot on shredders of the highest order. Deicide has never sounded better. Benton’s voice was in top form and by all rights should be registered as a deadly weapon anywhere they play. The acrobatics he does with it live, is astounding. This band is a wrecking ball.
Midway through their gig I notice two shows going on simultaneously. The first is Deicide and their set demonstrates why they are / always have been the reigning kings of blasphemous death metal. The second is the audience who are moshing and circle pitting at a level of intensity I’ve never witnessed before. The aggression level is is a 19 on a scale of 1 to 10. The crowd is into Deicide’s show and the surfing is literally non-stop, at least that’s what it felt like watching it.
Benton is unphased, he sees the carnage going on and he likes it. The look in his eyes says it all, “I want more!” The crowd appeases him. The band plays harder, heavier, while the fans bring the crazy as close to the stage as they could get. This is THE Deicide show I’ve been waiting to see. By the time the gig was over I was blown away and exhausted, and I was sitting in the balcony for their performance!
I caught a little bit of Testament’s show and called it a night. I saw what I came to see and had a great time. I finally made it back to Milwaukee after a 30+ year absence, saw the town, made it to Culver’s for a Pork Tenderloin sandwich, and survived the legendary Milwaukee Metal Fest. Total success, horns up!
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