It’s May and you know what that means….Dig out your leather, lace and Aqua-net! It is that time of year when 80’s metal fans from around the country gather in Columbia Maryland for the Annual M3 Rock Festival!
(For those who don’t know M3 stands for May Merriweather Metal) The 13-year-old festival typically happens in early May each year with around 45,000 eager music fans pouring into the beautiful Merriweather Post Pavilion for a blast of the past three-day rocking event. The festival is a celebration of the days of decadence and glamour and it’s attended by people who lived it and their children who remember hearing about this cultural movement.
The internationally renowned festival is celebrating its ‘Lucky 13’ this year and the festivities begin on Friday night May 6 with their KIX off party. (The hometown favorite band KIX will Light the fuse and headline the evening with Lizzy Borden, Doro and Count 77 as supporting acts.) An annual Fireworks display will also light up the sky.
Saturday and Sunday will bring full days of music featuring national touring acts such as Tom Keifer with his razon precision vocals tearing through all of you favorite Cinderella songs. Extreme will hit the stage with their funky metal and everyone’s favorite guitarist the Portuguese Prince Nuno Bettencourt (swoon) New to the festival this year are rock legends-Blue Öyster Cult, they have sold 25 million records worldwide with hits such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla".
Also Laying it down on stage at this year’s M3 will be Stephen Pearcy of RATT. Skid Row will be there fresh off their Vegas residency with The Scorpions and featuring their new front man, the Swedish singer
Erik Grönwall! If you haven’t heard Erik on the mic yet you are in for a real treat! Holy crap let me just say it will be- Youths… (well middle-aged adults for most of us) Gone Wild when he begins to sing!!
The entire weekend will be non-stop music! The Signs says Tesla will hit the stage Sunday along with Christian Rockers Stryper and so many more bands!
If you have never experienced the M3 Rock Festival before and want to relive the music of the glory days, there are a few tickets still available. Tickets can be purchased at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 9:30 Club, The Anthem and Lincoln Theatre during normal box office hours. They can be purchased as a 3 day pass or as single-day tickets. For more information, visit ticketmaster.com or M3rockfest.com.
