On Saturday June 19 2010, Darwin played host to one of the biggest metal music events ever staged in the Territory!
Abysm on stage at Terrorfest II. Pic courtesy Rico Adjrun.
Terrorfest II. Pic courtesy Rico Adrun.
Presented by Top End Terror, Terrorfest II was their second major metal showcase, held in Darwin. It featured 60 musicians, 18 local rock and metal bands across 2 stages, at the newly rejuvenated original music venue, Happy Yess at Brown’s Mart.
MC’d by “The Delicious Appleseeds”, the bands on the bill read like a who’s who of the Darwin rock and metal scene: ‘Rock Stage’ – Burrfoot, Celador, Cobble Stone, Enth Degree, Seed, Semishigure, Sex in the Desert, Sweet Amber and ZedMajor. ‘Metal Stage’ – Aborted Jesus Milkshake, Abysm, Cain’s Plague, Calabria’s Fall, F.E.M.A., Hate for Fate, Kingdom of Decay and Vicious Apathy.
One of the best stories of the night has to belong to Darwin rock band Sweet Amber. Scoring a last minute gig supporting Grinspoon at the massive Hidden Valley V8 Rock & Race concert, no sooner had the band stepped off stage they then raced across to Happy Yess to make their 9.30pm Terrorfest II slot! They wrote on their Facebook on the night: ‘”Can Darwin handle a double dose of SWEET AMBERNESS????? We hope so!!!!”
Terrorfest II organiser Nico Liengme says the event was a great success. “TerrorFest II was just as much a rock show as it was a metal show, and right now these combined gigs are working really well to expose music fans to bands and genres they might not otherwise. We can probably attribute about half of our 380-strong crowd to the rock side, which is a great sign, considering we were up against Grinspoon at the V8′s Race and Rock on the same night.”
He continues, “We’re extremely proud of what the metal scene has become in Darwin in the past 12 months; the professionalism of bands and the growth of the dedicated fan base. Things are probably at an all-time high right now, and getting better. TerrorFest II was a snapshot of the growth and increasing demand for heavy and original music in this town, and proof that it can be done without sponsorship.”
Terrorfest II. Pic: Rico Adjrun.
Recognising the rapid growth of – and strong support for – the metal music scene and fan base in the Territory, Music NT programmed prominent Australian metal drummer Dave Haley from Psycroptic to attend the 2010 iNTune Music Conference in August. In addition to speaking, Dave also ran an exclusive drumming master class.
Music NT Forum member Rico Adjrun was just one of the people who went along to Terrorfest II. He returned with a fantastic set of live music photos. See more of Rico’s pictures at his Facebook photo album.
And watch Semishigure’s video from TF II on the Music NT Forum.
Words: Megan Spencer
