Sounds Local: A must-attend event for heavy music fans: RPM Fest returns for 11th year, Aug. 29-31

Get ready for the heaviest party of the summer! The RPM Fest is set to turn the serene woods of the Millers Falls Rod and Club in Montague into New England’s ultimate heavy music campout. If you crave loud and powerful music, this is the must-attend event for your Labor Day weekend.

Now in its 11th year, the three-day festival takes place from Aug. 29 to Aug. 31  at the Millers Falls Rod and Gun Club and features over 40 bands performing on two stages. And the fun doesn’t stop with the music. There will be a diverse array of non-music activities, a vibrant vendor market and more. Plus, tent camping is included with the purchase of a ticket, allowing you to experience the full festival vibe. 

Gates are open from 12 to 9 p.m. on Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. 

The type of music that you’ll hear includes a wide range of genres and sub-genres that fall under the banner of heavy music, which includes: rock, punk, metal, doom, thrash, stoner, sludge, and more. Bands come from all over to play the fest, and some of the headliners this year include Ghoul, an American death/trash metal band from Oakland, California, Horrendous, a progressive death metal band from Philadelphia, and Conan, a British sludge/doom metal band coming all the way from Liverpool. 

Through the Eyes of the Dead, Midnight, The Atomic Bitchwax are just a few of the other bands in the lineup.

Students who attended the summer rock shop camp hosted by Matt Kim’s Academy of Rock each year will also perform. At this camp, the students come together and learn all that it takes to form a band and be true hard rockers. Playing at the fest gives these young musicians the chance to get on a stage and show off all they have learned. So do come out and support them when they play RPM Fest on Sunday, at 11:55 a.m. on the Wick and Ronin stage.

In addition to all that music, the RPM Fest keeps the fun going by offering all types of activities that are in line with the heavy music world. These include wrestling, metal yoga, drag brunch, karaoke, heavy metal trivia, a Magic the Gathering tournament, and so much more. New this year is Stage Mutiny, which will feature sideshow, fire flow, and other visual performances throughout the weekend. You can also check out Ultraviolet, a place that features an art gallery, vintage black light, and psychedelic posters. 

The festival is produced by Brian Westbrook, a musician and audio engineer who runs PDP Productions, and John Gulow, of Promotorhead Entertainment, along with a devoted team of volunteers.

RPM Fest is all the more impressive when we consider that this festival started in the backyard of Brian Westbrook’s family home in Greenfield. From the start, Westbrook, along with other like-minded music fans, put together the kind of festival that they wanted to attend and that vision continues to this day. 

It is this spirit of “we are all in this together” that has allowed RPM Fest to grow and thrive over the years, and no one knows that better than the quartet, Goblet, from Pittsfield. Goblet is the only band to have played every RPM Fest. They formed the band in 2013 and call their music Bastard Thrash, which combines elements of thrash, doom, and death metal. Goblet will play the RPM stage on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

“We are absolutely honored that we get asked to play every year. RPM Fest is very near and dear to our hearts,” said the band’s guitarist, Nick Saldarini. 

On the festival’s Facebook page, Goblet’s sets are described as a “chaotic highlight” of the three day event, noting some of their past hijinks include arriving in coffins, tossing rubber dolls into the crowd, t-shirt cannons, and inciting frantic mosh pits. 

Looking back, Saldarini said that while the festival has grown bigger and the venue has changed, at the its core RPM Fest is the same. 

 “It’s still the same group of people organizing, planning, booking, setting up, promoting, volunteering, tearing down,” he said. 

Like so many of the other participating bands, Goblet, which also includes Jesse Pause on vocals, Eric Racicot on bass and Tim Brault on drums, have rolled up their sleeves to help with some of the behind-the-scenes details. 

“In the beginning, Goblet was there for a lot of the volunteer days clearing land in Greenfield in Brian Westbrook’s parents’ backyard so we could build two stages and have a small local festival,” recalled Saldarini. “It got bigger every year until we outgrew the space.”

The woods of Montague are a more suitable location, considering that these bands are rather loud!

Once they moved to the Miller’s Falls Rod & Gun Club, the band members continued to help on various projects, a practice they continue to this day.

The word community always comes up when the RPM Fest is mentioned, and Saldarini agrees.

“It’s about more than the music, it’s about seeing people, it’s a weekend we all look forward to! As soon as it’s finished, preparations are already underway for the next one!” he said, adding that even as the festival continues to grow each year, it maintains its grassroots and DIY feel that seems to be lacking in other festivals.

“The people in charge are also musicians, or sound guys, or promoters, so they’ve been on every side of an event like this, and know what needs have to be met, to make an event like this flourish. “

Tickets are available at RPMfest.org until 12 p.m. on Friday and then can be purchased at the gate. 

RPM Fest is all-ages. Children 12 and under can enter free with a parent or legal guardian who has purchased a ticket. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Parking is $30 for a weekend pass or $15 per day pass. 

Summer music series coming to an end

As we enjoy the final days of August we must resign ourselves to the fact that the summer music series are fast coming to an end. Tonight, Thursday Aug. 28, is the last night of the Coop Concerts which are presented by The Franklin County Musicians Cooperative and held each Thursday night at the Greenfield Energy Park during the summer months. The final night show will feature the bluegrass/old time sounds of Katie Clarke and Larry LeBlanc, followed by two sets from Zydeco Connection. As we noted last week, the shows are now staring earlier at 5:30 p.m. and going until 7:30 p.m.

RiverCulture has presented many free shows at Peskeompskut Park in Turners Falls this summer and this Thursday will welcome the classic rock band, Three Speed, at 6:30 p.m. The three members Steve Ellis (Afterglow), Greg Snedeker ( Ask Wanda) and Chris Ellis (rice-An American Band) play music that is rooted in classic rock but with strong reggae, funk, and pop influences. Expect to hear some of your favorite tunes when this trio hits the bandshell at the park. 

It will be jazz next week at Peskeompskut Park when the Julian Gerstin Sextet plays on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.  The sextet will perform what will be the final show of the RiverCulture summer series. Again, these shows are free.

Bring a picnic dinner and a lawn chair. In case of rain, events will be rescheduled.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at Soundslocal@yahoo.com.