Alt-Fest Forum :: Recent Topics

ticket dates - by: deathwishparade

Thu, 08 May 2014 19:17:25 +0100

okay so i ordered my saturday day ticket, and on clubtickets it says

"Fri 15 August) SATURDAY Early Bird"

what does this mean because i'm worried i may have accidentally ordered the wrong date!

Savage Messiah on Channel 4 tonight - by: Hemlox

Thu, 08 May 2014 18:15:59 +0100

Thrashers Savage Messiah are on C4 tonight! at 7pm. Well worth a watch!
www.metalhammer.com/news/2014-05-08/sava...annel-4-news-tonight

Email: "IMPORTANT INFORMATION re: your Alt-Fest Or - by: TomB

Wed, 07 May 2014 00:42:29 +0100

I got this email, which says:

"This is an email to remind you that if you haven’t done so already to log into your Clubtickets account and add an accommodation option to your order. If you are also still yet to provide us with a shipping address you can update your personal details once within your account. Please note that alongside accommodation options you also have the opportunity to purchase car parking passes, camper van passes and official Alt-Fest merchandise."

To be honest, I can't remember what I've done and what I haven't as I did everything during the kickstarter campaign and bought the dismembership level which included a ticket. How can I tell if I have added an accommodation option to the order or if I need to do anything?

Also, I hope clubtickets haven't tried to post me anything... they had my address very wrong (Although parts correct!).

Breaking Bad - by: tordis

Tue, 06 May 2014 07:41:34 +0100

Just started watching this one and it's absolutely amazing! Finished Season 1 in two evenings, can't wait to get home and keep watching. Walter White is an amazing character: on the outside, a perfectly normal, middle-aged American citizen, but oh, the things he's capable of... Very curious about how things proceed now.

(Yeah, I know, I'm a bit behind, but if there's anyone here who hasn't seen Breaking Bad yet, it's definitely worth watching )

Anyone from Germany, Austria, Switzerland? - by: DarkMusicFriend-HC

Tue, 06 May 2014 07:04:27 +0100

Heya
Anyone coming from german-speaking nations? would be lovely to meet some people at ALT-FEST.
We could complain about the english beer

Need a lift from/to London on the 14th/18th - by: macnkas

Sun, 04 May 2014 17:03:23 +0100

Hi guys (and gals),

We are 3 french pals arriving at St Pancras at 4 pm on Thursday the 14th, is there any londoner willing to share his car with us for the road London - Kettering ? (we will of course pay for the ride)

We are also looking for a ride back to London on Monday the 18th (the train is so fu*** expensive !)

Thxs a lot in advance

Non secure payments with clubtickets - by: kieron

Sun, 04 May 2014 12:03:41 +0100

Hi,

I was in the process of buying a ticket through your clubtickets for the Alt Fest,
however the connection was not secure i.e. http and not https with no
padlock.

On following the link for the 'secured by comodo' , I was taken to a page
entitled 'website security'. The information helpfully advised me to 'Always
check a site's certificate before entering any sensitive information' and
below it was a link 'Click to verify'.

Unfortunately this link leads to a page saying 'Invalid Certificate'.

I believe either the SSL certificate is out of date or they are not using
SSL and hence the credit card information I am supplying is not secure. Is
there another way of buying a ticket?

As a web developer with over 10 years experience I find this not only bizarre
for such a large event but also deeply disturbing that so many people may have
been compromising their credit card details.

Kind regards,
Kieron Thomas

Visiting friends at campsite - by: tordis

Sat, 03 May 2014 18:49:10 +0100

A few friends of mine have just decided to come to Alt-Fest and they will be glamping in one of those plush yurts. I'm staying in a local hotel, but would like to visit them at the campsite at some point. Would it be possible without a camping pass?

Looking forward to your reply!

Car parking - by: JSG

Fri, 02 May 2014 15:00:56 +0100

Hi,

I have booked a full weekend ticket with camping and parking add-on.
I understand from previous posts that the £10 parking charge is one off but will I be charged again if I leave and return multiple times over the course of the weekend? I.e drive to the local supermarket for provisions cheers
John

car share spaces avaliable - by: frank.hinley

Fri, 02 May 2014 01:25:12 +0100

hi me and a friend have 2 spare seats to alt fest. it we will be going from pembrokeshire via brecon (mid wales), through worcester, but can pick up in hereford, malvern, and anywhere along the route from worcester to the site.
leaving early hours off thursday 3am and 5am and then return tuesday leaving about 11am

Wikipedia Page - by: heavymetal12345

Thu, 01 May 2014 13:14:29 +0100

You need a Wikipedia page - there isnt one for Altfest

Problems with Ticket-Purchase - by: DarkMusicFriend-HC

Thu, 01 May 2014 12:48:38 +0100

Well, we tried and tried...
wrote Emails and Helpdesk Msgs.
but Clubticket doesn't reply.

Today we have a one-day-holiday in Germany. Do companys don't work in GB today, too?

Diabetes and Festivals - by: Trigger

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 21:08:08 +0100

Not an over interesting topic, but it's my first festival and I'm diabetic so I wonder if anyone had any tips to keep in mind? Already thought of the obvious, like keeping a stack of Dextrose Tablets, giving an insulin pen or two to a friend to keep safe incase of emergencies, BM kit and all the usual.

Realise this is a bit specific as well so may not get much advice, but thanks for reading!

What Stoner bands are on the lineup ? - by: heavymetal12345

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 15:41:50 +0100

What Stoner bands are on the lineup ?

Club Nights - by: heavymetal12345

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 15:38:52 +0100

Any Alt Fest - Promo CLub nights coming up ?

Clashfinder - Very helpful for finding the times o - by: heavymetal12345

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 13:14:06 +0100

A clashfinder is a free, printable timetable for a music festival or other event. This site is where you get them.

Can someone who is an interweb wiz put an Altfest one together

clashfinder.com/

The Defiled - by: Hemlox

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 10:07:28 +0100

British Metal at it's finest! Alt-Fest are very pleased to announce The Defiled to our line-up!

View the official site HERE

Biography
As the battle for British metal’s spirit and future rages on, few astute observers would bet against The Defiled emerging triumphant. The London-based quartet have had a phenomenal impact on these shores and beyond over the last few years, with a strident, genre-blitzing
sound that both delivers the crushing, riff-driven goods and shrewdly redefines what it means to bring the 21st century mosh. Formed in 2005, The Defiled exploded onto an unsuspecting metal scene in 2008 with their debut EP 1888 before devoting themselves to establishing a reputation as one of the most exhilarating live bands in living memory. When the band’s brutally irresistible debut album Grave Times dropped in 2011, the response was universally ecstatic, with major rock and metal press queuing up to proclaim The Defiled as the saviours of modern British heaviness.

We just make music that makes us feel something,” states founder member and keyboard maestro The AvD. “I always think ‘Do I love this?’ whenever I’m working on something. If the answer is ‘no’, it’s not good enough! I believe music should make the listener feel something, be it rage, sadness or happiness. As long as it stirs some kind of emotion inside me I know there will be other people out there who will feel exactly the same way.

Having risen rapidly to the top of the UK metal tree, The Defiled – completed by singer/guitarist Stitch D, guitarist Aaron Curse, bassist Vincent Hyde and drummer Needles – are now poised to obliterate any and all opposition and make a claim for immortality with their monstrous second album, Daggers. Recorded at the renowned Audio Hammer studio in Florida with acclaimed sonic guru Jason Suecof (Trivium/Devildriver/Motionless In White), the Brits’ sophomore release further defines and refines their groundbreaking blend of metallic savagery, state-of-the-art electronics and bold anthemic melodies. Everything is bigger. Everything is better.

I think at the end of the day “Daggers” is who we are, only better!” proclaims The AvD. “We didn’t approach this album with a specific sound in mind. We definitely tried out things we haven’t done in the past. We’ve even thrown in an industrial based track for good measure. Jason challenged us to do things out of our comfort zone. The songs are more to the point this time round as Jason has a bad case of ADD which left us fighting to keep bits of our songs in! Lyrically, Grave Times was inspired by the world around us. A newspaper article or a book theme might inspire us to dream up different scenarios or stories on the same topic and then we’d start writing.

With an ever-expanding fan base hungry for more, The Defiled have made light work of evolving into the ultimate cutting edge metal band and Daggers looks certain to propel them to the very top of the heavy music ladder. Having already conquered major UK festivals like Download and Sonisphere, not to mention triumphant supports slots with everyone from Murderdolls and Static-X to Ghost and Godsmack, this is a band primed and ready to dominate the metal world. In contrast to the stark emotions and celebratory verve of their debut, however, the new album aims higher on every level, delving deep into the psyches and feelings of its creators, resulting in a furious but thought-provoking miasma of emotional intensity, unsettling insights and metaphysical musings.

There’s a light-hearted song about brutal hangovers and then there’s another one I wrote with tears in my eyes as a family member had just died,” The AvD explains. “We have songs about the ins and outs of being in a band, then in the same breath we tackle some philosophical mind-benders. The overall theme was easy to spot amongst all of this, and that was the cold, uncompromising truth that surrounds us all. Reality. Daggers symbolises the loss of faith, disappointment in everything and in life in general. There is no question as to the message we are trying to convey. Daggers were made for only one thing: killing or betraying your fellow man. And one stab is almost always never enough…

Gleaming platinum-plated proof that the future has already arrived, The Defiled will claim 2013 as their own as Daggers lays down a new blueprint and manifesto for this most distinctive and destructive of contemporary creative forces. Strap yourselves in for the white-knuckle ride to end them all: right now, The Defiled are unstoppable.

We want to make everyone that has ever believed in us proud to be a part of this thing we call The Defiled and that means taking it as far as it can go,” The AvD concludes. “There is no limit or obstacle in sight that we don’t feel we can overcome!”

The Damned - by: Hemlox

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 10:06:30 +0100

We are extremely pleased to announce the legends known as The Damned to Alt-Fest! This iconic group will headline our Sunday Gothic Stage!

View the official site HERE

Biography
The Damned formed in 1976, and played their first gig supporting The Sex Pistols at the 100 Club. They were the first of the London punk bands to release a single, 'New Rose', on the independent record label Stiff Records.

Brian James, left in 1978. The band splintered, but after a series of brief side projects and solo recordings, they reformed. Sensible had switched to guitar and keyboards. and the bassist position was filled by Algy Ward, formerly of The Saints. The band gained a deal with Chiswick Records, and went back to the studio to record another album.

The Damned released a series of singles leading up to 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette, which featured a strong 1960s garage rock influence. They had established a dark, melodic style that was sometimes fast and loud, and other times relaxed with dominant keyboards.

From the beginning, Vanian affected a vampire-like appearance onstage, with chalk-white makeup and formal dress. With The Black Album, the band turned into a proto-goth ensemble. Ward had left at this point, and was replaced by Paul Gray. The band released the album Strawberries featuring new full-time keyboardist Roman Jugg in 1982. Sensible played a last concert with the band at Brockwell Park (from which a bootleg was issued, called Captain's Last Stand), before he left to pursue a solo career, and Jugg took over the guitar slot.

With Sensible gone, Vanian's Gothic influence took over unimpeded, and his smart crooning and spooky theatricality ended up more or less founding goth rock inadvertently.

The Phantasmagoria album followed. Phantasmagoria's official follow-up, Anything (1986), was another critical and commercial flop, which ended the band's record deal and original run. However, the non-album single "Eloise," a cover of a 1968 hit by Barry Ryan, was a success.

The Damned received exposure to a new audience when two groups each covered a Damned song: Guns N' Roses recorded "New Rose" for their "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993), while The Offspring covered "Smash It Up" for the Batman Forever soundtrack (1995).

In 1993, a new line-up of The Damned appeared featuring Scabies, Vanian, guitarists Kris Dollimore (formerly of The Godfathers), and Alan Lee Shaw, and bassist Moose Harris in 1995. They toured regularly following the release of a new full-length album, Not of This Earth. The Damned split, yet again, partly as the result of legal battles.

Sensible rejoined Vanian in 1996 and yet another incarnation of The Damned appeared. This featured bassist Patricia Morrison, previously of The Sisters of Mercy. In 2001, the band released Grave Disorder and this has been followed by continual touring. Morrison and Vanian were eventually married and they have a daughter, Emily, born on February 9, 2004. While she has been replaced by ex-English Dog Stu West, her return to the band's lineup in the future has not been ruled out. .

In 2006 The Damned released the new single "Little Miss Disaster", and the live DVD MGE25 documenting the 25th anniversary of Machine Gun Etiquette.

Dead Kennedys - by: Hemlox

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 10:06:24 +0100

It is with great pleasure to announce the one and only Dead Kennedys to Alt-Fest!

View the official site HERE

Biography
DEAD KENNEDYS were one of the most popular and important American hardcore punk bands of the late ’70s/early ’80s. They formed in San Francisco in 1978 when EAST BAY RAY placed an ad in a music paper that vocalist JELLO BIAFRA responded to. They were soon joined by bassist KLAUS FLOURIDE, drummer TED and a second guitarist known to posterity simply as 6025. The latter departed in March 1979, while Ted was replaced at the very end of 1980 by D.H. PELIGRO.

After a brief rehearsal period, Dead Kennedys played their first gig at Mabuhay Gardens in July 1978. The “Fab Mab” was a Filipino restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach section that served as a home to punk bands for nearly ten years. It wasn't too long before the band gained a considerable following around San Francisco. Live, DKs were a combination of chaos and theatrics. Their sound could be described as a cross between the Sex Pistols and the Ventures.

Dead Kennedys’ early success led them to record their first single, “California Über Alles,” in 1979, a blistering attack on the then Governor of California, Jerry Brown. It was released on their own label in the USA, Alternative Tentacles Records, set up by East Bay Ray. That single was later issued in Britain on the indie label Fast Products. “Holiday in Cambodia” (1980) followed and is perhaps the band’s definitive moment - a perfect mix of hilarious yuppie-baiting lyrics and evil-sounding music. Almost as essential were “Kill The Poor” (1980) and “Too Drunk To Fuck” (remarkably, a British Top 40 single in 1981) and the debut LP, FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES (1980). That LP went on to be awarded a Gold Record in Britain.

Underpinned by an acute sense of humor, early songs such as “Let’s Lynch The Landlord,” “I Kill Children” and “Chemical Warfare” satirized the twin elements of extreme violence and conservatism that characterize much of American life. Dead Kennedys’ inflammatory name and provocative behavior (in one 1979 prank, Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco - and came in fourth) attracted the attention of a number of far-right politico-religious groups. The band’s problems with these self-appointed moral guardians were compounded by a confrontational relationship with US authorities, ensuring an aggressive police presence at most of their gigs. But the band continued to expand their audience by playing at a mix of underground venues in different corners of the USA and Canada. They did their first British tour in late 1980, which established the band there as a figurehead for an audience long deprived of the Pistols, Biafra stage-diving to great enthusiasm. Dead Kennedys went on to tour worldwide, covering the continents of North America, Europe and Australia.

The eight-track EP, IN GOD WE TRUST INC. (1981), took things further, boasting a speed and power that left most reviewers nonplussed and contemporaries trailing. The EP included a wild cover of "Rawhide" and “Nazi Punks, Fuck Off,” an anti-violence paean. The band then changed musical gears again when the PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS appeared in late 1982. Possibly their best album, this fine collection of songs retained the trademark savagery and satire, but the musical content had diversified, even including such unexpected moments as Klaus Flouride playing clarinet. Featured were the singles “Bleed for Me” and “Halloween,” and it also included "Moon Over Marin," as close as Dead Kennedys ever came to a ballad, albeit with anti-pollution lyrics.

After two years of touring, where they performed all over North America, Europe and Australia, the more melodic FRANKENCHRIST (1985) appeared, marked by a frantic sense of desperation that reflected America’s increasingly right-wing political landscape and with songs like "MTV Get Off the Air." As ever, the group ran into controversy, this time with the LP’s accompanying poster, “Penis Landscape,” by Swiss artist H. R. Giger. Detailing several rows of copulating genitalia, it provoked a legal offensive against the band beginning in April 1986. As well as having his flat torn apart by the police, Biafra was charged with “distributing harmful matter to minors,” a charge which he repulsed on the basis of the First Amendment right to free speech and which was dismissed the following year. But before the controversy, the band made the decision to disband in January 1986 and decided to complete the recording BEDTIME FOR DEMOCRACY, released later that year. The band rocked as tight as ever, with Ray’s voodoo/surf guitar, Flouride’s thumping bass and Peligro’s skin bashing providing the perfect “sturm und drang” for Biafra’s words.

GIVE ME CONVENIENCE OR GIVE ME DEATH, a fantastic collection of their classic early singles and B sides, rare tracks and compilation tracks, was released in 1987.

Adapted from THE ROUGH GUIDE TO ROCK biography by Andy Lewis.

Whispers in the Shadow - by: Hemlox

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 10:06:10 +0100

Help us give a big welcome to our new addition to the Gothic Stage -- Whispers in the Shadow!

View the official site HERE

Biography
Whispers in the Shadow was formed by Ashley Dayour (Voice, Guitars) back in the days of early summer 1996. The Band Name was inspired by a story from H.P.Lovecraft: The Whisperer in the Dark.

After beginning as a very 80's inspired band, with drum computer sequences and a melodic bass guitar, this project turned into an individual band, which is now described by the press as "Post Gothic Rock". In the meantime the band has included a "real" drummer in their line-up and became famous for their obvious live qualities. The partly furious, partly sad guitars meet booming bass sounds, thunderous drums and psychedelic keyboards - Above all Ashley's voice, bursting with emotion. To date they released 6 studio, 2 live and 1 remix albums

Throughout the years Ashley's lyrics, originally inspired by authors like Philip K. Dick or H.P. Lovecraft, also found there own identity. Strongly influenced by occult writers such as Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley or Kenneth Grant (amongst many others) Ashley’s main purpose of the lyrics is to create images in the head of the listener.

Since 1999 Whispers in the Shadow were constantly touring throughout Europe. They also performed at numeros festivals such as MERA LUNA, WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN, SUMMER DARKNESS, NCN amongst many others. WITS have never been afraid of breaking boarders and exploring new sounds and new ways of song writing as well as improvising on stage. More than once they played stunning epic versions of songs hiting the 15min mark.

In 2008 they released their 5th studio album INTO THE ARMS OF CHAOS which was the first one of a 4 album concept based on the 4 alchemistic phases of transformation.
This album was produced by John A. Rivers, also known for his work with artists such as Dead can Dance, Clan of Xymox or Love & Rockets.

In early 2010 they released the 2nd part of this epic conceptual work: THE ETERNAL ARCANE.

August 2014 will see them playing the fields of Kettering to YOU at Alt-Fest!