Metallica 'Orion Music + More' Organizer Explains Indie Lineup

Metallica ‘Orion Music + More’ Organizer Explains Indie Lineup

2012-02-20

Story by Anne Erickson

Organizer of Metallica’s Orion Music + More: ‘I think we’ll try and stick with diversity’

Metallica recently announced their first-ever festival: Orion Music + More, a new music, arts and lifestyle festival that’s set to take place June 23 through 24 at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While the concept of Metallica’s own festival absolute rocks, some fans are questioning its alt-centric lineup of Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse, the Gaslight Anthem, Cage the Elephant and A Place to Bury Strangers. For metallers, the festival boasts Avenged Sevenfold, the Sword and Liturgy, but not many metal acts. Sure, Metallica are the champions of heavy metal, but apparently, they don’t mind branching out into new terrain!

In a chat with Billboard.biz, Charlie Walker of C3, the company working with Metallica to put on the festival, explained that diversity was the biggest factor in booking a bill of openers for Orion Music + More.

“I’m sure some people have a vision of what they think it is because it’s Metallica, but I think they’ll have a different understanding of what it is after they come and see it,” he said. “I think we’ll try and stick with diversity. You’ll see some more hard rock bands, you’ll see some more alternative bands. We’re certainly not consciously trying to lean it hard rock or indie — we’re trying to make it balanced.”

Walker added that one of the treasures of summer festivals is seeing bands fans would likely never venture to see on their own. “Whenever I see kids at Lollapalooza or ACL, they always tell me that one of their favorite parts of the festival is going out and seeing something might not have ordinarily seen or bought a ticket to, because they didn’t know enough about the band,” Walker said Billboard.biz. “It’s really about being wide open across everything from punk to country and having people exploring multiple genres and multiple types of bands.”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.