California Metalfest

it was a good time. i recommend it. if you like that kind of stuff

The Fox Theater was an AWESOME venue. Plenty of room to move about, even in the most crowded areas. A/C was a godsend, if you get overheated in the pit, no problem, step into the A/C.. Sound was okay for the most part.. The guy in the red LA cap doing the sound obviously did not know what he was doing. Thankfully, others took over his duties before the good bands were up.

AMAZING SHOW. Nothing else to it, it was extremely amazing.

If you havent heard them or seen them, your missing out. One of the best bands out there.

It was a great concert. The first day I thought was better, because i'm not as into scene metal as much as just full on death metal. The moshing was insane and fun. :].

It was so much fun to be able to leave and come back as you please! It was like chillin with friends, and then when ya feel like hearing music, you just walk up to a stage instead of turning on a radio. And instead of a different station, you've got a whole different venue that you're free to visit. The way it was organized really made it the best festival environment I've ever experienced. And the location really added to the fun. The area in between the two venues is covered with restaurants and shops to visit, and nice little places to just kick back and relax. But I have to note the one complaint I have is the same complaint I've always had about Pomona, the crowds are the weakest I've ever seen. I've been to a handful of concerts in Pomona, and Pomona is the only town I've been to, that is too weak to get an encore. Any time I have seen an encore in Pomona, it's because me and the few friends I brought, blew out our lungs to get it.

While there were plenty of bands that tried their best to walk in the shoes of the death metal greats, few realized that dream. For example, the band Whitechapel. I had not seen these guys before and was intrigued by the 3 lead guitar line-up, but they did little with it. Not a single one of the 3 guitarists stood out and by the end of the set, they clearly only needed one lead guitarist to sound the same. What was the point? The heaviest thing about this band was a sound-effect the drummer probably triggered that sent a heavy bass burst through the audience akin to a submarine plunging to the bottom of the ocean. Even Job for a Cowboy...the band right before Fear Factory, were plagued by sound issue that made it difficult to really hear whether the singer was trying to sometimes to sing or it was just a mistake of the microphone. The drone of this band was so repitiitous I was actually falling asleep during a death metal show. The Fox theater needs work in mixing these bands correctly. Way too much bass, it overshadowed the lead guitars in most bands. California metal (those bands from California) and those bands that appeal to the southern California listeners, is an odd mix of metal and punk sometimes called metalcore. It had a big audience fascinated by the likes of Carnifex, and Dead for a Cowboy, but cleared out for headliners Fear Factory...that also came from California. Fear Factory were monsters...but again the mix was a bit muddy with the inability to hear the upper range of the singer (although he may have also been straining to make it up there).