The most important thing about a local music scene is support. You have to have people support you in order to do the thing you love… make music.

Yesterday was a prime example of this.

It was hot as hell outside (yes, it gets super hot up here in Minnesota). I could have spent my day sitting by a pool, or, better yet, sitting in my apartment next to the air conditioner. Instead, I found myself in an un-air conditioned skate park watching my friends do what they love.

Most festivals are all the same. You buy a ticket, show up at the park or venue, and enjoy a full day of over priced food and drinks and watch a ton of bands play short sets, leaving you wanting more.

Yesterday was different.

It was the first annual “Top Secret Metal Fest”.

What made it “Top Secret”? This is quite possibly one of the coolest ideas I have ever heard of. The whole premise of this show was that it was a secret. When buying your ticket for this show (typically from one of the band members) all you knew was the list of bands playing. There was no location, no details, nothing. The venue was supposed to be announced at 8 A.M. the morning of (although the venue kind of let the cat out of the bag early). The thought process behind this was genius in my mind. It doesn’t matter what venue a show is at, you go where you need to go to support your friends.

The line-up was full of local metal bands. I had heard of majority of the bands but there were some new ones thrown in there. The sound wasn’t perfect as the show was in a skatepark, but that wasn’t the point. The best part of the show was when one of the bands brought their “manager” up on stage to sing a song. Said manager happened to be a small child, I’m assuming one of the member’s kids who couldn’t have been older than 8, who got the crowd going and screamed the lyrics into the mic with much more attitude and energy than some of the band I’ve seen that have been doing this for years.

Walking up, I had no clue what to expect. But that was the whole point… right? I saw some of my friends that would be performing later on in the day and then it hit me. It didn’t matter that this was not a well-known club. It didn’t matter than there was not a fancy bar to buy expensive drinks from. I was there for my friends both old and new.

The music was hit and miss as with every local festival. But that wasn’t what we were there for. We were there to support our friends and that’s what the music industry is all about.

I tip my flat-billed hat to those that were a part of this and made it happen. I truly hope to see this festival continue on for years to come. For what it’s worth, I, Girl at the Rock Shows, endorse the “Top Secret Metal Fest”!

Line Up:

Buried Above Ground
Fail To Decay
Portraits of War
Zealot
Cantharone
Aurae
In Solace
Splitdriven
Graveslave
The Culture Of
Constance

Venue: The 3rd Lair Skate Park

Sausage Fest Meter- 23 out of 10

Crowd Surfers- None

Broken Bones- None

Drunkards Taken Out By Security- No need for security when you’re all friends

Found in the Pit- Nothing

Spotted Flying Through the Sky- 1 hat that was thrown to the side from a guy that was in the pit