Heatwave 2018 – A Festival Weekend of Camping and Rocking Out
August 17th and the 18th, 2018 I attended a festival that I had been looking forward to for a couple of months called Heatwave in a small little area called Seaforth, Ontario. Although this was my first year attending, I found out that it was, in fact, the fifth year that the festival had been running. The ironic, and running joke centered around the weather. Apparently, every single year that Heatwave has happened, the rain had come along with the campers, and that first night this year was no different either. I overheard many people joking in the early evening over rebranding the festival to #spashwave. Even with the intense lighting show overhead and Mother Nature attempting to rain on our parade, the show and party just kept going!
The weekend was hosted by Bright Horizon Bookings, a company based out of London, Ontario. The set up was on a piece of farmland that had been converted into a pretty amazing DIY stage with a lot of lawn area to set up tents for the weekend campers and for the bands to sell their merch. The area was clean and unlike other weekend festivals, the property was well respected and kept decent throughout. The cherry on top was the people though. For real, those people were incredible. So much of our society is intimidated or even put off by the metal and post-hardcore music scene, but really, it is full of some of the most giving, supportive and amazing people out there.
Because Heatwave runs for two days, you can imagine that there are many different bands that play (click here to view the flyer). One band called Common Oath played their first show ever and you wouldn’t have known it by how well they took on the stage and by the love and response they received. Another honorable mention goes out to Necrosaurus Rex, who blew me away with their energy! However, the band that had the most impact, I felt, overall that entire weekend was Rise of Ares. It was their last show and the whole place paid tribute to their Bassist, Dylan, who sadly passed earlier this year. There was a really touching moment that was so full of love at the end of the night and I felt really honored to be part of that experience. Thank you.
Although all the bands that weekend were incredible, the ones that really stood out to me, and the bands that are making waves now with each new opportunity they grasp were kind enough to take some time with me and answer some questions for their fans. Thank you so much to Bright Horizon Bookings for hosting a memorable weekend, the bands for the top-notch sets and the people for a great time all around. I can’t wait for next year!
BANDS TO CHECK OUT:
We Are Human
Q) The members: John Godfrey – Bass
Rob De Medeiros – Throat/Vocals
Ben Dobson – Guitar
Randy Allcock – Guitar
Matt Buck – Drums
Q)What year did this band form?: ”Our First jams were had back in 2005.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”Ben, Randy and Rob are all original. John joined in 2007. Matt is the “newest” with 6 years in”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : [John]:” my favourite tune to rip live would “Dead Ringer“. We have yet to record it, but it’s in the set we usually play. For recorded tunes my favourite would be “Strive“
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ”We find our inspiration mostly on the live circuit. Bands like (ex) Dismata from Windsor, (ex)Starring Janet Leigh from Toronto, Ion Dissonance and Beneath the Massacre from montreal.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”We will be taking the time throughout the fall/winter to produce our unrecorded material for near future releases! Keep posted on our progress via Facebook or YouTube.”
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Rise Of Ares
Q) The members:
Ricardo M. – Lead vocals
Brandon G. – Lead guitar/ backup vocals
Brendan G – Guitar
Keith A. – Drums
Dylan G. – Bass
Q)What year did this band form?: ”The original members started jamming together as early as 2012.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”From the current members, Brandon, Brendan and Dylan are all original members. Ricardo joined in 2015 and Keith joined in 2018.”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ”Probably Look Both Ways (Before Crossing the Family)”
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ”We all have different tastes but some aspirations for our sound are All That Remains, Atreyu, and A Day To Remember.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”Heatwave was sadly our last show, we didn’t want to continue with ROA this year after the passing of our bassist, Dylan. We will be coming back brand new soon. Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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Words Like Wildfire
Q) The members:
Ian Archer – Vocals
AJ. Chmilar- Bass/ Vocals
Avery Mocha – Drums/ Vocals
Cody Wood – Guitar
Q)What year did this band form?: ”Late 2016 early 2017.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”Our drummer, Avery joined just a little over a year ago now.”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ”Either “So Shallow It Shows” or “Quarter Life Crisis” Because they are extremely high energy.”
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ”Alexisonfire, Protest The Hero and Panic! At The Disco.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”Stay tuned we plan to hit the studio very soon after our little run with The Ocean Cure Aug 22- Sept 1st! Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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The Ocean Cure
Q) The members:
Pauline T. – Lead clean vocals
Casius W. – Lead unclean vocals/bass
Mike D. – Guitar
Nicola S. – Drums
Q)What year did this band form?: ”We were established as a band in approximately 2014.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”For the most part, we’re all original members with the exception of our drummer Nicola who joined the band about two years ago now. Possibly a little longer than that!”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ”Waiting For You is definitely a favourite. Mostly because a lot of people know it thanks to our music video, but, we love all our music! ”
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ”Erra, Tonight Alive and Counterparts.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”We’re working on our new record, it’s very close to the ending stages. We’ll be planning something special for the release that people should watch out for early 2019! Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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Throne To The Wolves
Q) Band members:
Billy H – Vocals
Jay K – Guitar
James F – Guitar
Rob C – Bass
Cody M – Drums
Q)What year did this band form?: ”2016.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”Jay is our newest member and joined up with us back in June of 2018. ”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ” I think we all have a different favourite song to play live for different reasons.
[Billy]: “Hellraiser is my favourite, I love bringing up different vocalists for the end of that song. Everyone always goes hard and I love seeing the carnage that happens once the end kicks in.”
[Cody]: “Every Lit Match. I like the structure of the song and it has a lot of fun fills to play live.”
[James]: “Picture perfect, I like the breakdown and it’s a fast fun song to play”
[Rob]: “Mine is Dust in my Lungs. It starts off hard and ends the set with a bang”
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ” Every Time I Die – they have been grinding non stop since the beginning and we love that they will play and tour with anyone they want. They have always stuck to their beliefs and their values. We just respect that band so much. Really the biggest inspiration is seeing bands who never forgot the grind or hustle. Million records sold and still lugging gear up to the Hard Luck Bar and playing other local shows.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you?
“Well up next we have another run through Ontario and Quebec in October. We are also in the middle of writing our new record and looking for a Record label to work with us us. So, the new songs will be the first time our fans get to hear us with our new guitarist Jay. People can look forward to new songs and a lot more touring coming up in 2019. Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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The Northern
Q) The members:
Adam Linka – Clean vocals/Drums
Eric Leblanc – Guitar
Jordan Gallant – Guitar
Gordon Campbell – Bass
Mike Cutway – Vocals
Q)What year did this band form?: ”2012.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”No, the newest member is Mike who joined earlier this year and officially was announced when we released Samsara in April of 2018.”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ”Samsara. You can also check out the official music video on youtube!”
- Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? ” Erra, Underoath and Wage War”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”We are working on a lot of new stuff and looking forward to joining more tours. Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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Wind Cries Mary
Q) The members:
Keiryn Jacobs – Vocals
Malcolm Lamont – Lead guitar
Mike Amicarelli – Rhythm guitar
Randy Mead – Bass
Devin Nickles – Drums
Q)What year did this band form?: ”2012.”
Q) Are all current members originals? If not, who is the newest and when did they join? ”Dev is the sole original member, latest additions are Randy in 2017 and Mike in 2018”
Q) What’s your favourite song to play? : ”On of our unreleased tunes called “The Wolf”.
Q) Who are your biggest musical inspirations as a band? “Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dream Theater and Iron Maiden.”
Q) What should fans be looking forward to next from you? ”Fans should look for our forthcoming EP dropping soon, the gigs that follow that, and the new ep’s follow up, which has a large portion already written with our new lineup. Keep posted on our progress via Facebook”
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