When you think of great metal festivals, names like Chicago Open Air, Carolina Rebellion, or Aftershock might come to mind. I wouldn’t blame you. Those are some of the best that the states have to offer. Seattle radio station KISW would like to change all that. They’ve been putting together a little schindig every year for a while now, called Pain In The Grass. If you’re thinking that the bands that might show up to play such a gig would be washed up has-beens of the Seattle grunge scene, again, you’d be mistaken. Pain In The Grass 2017 put together one of the most sweet lineups I’ve had a chance to see in quite some time. There were even a couple acts I had never seen before that admittedly I wouldn’t have otherwise experienced.

June 24th, KISW radio’s Pain In The Grass at White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Washington, was the place to be. It was ninety degrees, in the shade, but no fucks were given. The venue must have been at near it’s 16,000 person capacity, well before the sun peaked. Concert-goers did their best to keep cool, paying exorbitant prices just for proper hydration and cowering in the shadows until the sun dipped below the horizon.

Another Century, the label for tons of great rock and metal bands came out in full force with the CarStar sponsored side stage. Kicking off Pain2017 was Code Red Riot. Also playing on the Another Century stage were Otherwise, AEGES, Like A Storm, Fozzy, and Josh Todd and the Conflict.

The main stage got the local treatment from Seattle’s Ten Miles Wide before Islander, Radkey, Yelawolf, The Pretty Reckless, Babymetal, Stone Sour, and RockRevolt’s favorite nü-metal band, KOЯN.

Despite the rising temperatures, the mood was quite jovial. Friends and rock-family alike were sharing stories and circle pits from 1:40 in the afternoon until well into the late evening hours.

The talk around the water misters however, was all about Babymetal. In Seattle, Babymetal has quite a following, but among the Pain In The Grass hard-rock scene, there were clearly quite a few skeptics. The amphitheater was packed when the Japanese act took the stage. The audience, in a clear state of disbelief, didn’t seem to know quite how to react as the first song, “Babymetal Death,” began to fill the air. About a minute in, as the double bass drum began to pound, all skepticism seemed to fade away. Horns up, heads banging, and circle pits thrashing, yeah, this BabyMetal thing is legit.

Stone Sour, out promoting their newly released Hydrograd album was in top form. If there was any doubt about Corey Taylor’s health after his neck surgery last year, it was quickly put to rest. He came out swinging his dome like he was trying to dislocate something. New tracks “Fabuless” and “Song #3” sounded incredible, as did old Stone Sour favorites “Through Glass” and “30/30-150”.

KOЯN put together an incredible 18-song set, only three songs of which were off of their most recent release, The Serenity of Suffering. Jonathan Davis, Brian “Head” Welch, James “Munky” Shaffer, Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, and Ray Luzier have been doing this “thing” for a while now, and it shows. Every note was instrumental perfection while lead singer Jonathan Davis prowled the stage delivering the songs we all came to hear. There are of course two moments in a KOЯN show where you’re almost guaranteed to get the crowd into a frenzy. The first of which is “Y’all Want A Single,” because of course, every person in the audience loves to just throw the finger and say “fuck that.” The other is when the bagpipes begin to sound through the loudspeakers. Something about the sound of amplified bagpipes and the impending “Chutes and Ladders” that makes the metalhead in anyone just put the horns in the sky and say… “Yeah, KOЯN, bitches.”

Really looking forward to Pain2018. Let’s keep making this the biggest and baddest metal gig in the pacific northwest.

Check out this year’s pics:

Tags: 2017