Metallica’s Orion Fest moved to Detroit; line-up announced
- Last year's debut of Metallica's Orion Fest took place at Bader Field in Atlantic City, N.J., drawing 50,000 people over two days and ending being a success. But due to issues of accessibility and affordability this year the location has been changed.This means Orion Music + More will be in Detroit's Belle Isle, on June 8-9, 2013.
Charlie Walker of Austin, Texas-based promoters C3 (working with Metallica for the festival) explained "We thought the [Orion] concept had prove itself, and Detroit, with that rich musical history plus a great rock history and the fact that there's this gorgeous island in the middle of the river, it seemed like a good place to go". Moreover Walker said that C3 and Metallica figured out that Detroit will be somewhat easier to get to for those travelling, being served by its own airport as well as by those nearby in Flint, Toledo and Windsor, Ontario
"In Atlantic City, because of the sheer number of casinos, it was difficult for us to get affordable hotel rooms for the audience", Walker added. "We found they were much higher than we wanted our customers to have to pay. Because of the fact Atlantic City is based on tourism, they were able to get those high summer rates. When we were looking for a new home, we wanted to get a little better range of hotel options for our customers".
Orion's line-up will feature Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers (as co-headliners), BASSNECTAR, Rise Against, Deftones, Dropkick Murphys, Gogol Bordello, Silversun Pickups, FLAG and many more.
This year, by the way, Metallica will be playing only on one of the two days (while last year they played both gigs).
Tickets are currently on sale to Metallica's Met Club members, with those on the festival's E-list getting a crack starting Wednesday. General public tickets go on sale March 1 for $150; single day tickets were sold for last year's Orion, but Walker says no determination will be about this year's event until about a month before the festival.