FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
The closest the UK has to Belgium's prestigious Metal Female Voices Fest, 2011 sees the Femme Metal Festival return for another edition to celebrate and help promote female fronted rock/metal in its various guises with the more than admirable aim of also raising money for charity, namely Macmillan Cancer Support. With seventeen bands booked to perform over two days on the Sunday/Monday of the bank holiday weekend at the end of May, the lineup has a good balance of both signed and unsigned talent from both British shores and mainland Europe. Held in The Asylum in Birmingham, an easily accessible six hundred capacity venue with fantastic sound equipment and lighting complete with friendly bar staff in nurses/doctors themed attire, it proves to be the perfect location for such an event. With only twenty minute change-overs between bands, each day runs impressively slick and with a band a day seeming to cancel (My Sweet Torment on Sunday and hAND on Monday), that rare occurrence is engendered whereby the festival remains ahead of schedule during the weekend. A sizeable, partly covered outside area complete with seating aplenty adjacent to the main hall is more than welcome as it offers the possibility of both fresh air and socialising between bands as well as somewhere to chill with a beer. And with an air of amiability amongst a mixed-aged crowd, this is indubitably one of the friendliest, best organised festivals I've had the pleasure of attending in the UK.
A guy who goes by the name of DJ Jim Beerman does a mightily fine job compèring proceedings throughout the weekend and, in-between announcing each band, he lives up to his name as never seems to be without a pint. In that sense, he also does a mightily fine job at beer consumption! What is perhaps disappointing, though, is the poor attendance over the two days. My estimate would be a maximum audience of around 200 punters at any one point, notably peaking for each night's headline acts, Theatres des Vampires and ReVamp. However, rather than dispersed around the venue, the majority of the festival crowd invariably gather as one mass by the venue's stage for each band so, when standing near the front, The Asylum feels more densely populated than it actually is. I just sincerely hope that costs have been covered as it would be an unmitigated shame if future editions were not able to take place due to the apathetic rock/metal fan who couldn't make the effort to support such a spectacular festival like this one. Their loss, I guess, on this occasion as the quality of music on offer is generally of a high standard. Follow the links at the top and bottom of this page to discover what you missed, or what you saw if you were fortunate enough to the present...
A guy who goes by the name of DJ Jim Beerman does a mightily fine job compèring proceedings throughout the weekend and, in-between announcing each band, he lives up to his name as never seems to be without a pint. In that sense, he also does a mightily fine job at beer consumption! What is perhaps disappointing, though, is the poor attendance over the two days. My estimate would be a maximum audience of around 200 punters at any one point, notably peaking for each night's headline acts, Theatres des Vampires and ReVamp. However, rather than dispersed around the venue, the majority of the festival crowd invariably gather as one mass by the venue's stage for each band so, when standing near the front, The Asylum feels more densely populated than it actually is. I just sincerely hope that costs have been covered as it would be an unmitigated shame if future editions were not able to take place due to the apathetic rock/metal fan who couldn't make the effort to support such a spectacular festival like this one. Their loss, I guess, on this occasion as the quality of music on offer is generally of a high standard. Follow the links at the top and bottom of this page to discover what you missed, or what you saw if you were fortunate enough to the present...
FEMME METAL FESTIVAL 2011
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW BELOW
DATE:
VENUE:
Sunday 29th May - Monday 30th May 2011
The Asylum in Birmingham, UK
SUNDAY
MONDAY
REVAMP; WHYZDOM; APPARITION; SOLSIKK; FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH; WINTER IN EDEN; SCARLET'S WAKE
THEATRES DES VAMPIRES; SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA; DIE SO FLUID; REGARDLESS OF ME; THE MARIANA HOLLOW; DYONISIS; WINTER STORM
Femme Metal action in The Asylum, Birmingham, 30th May 2011
Photograph copyright © 2011 Mark Holmes - www.metal-discovery.com
Reviews by Mark Holmes & Hannah Sylvester; Photography by Mark Holmes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Carrie Sharp for the guest list additions.
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW BELOW
Reviews by Mark Holmes & Hannah Sylvester; Photography by Mark Holmes