The inaugural year for rock festival Exit 111, held on the grounds of Great Stage Park (more famously known as the site of Bonnaroo), was underway Friday October 11th. Having a location with infrastructure already tried and true for a large festival was an ideal situation. It helped with what I would consider first year speed bumps such as stage structures, vendor resources, and on site camping facilities. While I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to Bonnaroo, a festival that has been around for over 15 years, I do think Exit 111 Festival has some improvements to make even though I believe they did a great job for the first year of the festival.

They had three stages set up for the weekend which helped with the spread of people. The secondary stages ‘Hell’ and ‘Rise Above’ had performers playing at the same time every hour for each day. It would have been nice if they had been staggered just a bit so the crowd could potentially catch a bit of both sets if they wanted to. I did appreciate the variety of different ‘rock’ styles - from classic, to progressive, and metal, they had something for every person’s taste. The festival also had a couple of extra events that were included in the ticket cost, one being The Paranormal Cirque. This was a great addition to the festival. It offered guests the chance to sit and see a two hour show full of acrobatics, comedy, and magic. I thought it was very fitting for the time of year as well, since it had a spooky paranormal theme. Another offering was the Red Bull motocross show where guests could watch four daredevils fly high into the air on their bikes performing risky stunts between sets. There was also a ‘Mega Sports Bar’ which attracted more people than I was expecting, but I guess there must have been some big games that weekend so kudos to festival organizers for knowing their audience. They could potentially add another ‘extra attraction’ next year, maybe a ferris wheel or something, but I did notice that there were almost no sponsored tents pushing their marketing materials, which was actually really nice.

Before the festival, they issued a cold weather advisory, and boy were they right. With temps fairly mild during the day, once the sun set it dipped down into the 30s and 40s, which made it a bit tough to fair if you were unprepared. Let’s just say I think they probably made a killing selling hoodies because I know that they sold out of beanies when I went to go buy one. Also, shout out the the security teams that manned the stages all day/night to keep the crowd surfers safe. I was speaking with a certain group of them who all happened to be part of the Montreat College baseball team and instead of accepting payment for their hours that weekend, the festival is pitching in to build them a new baseball stadium, which I thought was rad. This festival specifically seemed to have several programs giving back to the surrounding communities which is something different that you can’t help but respect.

The sets were very organized and started on time, with good lighting and sound quality. The crew was definitely on it and did their best to accommodate guests throughout the weekend. However, one hang up for me was the fact that there was only one female fronted band the whole weekend. I would love to see a bit more representation next year for sure.

I had the opportunity to speak with John and Justin of Dirty Honey about their experience at Exit 111 and here’s what they had to say:

John: “It’s been awesome, I honestly rolled up a little apprehensive around the ‘metal’ crowd. I’m the dweeb of the bunch so I wonder, ‘Are they gonna like us?’. It’s been amazing, today was one of the best shows I’ve ever played in my life.”

Justin: “It’s been awesome- dude, a guy gave me a fuckin’ blunt while I was on stage, dreams made right there.”

Overall I would count the festival as a success, and I hope it returns bigger and better next year. There is obviously a market for rock music festivals and Exit 111 laid the foundation for a great future. The crowds were rowdy, the beer was cold, and the bands were rockin’.