Previously announced headliner Rammstein from Germany will be presenting their brand new show, a Canadian exclusive and a North-American premiere. Other headliners include California's Queens of the Stone Age in their first North American performance in three years. Iggy Pop - the Godfather of punk and a true living legend - will be in town to deliver one of the last shows before his retirement.
Also in the line-up: defunct Canadian band Alexisonfire for a rare reunion show, heavy metal legends Megadeth, Californian punk rockers The Offspring (performing their album Ixnay On The Hombre in full), New York rappers Wu-Tang Clan, UK group Bullet For My Valentine, and a slew of punk rock bands from California: AFI, Bad Religion, Pennywise, and Good Charlotte (the latter for their first show in Quebec in 10 years). These artists will be joined by 311 (first show in Quebec in 10 years), Eagles of Death Metal, Thursday (reunion), Bob Marley Experience, and many more.
Legendary UK band The Specials, the godfathers of ska, will be there. There will be plenty of punk rock as usual with Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Face To Face, Anti-Flag, Good Riddance, Reverend Horton Heat, Agent Orange, and many others. Also performing are several legends from the punk and hardcore worlds, including ex- Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, Sham 69, Discharge, Conflict, and Les Sheriff. Special tributes will be presented to Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Ramones, and The Sex Pistols.
On the heavy metal front, Rockfest will welcome Meshuggah, Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister (his first solo show in Canada), Spinal Tap (special tribute), Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Soulfly, P.O.D. (first appearance in Quebec in 13 years), Entombed, Ensiferum, Tesseract, Born of Osiris, Breakdown Of Sanity (first show in North America), Converge, and Protest The Hero.
Québécois acts performing at the festival this year include Rockfest founder Alex Martel who is reuniting his band Deadly Apples for one time only after a seven-year hiatus. Other Quebec artists on the bill include Mononc' Serge & Anonymus (exclusive reunion), Grimskunk, Exterio, Pépé et sa guitare, M U D I E (solo project from Sainte Catherines' Hugo Mudie), Blind Witness, and Blessed By A Broken Heart (exclusive reunion). Jeremy Gabriel will give an exclusive metal performance following the metal cover of his song I Don't Care.
Finally, Rockfest's St-Jean line-up features Les Cowboys Fringants, Robert Charlebois in a special nothing-but-rock show, Les Trois Accords, Loco Locass, Bernard Adamus, Groovy Aardvark, The Planet Smashers with a special French-only show, Koriass, Dead Obies, Mononc' Serge, Les Pistolets Roses, Les Anticipateurs, and many others.
The general sale period is ongoing at http://t.ymlp81.com/euuqataebsmbazahwjaoayyeuj/click.php. Wristbands will be available soon at Empire stores throughout Quebec. Once again, festival passes are offered at a very reasonable price: $123 + fees & taxes - that's less than $1 per band! Visitors can pay their order in 5 instalments. With the excitement generated up to now, including two sold-out presales, and such a strong line-up, the team is convinced that the event will sell out for the 5 th consecutive year. VIP packages are also available.
Church grounds will be completely revamped this year with the first edition of Rockfest's Tattoo Convention and a new Gourmet Rock Food zone with a warm and cozy atmosphere. On the camping front, we are now adding a Mega VIP Camping package. This one is an all-included "hotel experience": tent provided and set-up, mattresses, sleeping bags and parking are included, plus everything in the VIP Camping package. Incidentally, the VIP Camping package is loaded with new features, including several intimate-sized performances by artists featured at Rockfest 2017. General camping and RV camping options are also available.
Field Service Tech by day, Live Music Nut by night! My family and I call the Thousand Islands region of Ontario home. I'm a blogger, social media geek, tech, and live music fanatic. I founded Sound Check Entertainment in 2010 to help promote festivals and emerging artists from across Canada and the world! I now act as festivals liaison, manage media relations and, of course, cover events in the National Capital region. I'm also a diehard Habs fan but Sens fans fear not; as long as they aren't playing against my Habs I cheer just as loud for the Sens.