The site in Manchester, Tenn., that’s home to Bonnaroo has a history of hosting events that goes back 20 years. Following the ill-fated Itchycoo Park festival in August 1999, there has been a Bonnaroo installment each year since 2002. In 2007, co-founding promoters AC Entertainment and Superfly Presents bought the property, which was renamed Great Stage Park. Though there have been plenty of rumblings about an additional event on the site, especially after promotions and ticketing behemoth Live Nation bought a controlling interest in Bonnaroo (and eventually purchased AC entirely), it hasn’t happened — yet. Enter the Exit 111 Festival, whose inaugural run has been announced for Oct. 11-13.
Exit 111’s lineup features a panoply of rock and metal heavyweights of several varieties, hosted by veteran hard-rock historian and radio/podcast host Eddie Trunk. You’ve got Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd headlining Friday, alongside thrash heroes Megadeth and Slayer (the latter of whom are winding down — this is set to be their final show in Tennessee, but if you caught them at Bonnaroo 2015, you’ll recall they are still plenty potent). Hair-metal kings Def Leppard headline Saturday, with blues-rock titans ZZ Top (on their 50th anniversary tour), heavy-metal pride of Atlanta Mastodon, doom-y theatrical ensemble Ghost and hard-rocking power-pop champions Cheap Trick. Industrial standard-bearers Ministry and much-loved gloomy shape-shifters Deftones are some highlights of Sunday’s undercard, while the revitalized Guns N’ Roses will close out the whole thing.
A slew of other activities are planned for the festival, including sports bars, some motocross action and performances by Paranormal Cirque. It's worth pointing out that the lineup leans very heavily white and male. Plenty of cool stuff to see, but wouldn't the Heart tour that's coming to Ascend Amphitheater in August have been a perfect fit for this? Don't tell me you wouldn't want to hear "Magic Man" down on the farm. Lita Ford is on the road this year. So is Ex Hex. Those are just three acts I'd love see here off the top of my head.
Tickets go on sale Thursday, April 25, at 11 a.m. Central. Single-day tickets start at $89, with weekend passes starting at $189. A wide variety of ticketing options are laid out on the Exit 111 website, and children under 10 get in free with a paid adult. A dollar from every purchase goes to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). Check out the full lineup, broken down by day, below.
Friday
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Slayer
- Megadeth
- Seether
- Black Label Society
- Black Stone Cherry
- The Cadillac Three
- 10 Years
- Bishop Gunn
- Kyle Shutt (of The Sword)
- Watermox
Saturday
- Def Leppard
- ZZ Top
- Ghost
- Mastodon
- Gojira
- Cheap Trick
- Blackberry Smoke
- Nothing More
- Sleeping With Sirens
- Whitechapel
- Power Trip
- Fever 333
- Graveyard
- New Years Day
- Alien Weaponry
- Dead Sara
- Them Evils
- Astronoid
Sunday
- Guns N' Roses
- Deftones
- Coheed and Cambria
- Lamb of God
- Alter Bridge
- Ministry
- Skillet
- Of Mice and Men
- Thrice
- From Ashes to New
- Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown
- Plague Vendor
- Dirty Honey
- Tetrarch
- O'Brother
