On Friday and Saturday, Mcleans Pub in Pentre will be playing host to Pentre Fest. Ahead of the festival at HRH Metal in Birmingham, we caught up with the organisers Fozzy and Beany to get the lowdown on what we can expect from the upcoming event.
You’ve organised festivals in the past so you’re no stranger to the whole experience, but where did the initial idea for Pentre Fest come from?
Fozzy: Basically a lack of festivals in the North Wales scene. We have Hammerfest in March…or well, we did! So we felt we needed a metal festival in North Wales.
How did you decide on the venue? Was it always going to be at Mcleans Pub, or were there other options on the cards at first?
Fozzy: There are lots of options around our area, but in fairness, Pat and John have always been very good to us.
Beany: And they keep the beer prices down for us!
Fozzy: Exactly. They have reasonable beer prices, they do the best food in the area and the room itself is great. Because it’s an old working man’s club, it has a brilliant stage in there. The setup of the place is perfect.
[At this point Nick Gregory of Impact Zone – Radio Deeside has wandered over to say a slightly inebriated hello to Beany and Fozzy]
Fozzy: Now we have Nick here!
Beany: Everyone knows Nick from the Impact Zone.
Nick: I’m the local metal guy and I’ve had these two gentlemen in many times appearing on my show.
Beany: We’re going to be on his show on Tuesday!
Nick: Some of my favourite shows have been with these guys. They’re great people.
To be fair, this interview is probably going to be posted after the show airs!
Beany: Well in that case…you will have heard us on Tuesday on Nick’s show!
(everyone laughs)
Going back to the festival, did you run into any challenges whilst organising it?
Fozzy: Only Beany!
Beany: Well, we wanted to have camping but we weren’t able to pull that off.
Fozzy: It’s one for the future, camping. We’re still looking at options.
Beany: Headliners can always be a bit of a challenge, you have to get the right headliners and it can sometimes be difficult.
So what bands were you happiest about getting?
Fozzy: That’s a good question. I’d probably say Womenowar. I’m very excited to have Womenowar, they’re going to be very good. They’ll be a lot of fun and I think from having Womenowar, we may have other options in the future as well, which is nice.
Beany: Obviously Womenowar for me as well, being a Manowar fan. It’s also great to have OMV back, as they haven’t played much recently. And especially, as we’re here now and they’re going to be playing in a bit on the main stage, having Lullaby For A Unicorn playing. We’ve watched their profile rise from being Nexus Empire to being Lullaby For A Unicorn on a massive stage, I just think having them playing at our festival again is great. They’ve put in a lot of hard work to get where they are.
What about the bands you’re most excited to see?
Beany: I’m excited for Son Of Boar.
Fozzy: Yeah, Son Of Boar. They came over for a weekender last year so we saw them then, and they’re going to be massive, without a doubt.
Beany: And being a massive Iced Earth fan, obviously having Luke Appleton back. It’s a bit pant-wetting for me, to be honest. I mean, I talk to him a lot but he’s still Luke Appleton from Iced Earth!
So what can we expect from the festival?
Fozzy: Fun!!!
Beany: Great bands and cheap beer. And the Jäger game!
Would you like to explain the Jäger game to those who are unfamiliar with it…? Or shall we just say you need to come to the festival to find out??
Beany: You know what, that’s a great idea. Yeah, come to the festival and find out what the Jäger game is. It raises a bit of extra money for the bands and everyone enjoys themselves. It usually ends up with everyone getting drunk. But the main thing we have at the festival is that everyone has fun. It’s cheap, cheerful and bands are still quality.
Fozzy: We also have an acoustic stage outside. Every year we convince a band you would never expect to do an acoustic set. For example, Sodomized Cadaver did an acoustic set a few years ago and ever since then, we try and get unexpected bands to play acoustic.
Beany: Death metal acoustic really works!
What was the best thing about last year’s festival?
Fozzy: The repeat of the death metal acoustics! Last year, in fairness, the Friday night as a whole was incredible. We had such a strong lineup…Mad Spanner, Thrashatouille, Footprints In The Custard and Lullaby For A Unicorn. We’ve been trying to get that bill together for such a long time. The fact they came to us to do it, and the fact we were able to pull it off, was brilliant.
Beany: It was absolutely stupid, and as good fun as you’ll ever have.
What about next year? What are your dream bands for next year?
Beany: Maiden and Megadeth. Both of them would be amazing.
Fozzy: Don’t worry, I’m starting to count the pennies now. To be honest, headline bands for next year…it’s going to be interesting to say the least!
So you have stuff in the pipelines already?
Beany: We can’t really say…it’s difficult because you approach a load of bands – some of them get back to you and some of them ignore you! But you still want them. Headline acts are always hard to pin down. It’s a challenge but if we pull it off, then it’ll be amazing.
Fozzy: The winners of the Metal To The Masses contest will definitely be there at least.
And just to close…is there anything else you’d like to add?
Beany: As Fozzy mentioned, we have Metal To The Masses coming up, which we are very involved in, and of course the Mosh Against Cancer festival in Chester. But we have other shows – stuff in Chester and Pentre, so just keep an eye on the North East Wales Metal Productions page and give us a like!
