August 30 – September 1, 2024
BMI Event Center in Versailles, Ohio
IMMORTAL FEST – PART II
This was my second year making the 8-hour trip to Versailles, Ohio, from Greenville, S,C with 3 friends. One lives near me, and the other 2 flew up from the Fort Lauderdale, FL area. We got checked into our AirBnB early and then made it to the venue about 4 pm when the doors opened. I estimated that there were between 200-300 people in attendance on the first night. It was an older crowd, which is to be expected with bands that have been around for 30 years. Pastor Bob Beeman with Sanctuary International (https://sanctuaryinternational.com/) allowed me to put up a Christian Metal Group banner (https://www.christianmetalgroup.com/) in between his banner and the Nashville Global banner. Pastor Bob was the MC for the whole event and introduced each band. It was a very cool atmosphere. The musicians walk around and talk to fans and take photos with them. There is a friendly family feeling here. Lots of conversations about the music people love and the bands they have seen live over the years. This venue is a large indoor venue. It is basically a warehouse in the middle of a cornfield in Ohio. It was originally built for indoor RC racing and the owner turned it into a concert venue. They have large LED screens around the venue that advertise the upcoming show and show the logo of the band that is on stage. The venue has a great lighting rig and puts on a very good light show. They had a very large merch table area. Everything you would want from the bands was there from vinyl and CDs to shirts and stickers.
Friday, August 30
FEAR NOT [5:00-6:00 PM]
Pastor Bob talked about a trafficking ministry called Nashville Global and then introduced the band telling some of their history. Voluntary Madness was noticeably a crowd favorite as everyone sang along. Next on the set list was the title track Fields Of Sorrow. They had smoke effects as they played Lay It All Down and Struggle. Towards the end of their set they played a cover of The Who’s Join Together with members of other bands joining them on stage. They all bowed their heads at the end of that song and the singer, Larry Worley, told the crowd that if anyone was dealing with something and would like to talk to the band about, they are welcome to talk to the band at the merch table. They closed it out with We Have A God complete with fireworks!
SAINT [6:20-7:20 PM]
They started with some sound issues but played through it while it was being corrected. This band has a Judas Priest look and sound, but they do it very well. I enjoyed their set. They are a very tight band. You can tell they have played together many times. They have 2 great guitarists and a very good bassist. They used lots of fireworks and smoke. Too Late For Living is a song the crowd loved and knew all of the lyrics.
IRONWRATH [7:40-8:40 PM]
Pastor Bob introduced this band as the “future of metal.” That had me intrigued since I had never heard of this band and neither had anyone I knew that was here. They started their set with a video and the venue was very dark as they kicked into the first song. The first thing I notice about the band is that the singer’s beard has its own zip code. The second thing I noticed is the drummer has a very nice setup. This band plays a very well put-together video for the whole set. It is synced with the music so there is no stopping or talking from the start to the ending. This is cinematic heavy metal. They played a song supporting the troops. Next, they played Legends Never Die and it was a fantastic song. After that, they slowed it down some with an acoustic song. Each member is well accomplished, and it shows. As the video ended, they just walked off the stage. No bowing and no speech. The set finished just like it started, in the dark. I was blown away. The band is very professional. It left me thinking about “What did I just watch and listen to?” So I immediately went to their merch table and bought the CD and a shirt. The manager was at the table, and he told me this was the band’s first live show.
This show made me a fan. Don’t sleep on this band.
BRIDE [9:00-10:15 PM]
The band started playing, and Dale came out at the end of that instrumental, and then they kicked it into Scarecrow Messiah. What a great song, and it is even better live. The crowd was already into this band, they did not need to do any warm-up songs..
Next was another legendary song called Would You Die For Me?
There is a reason they are headlining tonight….people love this band and for many this is the first time they have seen them live. They have not played a live show in about 15 years.
Next was another crowd favorite called Hired Gun. Dale took off his vest at this point and everyone could see that his shirt says “Boycott Dale.” Everyone got a good laugh at this as they went into Troubled Times. People were not sitting for this show. Everyone is really singing along and on their feet. In the middle of the song Knocking On Heaven’s Door, Dale says “You are the most important thing to God!”
Next is Everybody Knows My Name complete with fireworks and smoke. The next song had everyone singing in unison, “We won’t go to Hell, no we won’t go!” This was followed by The Worm and the encore was Super Jesus. It was a very good show.
Saturday, August 31
Trenches of Rock Video [3:00-4:30 PM]
This is a great documentary about the history of Bloodgood that includes a lot of people talking about how the band has ministered to them over the last 41 years.
LES CARLSEN [4:30-5:30 PM]
They kicked it off with one of my favorite songs, Lamb Of God, as soon as the screen was up.
This band features a double kick bass and 2 headless guitars. They really get the crowd going with the fan favorite, Crucify. The Messiah was next and Les tells the crucifixion story in the middle of the song. This is a very moving song that paints the picture of Jesus’ crucifixion. They closed the set with the song He’s Coming.
NEON CROSS [5:45-6:45 PM]
This is one of those bands that most 80’s metalheads never thought they would get to see live again. That thought was put to rest when they started their set with Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus. Next was Heartbreakers. This band is straight up heavy metal. I think the singer is the only original member of the band. He was talking about how people say that metal music can’t be Christian. He said “Really? It’s weird how people who throw stones end up in weird places” and then he gave a short testimony of how Jesus had affected his life.
This was the band’s first live show in forty years.
SHOUT [7:00-8:00 PM]
This is the band that most people have been waiting for on day two of the fest. I spoke to many people who were very surprised they were playing. Ken Tamplin got his start with the hard rock band Joshua in 1986 and then went on to form Shout. After he left the band, he had a very successful solo career and has been a vocal coach for many years. Even though Shout had not played a live show in sixteen years, people are still familiar with Ken.
They played Living For My Lord and by the crowd’s reaction I could tell that it is a favorite. People are standing and singing along for this show. They are the winners for best outfits on stage in my opinion. Ken’s voice is on point. He is a vocal coach after all. Testify is a sing along song and everyone was into it. Ken gave a great speech and told us that “God has not given us the spirit of fear.” Who is that shredding on the guitar? I knew he looked familiar and finally one of my friends told me that it was Ronnie Van Zant!
DANIEL BAND [8:15-9:15 PM]
This is such a great band and one that I was looking forward to seeing. Last year at this fest was the first time I had seen them live so I already knew that we were in for a treat here. They are a very tight three-piece band. The three members are in their 70’s and still rocking for Jesus.
Toni Rossi is playing a beautiful white double neck guitar. They were not ashamed to say that “We are Canadian but love America and Trump!” When they played their hit, Run From The Darkness, everyone was into it rocking and singing. Walk On The Water was another great hit they played. They were not jumping around but they are solid musicians and own the stage. Dan and Tony both have great voices.
WORLDVIEW [9:30-10:30 PM]
This band is a prog rock and heavy metal supergroup that released one album so far in 2015. It is made up of Johnny Gonzales (Recon), Todd Libby (Human Code), Jimmy P. Brown II (Deliverance, Fearful Symmertry, Jupiter VI), Ray Parra (Sacred Warrior), and George Ochoa (Deliverance, Mortification, Recon, The Sacrificed). The album has many guests on it including Oz Fox (Stryper) and Les Carlsen (Bloodgood). They put on a great show which includes Johnny’s hard hitting double kick bass. The band has a lot of energy and a good stage show.
Sunday, September 1
JAMES DURBIN [4:30-5:30 PM]
I was not familiar with James before this show so I did some research while waiting for him to start and learned that he is in 8 bands. You have to be very active in the music biz these days.
He started the set by showing a wrestling belt that was made for him and told the story of how he got it and how he met Chris Jericho.
He started with a Led Zeppelin cover and the whole set was only him with an acoustic guitar. He ended the set with a Bloodgood cover.
TRYTAN [5:45-6:45 PM]
This three-piece Rush inspired band featured the original singer and guitar player, Lary Dean. Filling out the band for this show was Jim Lavardie (Barren Cross) on bass and Paul Roraback (Grammatrain, Bloodgood, One Bad Pig, PJ Bostic) on the drums. They have not played a live show in a long time but you can tell that Lary is having a great time! They brought 10 people on stage to play the air guitar for the first song and it was a lot of fun. Then they broke into a cover of Tom Sawyer, Working Man, and The Spirit Of Radio. They had a video of Neil Peart playing behind them in his honor. They did a great job covering the songs.
Lary preached for a few minutes about how The Gospel had changed his life. He is a pastor after all. Then he brought a girl on stage for their version of Holy Holy Holy followed by a guitar solo.
WHITECROSS [7:00-8:00 PM]
This is another great band that I was excited to see for the second time. The first being last year’s fest. They started the set with the first song on their first album that was released in 1987, Who Will You Follow. I would say from the people I spoke to on this last day of the fest that this is the band most came to see today. Next up was a song off of the newest album, Fear No Evil released in 2024, called Lion Of Judah. The song ended with a lot of smoke on the stage.
They played another new song called The Way We Rock and it was a crowd favorite.
This was the only band that had the lyrics on screen for every song. Rex kicked into his signature guitar solo that everyone was waiting for. This would not be a Whitecross show without that. The new lead singer, David Roberts, is a great frontman and singer. He engages the crowd well. I think he is a great fit for the band now having seen him twice. No Second Chances off of their 1991 album In The Kingdom was next and it was also a crowd favorite. The drummer, Michael Feighan (Liberty N’ Justice, Thirst, King James) is also a great showman on stage and when you put all of these guys together it creates a great stage performance as a metal band. Rex took time to pray and give the audience a short heart-felt speech. The next song was a surprise when another drummer came up and took Micheals seat behind the skins. Then Michael came to the front of the stage and sang In The Kingdom.
SACRED WARRIOR [8:15-9:15 PM]
This is the second time seeing this band as well. The first thing I noticed is they have a real keyboard player. A professional that does the band justice. Rey can also still sing very well. The drummer has a large drum set with double kick bass. All of these musicians coming together with their talents on the stage makes for a great show. This is one of those bands where the fans don’t have to ask “Are they a Christian band?” They are not shy about sharing the Gospel and what they believe. Ray sang a few impromptu lines with keys of Sailing Away while they fixed guitar issues. Once that was working, they started the set and the drums sound amazing. The guitarist gave an inspiring talk about how we are family and God is our father. They played a lot of their hits and then ended by bringing people on stage for Holy Holy Holy to close out like they did last year.
APOLOGETIX [9:30-10:30 PM
If you’re not familiar with this band, they make Biblically based parody songs. Think: a Christian version of Weird Al Yankovic. The band started with their version of Schools Out by Alice Cooper. The singer told us that it has been 7 years since the last show. They cover many songs and styles and do a good job with them musically. The drummer has a double kick bass. They were impressive for the people who know the lyrics.
Watch a video about Immortal Fest- Part II 2024
