Heyoka’s Mirror headlines the Canmore Alternative Metal and Punk Festival (AmpFest) on July 6 at artsPlace.
A heavy music-focused festival, 14 Canadian acts will perform at the third edition of AmpFest, including Black Pestilence, Alien to the Ignorant, G.U.S.H, The Cadavor Dog, Necht: Cult of B’ahn, Gone Cosmic, Iron Tusk, John Michealz, Human Stain, Motherf—s, Bawang!, Jonny Rocketman’s Atomic Tango, and Cinch.
“What we have is pretty cool and we have a lot of diversity in this here as well, which is ultimately what we want,” said promoter Kasey Suchowersky of Beauty and Chaos Productions. “Everyone's pretty different [sounding], which is what we really like.”
AmpFest – launched in 2019 – features punk, heavy metal and psychedelic rock talents from across the nation. This year, the lineup is made up of all bands from western Canada, including five acts from the Bow Valley: Cinch, Bawang!, Jonny Rocketman’s Atomic Tango, Human Stain and John Michealz.
Suchowersky said the showcase of local bands is been ingrained in the roots of AmpFest since day one.
“To give exposure to the locals in the area is part of what we like and to also demonstrate that the alternative theme has a lot of variety and range in the sounds,” said Suchowersky.
"Every local band that played last year was obviously contacted to play again this year, but unfortunately a few of them couldn't make it work this year, so we are actually gonna be having more out-of-town acts than we usually do. The first two years we had either half or more than half locals and then we filled the rest of the bill was out of town."
Tickets to the all-ages event are available at www.artsplacecanmore.com.