Sat 8/17 @ 8PM
The Rock Hall has provided a summer of great music so far, with both local bands performing for free and some ticketed concerts by touring bands.
This weekend, they’ll be blowing eardrums off with an all-local lineup of legendary Cleveland metal bands, two of them evoking Cleveland’s 1980s era of heavy metal dominance.
Midnight, the one-man band of Athenar, is the newcomer, only around for the past 20 years. Described as “filthy, belligerent and obnoxious” and producing a “highly addictive brand of lust, filth, and sleaze,” Athenar will be celebrating his latest release Hellish Expectations.
Manimals, founded by the infamous “Larry the Wolf” were the Cleveland band of the 1980s you other loved or hated. Adding punk influences to heavy metal, they made their recording debut with their Blood Is the Harvest EP in 1985 and popped up here and there on the scene until they vanished in the late 80s only to poke their heads up occasionally for a one-off reprise. They released another anthology called Studies in Scarlet 1982-2018 in 2022, but sightings are rare so you might want to catch them now.
Finally, the bill is completed by Purgatory, one of the bands on Cleveland’s mighty Auburn label which drove the city’s metal scene. Formed by vocalist Jeff Hatrix (later with Hatrix and Mushroomhead) and drummer Kenny Easterly in 1984, they added bassist Mark Alexander and guitarist Greg Perry to form their classic lineup. The band recently reconvened and performed at the Maple Grove Tavern at a memorial concert for Shok Paris guitarist Ken Erb.
To see three Cleveland metal legends on one stage on one evening, get your tickets here.
rockhall/midnight-manimals-purgatory/
1100 Rock and Roll Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44114