We took a ride to EXIT 111 in Manchester, TN for the 2019 inaugural music experience unlike any other. 

Great Stage Park is the home of the infamous Bonnaroo Festival and is the perfect location to take the plunge into the harder hitting rock genre of music festivals with amenities that are already in place as well as proven logistics making the fans experience memorable enough to demand it’s return in 2020.

Every single ticket gave each attendee access to the Paranormal Cirque, Red Bull Freestyle Motocross Experience, Exit 111 Car Show, Mega Sports Bar, a large selection of food and beverage vendors, festival merchandise, and an amazing rock music lineup featured across 3 very easily accessed stages. 

There was an estimated attendance of 25,000 music fans taking part in the first of hopefully many more to come EXIT 111 festivals. 

The three stages that showcased this amazing three day lineup of bands were fittingly named HEAVEN, HELL, and RISE ABOVE. Not enough can be said in regards to the outreach of this production in regards to suicide prevention and awareness. The RISE ABOVE stage is connected to the band SEETHER and a suicide prevention and awareness foundation that was launched by the band’s frontman Shaun Morgan. Rise Above began fundraising for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) in 2013. $1.00 of every admission ticket to EXIT 111 was donated to SAVE which is an international nonprofit resource center. This group offers grief support, organized awareness events, and suicide prevention training.  The organization aims to benefit individuals as well as families impacted by suicide. For more information go to http://www.save.org

All of the bands had decent set times allotted ranging from about 30 minutes for the early opening bands, to one hour for the midrange/non headlining bands, and then up to three hours for the headliners each day. Some of the big name fan favorites included in the inaugural lineup were Black Label Society, Anthrax, Seether, Slayer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nothing More, Fever 333, Cheap Trick, Ghost, ZZ Top (a 50th Anniversary is pretty impressive in this industry), Def Leppard, Skillet, Ministry, Alter Bridge, Lamb Of God, Deftones, and Guns N Roses.

Paranormal Cirque was a fun filled, freakishly entertaining, acrobatic magic show that had a packed out arena for every single scheduled show performance. If you ever happen to see them touring nearby, GO.

Red Bull Freestyle Motocross on the sidelines was simply phenomenal. The riders performed stunts galore in the air seamlessly while entertaining a cheering crowd.

EXIT 111 Car Show seemed to be the most difficult to find attraction for festival goers but many did make it over to browse and gaze in awe. All makes and models were welcome to enter. That entry even included VIP passes as well as camping passes for the entrants. There appeared to be a great turnout of mostly antique beauties for the enthusiasts viewing pleasure.

Absolutely one of the best festivals that I have attended thus far and I have attended many. The pluses in my opinion would start with the attitude of the staff. From camping to routine daily fan interaction the vibe remained positive and everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves. Every band was allotted a generous set time and came out with rock star enthusiasm to please the audiences. The reentry allowed for everyone was a first that I have experienced and it actually seemed to go rather well and did not appear to be abused. Cleanliness was top shelf. We had access to actual restrooms with running water and hand dryers in a central location. There was a SOBER tent in place for anyone needing to take a break and refocus on their personal goals which can become overwhelming.

Their honestly was nothing negative to include here in regards to this festival. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.

Some widespread suggestions that festival goers made throughout the weekend were to have additional merchandise booths as well as some of the other usual festival staples such as Fuck Cancer, Demons Behind Me, Ronz World Guitars Monster, Zippo, and many others. This could be an area for the promotion team from C3 Presents and AC Entertainment to reach out to and possibly add into EXIT 111 for 2020.

In a nutshell, EXIT 111 was three spectacular days of music from phenomenal bands ranging from classic rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. 

Until next time, see you at the show!