Memorial Day Weekend is coming up again and that means another year of Maryland Deathfest is upon us! This is the twelfth year running for the festival and it continues to expand and evolve. This post will help you get through MDF XII as you navigate through all the bands, stages, venues and vendors and I’ll be updating it with info like food prices and photos of exclusive band merch once the fest actually gets going. You can skip to the updates by going here. The past few weeks we’ve been suggesting some lesser known bands that are definitely worth seeing at Maryland Deathfest. You can read those reviews and bios, each of which have songs you can stream in the post, by going here. Now to start off, here’s some info and links you will find useful if you’re attending Maryland Deathfest XII.

Maryland Deathfest’s official website: MarylandDeathfest.com
MDF’s official Facebook: Facebook.com/MarylandDeathfest
MDF’s official Twitter: @mddeathfest
MDF’s official Instagram: @marylanddeathfest

I put together these handy full schedules and band running orders for each day of the fest (they load quick so bookmark them on your phone).

Thursday: http://bit.ly/mdfthursday
Friday: http://bit.ly/mdffriday
Saturday: http://bit.ly/mdfsaturday
Sunday: http://bit.ly/mdfsunday

Baltimore Yellow Cab: 410-685-1212 (website)

MDF Edison Lot entrance address: 545 N High St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Baltimore SoundStage address: 124 Market Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202
Rams Head Live Thurs & Sun address: 20 Market Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202
Rams Head Live Fri & Sat address: 7 Frederick St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Sidebar address: 218 E Lexington St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Ottobar address: 2549 N Howard St, Baltimore, MD 21218

Note that Rams Head Live will be using the back entrance on Friday and Saturday. This is because the front entrance to Rams Head Live is in the Power Plant area and it will have its own cover charge on Friday and Saturday night. To avoid that fee, use the back entrance (address listed above).

I put together this custom Google map that will show you all kinds of info such as all the venues involved, local record stores of note and where to get beer, cigarettes and food while you’re in Baltimore too. Just click the map image below to use the map.

Tickets

Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Edison Lot will have tickets available at the door all through the weekend, it is very unlikely the Edison Lot will sell out. You can get tickets at the door or order them online (and pick them up at will call) by going here, however online orders close at 2pm Wednesday.

All four days at Rams Head Live are completely sold out as well as all three days at the Baltimore SoundStage. If you’re determined to find tickets to these sold out parts of MDF I highly recommend using the Maryland Deathfest official forum’s ticket exchange thread which you can find here. If that doesn’t work you can try looking at the official Facebook event page (here) for people posting there as well.

The Wednesday pre-fest show at the Ottobar has tickets available here although the last I heard there were less than 50 left so this could sell out at any point. The pre-fest show will include a screening of the Welcome To Deathfest documentary, filmed during last year’s Maryland Deathfest. Unlike previous MDF movies this one focuses more on the people running Deathfest, and the fans and bands attending, than the actual live performances of bands. Please note that the Ottobar is not walking distance from the other festival locations this year. If you don’t have a car you’ll have to take a cab.

There are no advance parking tickets being sold this year, and overnight parking in the lots is not permitted this year either as the lot closes at 1am. You can park in the lot adjacent to MDF for $10 a day, although if it becomes full and you park on the street or in another lot nearby you will most likely have to pay a parking meter. The meters in Baltimore usually accept credit cards.

50 copies of the silk screened poster below will be for sale at the Ottobar Pre-Fest show on Wednesday.

New Info For This Year

This year the Sonar venue, now dubbed the Paparazzi Nightclub, will have nothing to do with the festival. The main festival grounds with the big outdoor stages and headlining acts will be in the lot that served as the main parking lot for last year’s fest. There will again be bands, mostly hardcore and grind, playing at the Baltimore SoundStage on Friday through Sunday. You may recall Baroness scheduling a tour date at Rams Head Live during last year’s MDF. That won’t be an issue this year as Rams Head has become the late night venue for Friday through Sunday, and the sole venue hosting bands on the first day of MDF. In addition, the Sidebar had several bands playing unofficial side-shows last year while this year they will be hosting several bands as part of Maryland Deathfest. You can get into the Sidebar to see any of these bands for free while MDF is running.

There will be a shaded area with several picnic tables for people to rest their legs at somewhere in between the two main stages at the Edison Lot.

Backpacks are permitted at all venues however if you enter Rams Head Live with a backpack you will have to leave it at the coat check. I am assuming this will cost a few dollars, probably not more than $5.

It has been suggested by MDF staff that if you’re posting to Twitter and/or Instagram that you use the hashtag #marylanddeathfest in your posts

There will be a few bands doing meet & greets at MDF and it does not cost extra to participate, though you will probably have to stand in line some. The schedule for this hasn’t been released yet but I will post it when it becomes available. So far the confirmed bands for the meet & greets are: At the Gates, Candlemass, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Taake, Sólstafir and Asphyx. There may be more bands added to that list as well.

Good To Know For Every Year

BRING AND WEAR EAR PLUGS

Re-entry is OK once you get your wristband. Wear comfortable shoes, sunglasses and try to bring a cheap parka in case it rains. You’ll be doing a lot of standing and walking so dress accordingly. Maryland can get very hot and humid this time of year so be careful wearing all black and drinking and moshing in the sun all day, stay hydrated. Crowd surfing is very much tolerated at MDF so if you don’t like being kicked in the head repeatedly, don’t get up front. Also, bring some sunscreen, not only will it keep you from getting burnt but you want to keep those tattoos from getting sun faded! Cameras, including DSLR cameras, are permitted and you can shoot video too, however be aware that the closer you get to the stage the more rowdy the crowd can get, including moshing, circle pits and crowd surfers. At Maryland Deathfest pretty much every band will start a mosh pit, even more “laid back” bands that you wouldn’t expect this from like say Agalloch. The guy tearing it up in the mosh pit and wearing a full body chicken suit is known locally as the Chicken Man. He’s a local legend and comes to tons of the area’s metal shows to get mosh pits started and keep them going. He’s a real trooper and pretty friendly if you want to talk to him.

Bring cash! There will be a ton of vendors with tons of rare and obscure vinyl, CDs, merch, patches and all kinds of other stuff. There will be ATMs on site but I’m sure they will have long lines and shitty service fees so stop by the bank before you head up. Some of the stuff you’ll see will be Maryland Deathfest exclusives, and some of it will just be so rare you’ll probably never find it anywhere again anyways. Maryland Deathfest will have a booth with its own merch for sale at the festival (see it here) including t-shirts, pullover hoodies and women’s tanks. Preorders are now closed for the official MDF merch. This year MDF has a couple designs that incorporate some of Baltimore’s culture such as an Edgar Allan Poe mash up design and a “metal” crab design, as well as more traditional designs with zombies and such. Warlord Clothing will have a limited edition silk screen poster again this year that will be available for purchase at their booth (shown below). There is also a brand new book out by Jason Netherton (of Misery Index and ex-Dying Fetus) titled Extremity Retained: Notes From The Death Metal Underground which is a 480 page book on the history of death metal as told by dozens of the musicians themselves. The list of contributors is too long to list here but you can check out the details (and preorder it for MDF pick up) by going here. The book will be available for purchase at the Handshake Inc booth.

Here is the list of non-food vendors:

Acid Queen Jewelry, Bazillion Points, Black Mess, Century Media Records, ChopoBrujos, Crucial Blast Records, Dave’s Metal, Deathgasm Records, Decibel Magazine, Deepsend Records, The End Records, Five Point Records, F.O.A.D. Records, Forever Plagued Records, Handshake Inc., Haunted Hotel, Hell’s Headbangers, Helveta Vyotlag, Hype Ignition Printing, IndieMerch, JSR Direct, Largactyl Records, Lock and Shock, Mexico Steel, Old Cemetery Records, Pizza Party Printing, Relapse Records, Salvation Distro, Season Of Mist Records, Sevared Records, Sunflower Glass Company, Unholy Anarchy Records, Useless Christ Records, Utterly Somber Creations, Vienna Music Exchange and Warlord Clothing.

Bands often bring their own merch to Maryland Deathfest as well. Popular bands, or just those making a rare appearance, can and will often sell out of their items early. Some bands will have their merch at the same booth selling all the official Maryland Deathfest gear. Many bands are often playing MDF as part of a tour and will take their merch with them after the day they play so check back each day for new arrivals (and if you see something from a band that you want, don’t wait, get it while it’s there). Other bands will have their own merch tables set up and a few others will have their merch available at their record label’s booth (assuming their label has a booth of course). There are always a few MDF exclusive items. I don’t know what they will all be (I’ll walk around and post photos of them though so be sure to follow DCHM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) however I’ll add updates at the end of this post as I find that information out. For now I can tell you that both Necros Christos and The Ruins Of Beverast will have exclusive MDF shirts for sale, which you can see below.

And this year there will also be free copies of the black & white official Maryland Deathfest Program found near the entrance. The booklet features bios of the bands playing this year’s Deathfest, a map of the venues, a schedule and Black Mess Records’ guide to Baltimore. It makes for some good reading if you’ve got a few minutes of down time. You can see what the cover looks like below so keep an eye out for it.

There is also plenty of on-site food at Maryland Deathfest. I highly recommend Zombie BBQ but there’s plenty of options for everyone including various ethnic, vegetarian and vegan options as well. If that’s not enough be sure to check the custom Google map I made (at the top of this post) which includes stuff outside the festival grounds like restaurants, record stores, liquor stores and convenience stores.

Updates

I’ll be adding updates to this post throughout the fest once it starts. Expect to see photos of food vendor prices as well as images of exclusive merch. Be sure to check back here before you head to Maryland Deathfest to help you get an idea of what to expect, and of course you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which I’ll be updating from my phone.

The most metal seamstresses at Kylla Custom Rock Wear will have 10 unique handmade MDF vests for sale at the official Maryland Deathfest merch booth. They look pretty bad ass (and will be available in sizes S – XL). They’ll even sew on any patches you buy at MDF onto the vest for you if you purchase one, how fucking cool is that? More details when you click on the below image.

Relapse Records will have two booths with merch (one at the Edison lot, one at the SoundStage) and they’ve released the short video below showcasing their wares at MDF.

I saw Ulcerate on Wednesday night and I shot a photo of their set list which you can view here if you’d like a preview of what they may be playing Sunday. They were incredible!

Unfortunately both Aeternus and Mitochondrion could not get into the US so they will not be playing MDF. Bolzer will be playing an additional set Friday (presumably during the time Aeternus would have played) at Rams Head Live. For more details read the official statement by Maryland Deathfest here.

MDF has posted details about meet & greets, which reads as follows:

Signs up for Meet & Greets start Saturday morning at the MDF Merch Tent (Edison Lot) when gates open (Sat, 11am & Sun 12pm)
At the Gates: Sign up @ 11am, Saturday for 2-3pm Meet & Greet
My Dying Bride & Uncle Acid: Sign up Sunday @ 12pm, 5-6pm Meet & Greet

Signings at the Century Media Tent (Edison Lot)
At the Gates – 7-8pm Friday
Asphyx- 4-5pm Saturday

Candlemass and Solstafir will be taking part in the Meet & Greet – stay tuned for specific times.

Below is a photo of the food menu at Rams Head Live. Below that are photos of the beer selection (I highly recommend the Dominion Oak Barrel Stout, the one with the deer on the tap). All beers at RHL, from cheap beer to craft, are the same price, $7. So don’t think buying a Bud Light saves you any cash, get something good!

Maryland Deathfest also has a few more items for sale at their merch booth that doesn’t including a beanie hat and a Baltimore Ravens parody shirt, check them out below.

Below are photos I shot at the Edison Lot of beer and food menus and prices. Note that a 12oz can of beer costs the same as a 16oz cup.

Here’s photos of some more exclusive merch at MDF for the bands Dark Angel, At The Gates and Sacrifice.

Here are the food and alcohol prices for the Baltimore SoundStage venue. The craft beers are only available at the bar to the left of the main stage. It should be noted that the Snake Dog IPA is being sold at the SoundStage for $8 but the main Edison lot has it for just $6.

May 20, 2014
Categories: Baltimore Soundstage, Maryland Deathfest, Ottobar, Rams Head Live . Tags:Maryland Deathfest, Maryland Deathfest XII, MDF . Author: Metal Chris

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