Montebello Rock
Montebello Rock, formerly known as Amnesia Rockfest and Montebello Rockfest, was an annual outdoor Rock festival that took place each June in Montebello, Quebec. Founded in 2005 by then-17 year old local resident Alex Martel, it became the largest rock music festival in Canada and one of the largest in North America.
With a local population of 978 residents, the small town of Montebello attracted over 200,000 festival-goers during its peak years. The event offered a diverse lineup with mainstream acts, as well as cult bands, reunions, rarities and emerging talent. Aside from its lineup, the festival is known for its countryside setting, camping areas, carnival vibe and parties in the village throughout the weekend. Past headliners include Rammstein, System of a Down, Linkin Park, Blink-182, Mötley Crüe and Queens of the Stone Age.
History
The festival was founded in 2005 by then 17-year-old local resident Alex Martel. Tired of having to travel to bigger cities to attend concerts and wanting to promote his own band Deadly Apples, he decided to start his own event in his hometown of Montebello, which he called Petite-Nation Rockfest. The first edition was almost canceled due to a tornado destroying most of the site a few hours before the start of the event. Three bands played the inaugural edition, which attracted 500 attendees: Martel's band Deadly Apples opened, followed by local punk band UKKO and headliner GrimSkunk.After a break in 2006, Rockfest came back in 2007 with the same format as the first edition and Vulgaires Machins as headliner. In 2008, the event expanded to a full day of music with two stages and was the first edition to attract attendees from outside the area, garnering press for its lineup which featured every single major Quebec band in the punk, rock and metal scenes, including GrimSkunk, Anonymus, Mononc' Serge, Deadly Apples and The Sainte Catherines.
Rockfest 2009 continued in the same format with a third stage added and featured Canadian bands such as Gob, Priestess and Mononc' Serge. The 2010 edition expanded to two days and featured more international acts such as Anti-Flag, Misfits and Alexisonfire. It was the last year that Deadly Apples performed before going on a 7-year hiatus while Martel focused on the growth of Rockfest.
In 2011, the event was renamed D-TOX Rockfest with the D-TOX clothing retailer chain becoming the title sponsor. It was the first major year for the event, featuring bands such as NOFX, Lamb of God playing their sole 2011 show, Pennywise, Hatebreed and many more.
Rockfest 2012 continued the expansion of the event with artists such as Korn, Sublime with Rome, Bad Religion and Dream Theater. Tony Sly played his last show with No Use for a Name at Rockfest 2012, before his death. Mitch Lucker also played his last Canadian show with Suicide Silence at Rockfest 2012, before his death. To honour their memories, the event named its two new hardcore and punk stages after the late frontmen the following year.
In 2013, the event was renamed to Amnesia Rockfest, as the Amnesia clothing retailer chain became the new title sponsor. The 2013 edition expanded to five stages and a larger line-up featuring Rise Against, The Offspring, Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper, Deftones, Social Distortion, Rancid and Lamb of God. The festival tripled its attendance and received many complaints because of logistical issues. In response, organizers announced major logistical changes for 2014 by hiring the Quebec City Summer Festival production team, the Ottawa Bluesfest site coordinator and Gatineau Beerfest organizers Orkestra to handle the production, hospitality, logistics, campgrounds and parking lots.
The 2014 edition was praised by fans and critics for its massive line-up, as well as the top-notch production and logistics. Attracting a record crowd, the lineup featured Blink-182, Mötley Crüe for the first show of their Final Tour, Weezer, Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Billy Talent, Primus, Five Finger Death Punch, Cypress Hill, NOFX and A Day to Remember. Despite not officially performing at the festival that year, Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong played two secret acoustic sets on the streets of Montebello. As part of promoting the festival, Martel was interviewed by Armstrong's Tim Timebomb radio show and by Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe on his Sixx Sense radio show.
Amnesia Rockfest's 10th anniversary edition took place in Montebello in June 2015. The lineup was curated by Fat Mike of NOFX and Tim Armstrong of Rancid along with Martel. It was premiered by Rolling Stone and featured System of a Down, Linkin Park, The Offspring, Slayer, Snoop Dogg, Rob Zombie, Deftones, Tenacious D, Pixies, Rancid and Sublime with Rome. Stand-up comedy was also added to the fest with Mike Ward, Steve-O and Tom Green. As part of promoting the festival, Martel was interviewed by a nude woman on entertainment program Naked News and several of their hosts covered the 2015 edition naked.
In early 2016, it was announced that festival founder Alex Martel had become a minority partner of Rockfest while Quebec entertainment companies Just for Laughs and La Tribu became majority partners. Martel remained as spokesperson and programmer of the event. Later in 2016, famous Quebec businessman Alexandre Taillefer also became a partner in Rockfest when he bought out stakes of La Tribu through his Mishmash company.
The 2016 edition was again curated by Fat Mike of NOFX and Tim Armstrong of Rancid along with Martel. It featured Blink-182, Rise Against, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Jane's Addiction, Ice Cube, Bring Me the Horizon, A Day to Remember, Puscifer, Twisted Sister for their last Canadian performance, Lamb of God, Sum 41 and NOFX. Quebec stand-up comic Mike Ward became spokesperson of the festival and hosted a Rockfest special on his podcast featuring Martel as guest.
In 2017, the event was renamed to Montebello Rockfest and featured Rammstein, Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy Pop, Alexisonfire, The Offspring, Megadeth, Wu-Tang Clan, Bullet for My Valentine, AFI, 311, Bad Religion and Good Charlotte. Martel also reunited his band Deadly Apples at Rockfest 2017, headlining the Quebec Stage. A special opening night for Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Quebec's national holiday, featured Quebec bands such as Les Cowboys Fringants, Robert Charlebois, Les Trois Accords and Loco Locass. In order to accommodate Rammstein's elaborate show, the festival brought the biggest stage and production of its history. Organizers created a media frenzy in Quebec by inviting pop singer Jeremy Gabriel, a disabled boy with Treacher Collins syndrome who sang for the Pope and Celine Dion, to perform a metal set at Rockfest.
In early 2018, it was announced that Quebec promoter Piknic Electronik had replaced Just for Laughs as partner in Rockfest. As both partners Piknic Electronik and La Tribu were owned by Alexandre Taillefer through his Mishmash company, Taillefer effectively gained control over the festival while founder Alex Martel continued as spokesperson and programmer.
The 13th edition in 2018 featured Prophets of Rage, Five Finger Death Punch, Weezer, Godsmack, Tenacious D, A Day to Remember, Lamb of God, Stone Temple Pilots, Jimmy Eat World, Sum 41, Rancid and Dropkick Murphys. In February 2018, Alex Martel was invited as a guest on talk-show Tout le monde en parle, Quebec's most watched TV show. In May 2018, it was announced that Rockfest would become the first Canadian festival to ban the use of plastic straws.
On June 21, 2018, the organizers filed for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act citing an accumulated debt of over $5 million due to a massive drop in ticket sales. Organizers made the decision hoping it would allow the festival to restructure its operations and ensure its survival. Unable to come to an agreement with its creditors, Outaouais Rock officially declared bankruptcy six months later on December 21, 2018. In early 2019, it was revealed that former Rockfest majority partner Alexandre Taillefer's taxi company Teo went bankrupt as well and that many of his other projects were having financial difficulties. Alex Martel, the original founder and minority partner, released several statements criticizing the majority partners who made the decision.
In February 2019, Martel announced that Rockfest would be replaced with a return-to-the-roots type festival called "Montebello Rock" without any involvement by Rockfest's former majority partners. In March 2019, Olivier Primeau, co-owner of Montreal's Beachclub and festivals such as Metro Metro and Escapade Music Festival, announced that he was joining forces with Martel as a minority partner.
Put together in barely two months, the first edition of the newly branded and smaller Montebello Rock festival took place in June 2019 and featured MxPx, Venom, Vulgaires Machins, 88 Fingers Louie, The Sainte Catherines and more. In 2019, Martel was a guest on many podcasts to discuss the downfall of Rockfest and starting over with Montebello Rock.
In the late 2019, the festival's team put together a sold-out benefit show for a local youth homeless centre at Montreal's Club Soda with Quebec artists such as Mononc' Serge, Rymz, Obey the Brave and Deadly Apples.
In November 2019, organizers confirmed a 2020 edition and rumours speculated that the Rockfest name would return, along with the festival's formula. In January 2020, press outlets reported that Korn was confirmed for the 2020 edition. The festival announced its dates for July 2020, one month later than its usual June dates and on the same weekend that now-defunct competing event Heavy Montréal used to take place. In early 2020, all Quebec festivals were cancelled by the government until at least August 31, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and Martel confirmed that a postponement was being considered. In April 2020, Fat Mike of NOFX confirmed that the band was supposed to play the 2020 edition and that the Rockfest name was back. In late April, organizers gave away camping gear to homeless shelters and lent various production equipment to local authorities to help during the coronavirus crisis. In June 2020, organizers held a Virtual Rockfest edition while Quebec was still in confinement. A classic edition of the festival was recreated in real-time during a full weekend by using archival footage. Festival-goers were invited to live the experience in their own backyards.
It was announced that Rockfest's return would be pushed back to 2021. The festival's future continued to be on ice due to the ongoing health restrictions in Quebec in 2021 as well as the uncertainty surrounding the return of live music in the context of the different COVID variants.