A lineup and setting that harks back to the X-Fests and Ozzfests of the late-1990s, Somerset Amphitheater will host Northern Invasion on May 9, part of a network of hard-rock festivals headlined by Slipknot and Five Finger Death Punch. Here's the full lineup so far:
Slipknot / Five Finger Death Punch / Volbeat / Three Days Grace / Halestorm / The Pretty Reckless / In This Moment / Anthrax (back with heyday singer Joey Belladonna) / Live (without heyday singer Ed Kowalczyk) / Motionless In White / Young Guns / Thousand Foot Crutch / We Are Harlot / Starset / Crobot
Tickets for the inaugural festival in Somerset, Wis. (less than an hour from most of the Twin Cities) go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. through the festival's website for the early-bird price of $49.50. A four-pack of tickets can also be bought for $149.
VIP and camping packages are also spelled out on the fest's site and include a Friday Night Bonfire Party to warm up for Saturday's concert. And fans really might need a warm-up, since the festival breaks the usual Memorial Day kick-off to outdoor music by a few weeks.
Northern Invasion is part of the World's Loudest Month, a franchise of eight hard-rock festivals from April to May that includes Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, and Rocklahoma in (you guessed it) Oklahoma.
Fresh off scoring another No. 1 debut on the Billboard album chart with its latest, ".5: The Gray Chapter," Slipknot will be on familiar territory at Northern Invasion. The Iowan metal kings performed in Somerset several times on their rise up through Ozzfests and other metal lineups, and then they staged one of their two Knotfests there last year.
Knotfest was one of the more successful events staged at Somerset Amphitheater since its rebirth from the former Float-Rite Park in 2011. The bowl-shaped amphitheater -- which sits beside the Apple River (a haven for tubers) and includes several different campgrounds -- only saw three concerts this past summer, including the popular three-day Summer Set Festival with dance and hip-hop acts, plus gigs by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Widespread Panic. Summer Set is due back for its fourth year in mid-August, with acts TBA.
