Bangalore Open Air 2013 Full Lineup Announcement

Prog metal band Animals As Leaders play their debut India gig at Bangalore Open Air 2013.

Compared to the two international artists Bangalore Open Air [BOA] hosted last year, German folk metal band SuidAkrA and thrash metal band Kreator, the second edition of the open-air festival will see a much bigger international metal presence with six international and two Indian bands slated to perform across two stages this year on July 6th.

The final international act confirmed by organizer Salman Syed is American heavy metal band Iced Earth, who were unable to make it to the festival last year owing to visa issues. While Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity make their second trip to India, American progressive metal band Animals As Leaders, Norwegian black metal artist Ihsahn, prog metal band Leprous and German thrash metal band Sodom will make their India debut. Mumbai extreme metal band Demonic Resurrection were the first act to be announced in December.

Initially, Bangalore Open Air was slated to be a two-day festival, with four more international bands intended to be added to the lineup. “But we knew the elections were to take place somewhere around the same time as the fest. It just happened now, but we weren’t sure when we booked the artists. We didn’t want to take chances, since anything can go wrong [during election time],” says Syed, who has tied up with German festival Wacken Open Air to cross-promote the event and has helped put together an Indian edition of Wacken Metal Battle.

The competition, won by Mumbai thrash/groove metal band Zygnema last year, gives one Indian band a performance slot at Wacken Open Air, Germany in August. “We’re expanding to seven cities this year, and the competition will take place throughout June,” says Syed, who is also planning pre-festival gigs for June.

Tickets for the BOA will be available at Rs 2,249 [early bird] and Rs 2,499 [regular] on the official website, along with an Android app made for festival-goers. Stage breakups and timings are yet to be announced.

BOA 2013 Lineup: 

Animals As Leaders

Sodom

Ihsahn

Dark Tranquillity

Iced Earth

Leprous

Demonic Resurrection

Bangalore Open Air takes place on July 6th, 2013 at Jayamahal Palace Grounds, Bengaluru. Tickets Rs 2,249 [early bird] and Rs 2,499 [regular]. For more details, visit the festival website or Facebook page.