Protesters: Upstate NY Heavy Metal Festival To Be Attended By 'Drunken, Drugged-Up Idiots'

Deanna Amore of The Saratogian is reporting that The Aggressive Music Festival, a two-day event featuring a number of national heavy metal bands (including SLAYER, SLIPKNOT, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, CHIMAIRA, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, SHADOWS FALL, HATEBREED and LIFE OF AGONY),sparked off a controversy (video) in the Glens Falls area when some locals urged Mayor Robert A. Regan and the City Council to cancel the concert shortly after the show was announced.

Susan Balfour and Diane LaFontaine have led the charge.

"It's a horrible thing," LaFontaine said. "I don't care if 40-year-olds go. I have a problem with 14-year-olds going."

LaFontaine said more than 2,000 fliers were distributed urging residents to voice their opposition to the concert.

"I did what I could," she said about informing residents. 'The city turned its eyes. The mayor is spineless."

LaFontaine said she is most offended by the lyrics and the "drunken, drugged-up idiots" who will attend.

"It's pure hate. It's pure filth," she said of the lyrics. "I think the music is disgusting. It's hate music."

She said it's not the individual words that are used, but the way they are put together in the songs.

Concert promoter Ted Etoll of Step Up Presents welcomes the publicity but had a lot to say about the opposition.

"I think it's an embarrassment for Glens Falls," Etoll said. "It's two people who know nothing about our industry. It makes Glens Falls look like some kind of backwoods country. How two people are able to be the vocal majority is mind-boggling. They kept the show in the limelight. If they thought they hurt the show, they didn't." Read more.