The North East’s live music scene is brewing and independent promoter Wannasee have just announced brand new rock and metal festival Dominion, which will be taking place in County Durham from the 29th until the 31st of July 2022! Having just announced a bunch of big names such as Cradle of Filth, Blind Guardian, Sodom and Phil Campbell, our interest was peaked and we had a lovely little chat with the organisers!
Who are the people behind Dominion Festival?
Dominion is being run by Wannasee Ltd, which is an independent team, headed up by two individuals from County Durham and Sunderland who originally set out to bring the best live music possible to everyone across this region, and now operate a series of really popular festivals across the North-East and further afield. Stone Valley Festival, Northern Kin Festival, Kubix Festival and Wannasee Festival have, over the last decade, formed the backbone of a diverse and extremely affordable set of live music events brining much needed employment and tourism and offering great weekends for tens of thousands of people every summer.
What inspired you to set up a three day festival?
Metal and Rock are in both our blood and our playlists – it’s been a dream of ours to bring a full weekend of metal and rock to the North-East for many years and now, after Covid restrictions which crippled the industry have ceased to be law, we thought this was the time to make it a reality.
What do you think the challenges are of setting up a festival?
They’re a logistical nightmare, taking thousands of hours, from the obvious work of programming and booking nearly 50 bands for one weekend, to the boring bits no-one sees including licensing, planning, the mountains of paperwork, booking toilets, stages, fencing – the list goes on. But the months of work are absolutely worth it come the weekend when thousands of people come to enjoy the fruits of the labour and celebrate live music in all its glory!
Could you highlight five bands that are playing, why you booked them and why you think people should go and see them at the festival?
Cradle of Filth, legends of the UK extreme metal scene, will be starting the weekend with a bang, headlining the Friday night. Blind Guardian, absolute legends of the European Metal scene will be closing the weekend with a massive power metal set on Sunday night. Sodom will be showing why Thrash Metal is timeless with a huge hitting hour on Saturday night. Hämatom, one of the foremost German NDU bands will be playing their first ever UK show on Sunday. Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons are another great addition, and they’ll be playing a fantastic set, including Motorhead classic tracks on the Friday.
The weekend of the festival seems to be one very popular amongst festivals, how do you think Dominion stands out from the crowd and why should people go to Dominion instead of any other festival that takes place that weekend?
Dominion is setting it’s stall out as the North’s foremost metal festival for the metal and alternative scene. The whole summer is full of festivals and each of ours has a music theme that appeals to all the fans of each respective genre. We’re sure that metal and rock fans from the North East and beyond will be keen to support an event that’s here to stay. We’ve come out the blocks with a strong line up and will be working incredibly hard to make sure the event itself and its future line-ups firmly cement Dominion’s name on the tip of any metal-head’s tongue each year!
Get your tickets for Dominion Festival in County Durham on the 29th, 30th and 31st of July here!
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