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Furnace Fest

Furnace Fest
Furnace Fest logo represented by two letters "F".
Furnace Fest's logo since 2019.
Genre
DatesAugust, September, October
Location(s)Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, Alabama
Coordinates33°31′10″N 86°47′35″W / 33.51936024°N 86.79293104°W / 33.51936024; -86.79293104
Years active2000–2003, 2021–present
FoundersChad Johnson
Organised by
  • Takehold Records (2000–2002)
  • Anxiety Records (2003–2004)
  • Furnace Fest LLC (2019–present)
Websitefurnacefest.us furnacefestcommunity.com

Furnace Fest is an American music festival held over three days at the Sloss Furnaces National Historical Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama.[3] It ran annually each August from 2000 to 2003, and has since resumed each September since 2021.[4][1] As of 2022, Furnace Fest has been held six times, with its most recent edition taking place from September 23–25, 2022.[4][1]

The festival was founded in 2000 by Chad Johnson, then-owner of Birmingham-based Christian hardcore record label Takehold Records.[5][6] Though a great many performers at Furnace Fest were Christian hardcore, metalcore and emo bands (including most bands signed to the aforementioned label),[7][8] the event itself did not focus on religious beliefs.[9][1] After Takehold Records was bought-out by Tooth & Nail Records in March 2002,[10] which required Johnson moving to Seattle, Washington, the future of the festival was uncertain.[11] Johnson successfully hosted a third edition in August 2002, and then briefly considered relocating the festival to Seattle.[11][7] In August 2003, a DVD containing footage of Furnace Fest 2002 was released by 3B Studios.[12]

In 2003, the organization of Furnace Fest was passed on to Shannon Schlappi, then-owner of Independence, Missouri-based hardcore record label Anxiety Records, who successfully organized a fourth edition of the festival at the same location.[13][14][15] Schlappi intended to continue the festival in 2004,[16] but due to heavy financial losses incurred from the 2003 event, and the owners of the Sloss Furnaces demanding an increase in rental price for the site, Furnace Fest was put on hold.[15] Schlappi hoped to resume the festival in 2005, but it did not happen.[15]

Sloss Furnaces Water Tower at sunset
Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham in September 2023

In mid-2019,[17] Johnson revived Furnace Fest and scheduled the fifth edition to take place from September 18–20, 2020.[18][19][20] The official press release of the revived festival, along with news of the first confirmed band to be booked, Beloved, was announced on November 29, 2019.[20] A Nashville, Tennessee-based limited liability company, Furnace Fest LLC, was formed on April 10, 2020, to control the legal interests of the festival.[21][22] The new corporate structure is a four-way partnership divided between Johnny Grimes (based in Birmingham), Mike Ziemer (based in Dallas, Texas), Ryan Luther and Chad Johnson (both based in Nashville, Tennessee).[23][4] On June 1, 2020, it was announced that the festival's fifth event had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most bands were automatically re-booked to perform at the rescheduled event, set to take place between May 14–16, 2021.[24][25][26] By March 2021, the event had again been rescheduled, this time for September 24–26, 2021.[27][28] The festival's sixth event took place from September 23–25, 2022.[29][30][2]

  1. ^ a b c d e Beaugez, Jim (September 26, 2022). "How founder Chad Johnson brought back the DIY punk-meets-Christian hardcore Furnace Festival". Alternative Press Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sacher, Andrew (September 1, 2022). "Furnace Fest 2022 set times + exclusive vinyl!". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Clemow, Robin (July 26, 2002). "Screaming Sloss: Furnace Fest fires up hardcore music fans". Birmingham Post-Herald. Retrieved September 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Colurso, Mary (September 22, 2022). "Furnace Fest 2022: Lineup, tickets, parking, other info for Alabama music festival". Advance Local Alabama. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  5. ^ "Chad Johnson: Furnace Fest". HM Magazine. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Coyle, Doc (August 25, 2021). "Chad Johnson (co-founder of Furnace Fest, ex-Tooth & Nail Records A&R)". The Ex-Man with Doc Coyle. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Clemow, Robin (July 26, 2002). "Sloss Furnace Fest". Birmingham Post-Herald. Retrieved September 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "FaithFest". Newspapers.com. Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 2, 2004. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  9. ^ "Furnace Fest No.2000". Takehold Records. August 18, 2000. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  10. ^ Arnold, Alex (March 12, 2002). "Takehold Records/Tooth & Nail Records deal". Lambgoat. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "We heard Furnace Fest is over?". Takehold Records. June 4, 2002. Archived from the original on June 4, 2002. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  12. ^ "News". 3B Studios. August 22, 2003. Archived from the original on October 29, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  13. ^ "Furnace Fest August 15-16-17 2003". Anxiety Records. May 29, 2003. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  14. ^ Cowan, Rob (August 15, 2003). "Stretch Arm Strong: Furnace Fest headliner stays true to its roots". Newspapers.com. Birmingham Post-Herald. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Schlappi, Shannon (May 10, 2004). "Furnace Fest News". Anxiety Records. Archived from the original on June 19, 2004. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  16. ^ Schlappi, Shannon (February 4, 2004). "Furnace Fest News". Anxiety Records. Archived from the original on April 3, 2004. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  17. ^ Johnson, Chad (July 17, 2019). "Furnace Fest: XX". Facebook. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  18. ^ Wong, Miranda Zy (December 6, 2019). "Furnace Fest Returns After Over a Decade-Long Hiatus and Announces 2020 Lineup Featuring Boysetsfire, Evergreen Terrace and Beloved". mxdwn Music. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  19. ^ Levine, David (January 13, 2020). "Tours announced: Thom Yorke, Converge, Christopher Cross, Flogging Molly, more". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Arnold, Alex (November 29, 2019). "Beloved to Reunite for Furnace Fest 2020". Lambgoat. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  21. ^ "Furnace Fest LLC Business Entity Detail". Tennessee Secretary of State. April 10, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  22. ^ "Furnace Fest LLC Business Entity Records". Alabama Secretary of State. April 10, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  23. ^ McKenty, Finn (February 3, 2020). "Furnace Fest (Chad Johnson & Johnny Grimes)". The Punk Rock MBA. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  24. ^ Kamiński, Karol (June 1, 2020). "Furnace Fest postponed to 2021; first bands reconfirm". Idioteq. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  25. ^ Feinerman, Drew (June 1, 2020). "Return of Furnace Fest Postponed to 2021 Due to Coronavirus Pandemic". mxdwn Music. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  26. ^ Arnold, Alex (June 1, 2020). "Furnace Fest Postponed to Spring 2021". Lambgoat. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  27. ^ Levine, David (March 5, 2021). "Furnace Fest announces extremely stacked emo/post-hardcore/metalcore lineup (for 2021)". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  28. ^ Arnold, Alex (May 5, 2021). "Furnace Fest 2021 Lineup Finalized with Four New Additions". Lambgoat. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  29. ^ "'Furnace Fest' Will Return In 2022". Theprp.com. September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  30. ^ "Furnace Fest 2021: Lineup, schedule, tickets, other info for Alabama music festival". al. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
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