Exclusive: Eyehategod, Omar Rodriguez Lopez Play Inaugural CherryFest

There's another rock'n'roll festival in town, Melbourne, and considering CherryFest is being put on by the people who give us Cherry Rock and the Cherry Bar itself, you can be sure it's got some mighty tasty acts on the bill who'll be smashing out very fucking loud music, for the most part.

Co-owner and booker of the bar James Young says that holding another event (the bar already hosts the hugely popular Cherry Rock) is a matter of taking advantage of the space while they can. “We're super keen to hold another event for the first time in the Spring sunshine and to take advantage of our current deluxe Yarra views before the 189-apartment 12-storey development is built at the base of AC/DC Lane,” he said in a statement with this afternoon's announcement.

The festival is happening at Cherry Bar (obviously) from midday until 9pm on Sunday 25 November.

Here's the first few bands on the bill!

Eyehategod, Omar Rodriguez Lopez Band, Dern Rutlidge, Henry Wagons, My Left Boot

EYEHATEGOD:

For the very first time these New Orleans masters of sludge metal are coming to Australia and will headline the first installment of CherryFest while they are here. For 25 years this legendary bunch have been playing the finest in dark, heavy, loud and very sludgy metal, and you can hear elements of everyone from Melvins to Discharge to Celtic Frost in the music they make. Eyehategod haven't put a record out in forever, but we hear they're still in great touch live; we can't wait to find out. This is fucking huge.

OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ BAND:

This is a guy who clearly loves coming to Australia; he's been here quite a few times in the past 12 or so months and will be back at the end of the year to soak up some Aussie hospitality and treat us to more incredible shows with his amazing band. Whether you love him for his work with At The Drive-In or The Mars Volta, you really need to give the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Band your attention if you haven't already done so; great music from one of the modern day's great musical minds.

DERN RUTLIDGE:

Some people will say they never thought it would happen, others will say they can't believe it hasn't happened sooner; all we can say is that the prospect of seeing Dern Rutlidge – Melbourne's kings of stoner rock – back together for one special show is very exciting. If you don't know (or remember) Lines On The Table, hit play on that little sucker above; true genius.

HENRY WAGONS:

As if we need to tell you anything about this guy. You know him and you probably love him (Everybody Loves Henry) and seeing as he has a brand new solo record coming out soon you will probably just keep hearing more and more about him as time goes on. Henry Wagons might stick out a little bit on this bill initially, but he's an adaptable guy and we reckon he's going to add a lot to proceedings.

MY LEFT BOOT:

Melbourne fuzz rockers My Left Boot seema  perfect addition to this heavy hitting, psyched out bill. They will have a brand new record ready for release in time for CherryFest, which was mastered by Brian Gardner – who gave those QOTSA records such a nice kick – so you can be ready to jam out to plenty of new shit when they hit the stage for the event.

There are nine more bands still to be announced, so don't completely lose your shit yet as there is plenty more to come.

Tickets are available for $94 + bf from Cherry Bar.

Keep your eye on our special CherryFest page as the festival draws closer and we bring you content from all the bands on the bill.