Banging Heads in Buckley Park

Mya Simon and Garrett Middleton

Logan Bates, a freshman at Fort Lewis College, performs with his band Better Off Dead during Rock Fest 2025 at Buckley Park, Sept 20

Student and local performers alike amassed a significant crowd at Rock Fest at Buckley Park on Saturday, Sept. 20.

The 12th Annual Rock Fest was a benefit concert for Durango BMX according to the event flyer.

The festival is a part of the resurging scene of metal and hard rock music in Durango and featured 12 bands from the Four Corners area. 

“One of the main reasons we started this festival is there were only like five metal bands in the whole community,” said festival director Kyle Dalton.

Kyle performed with Fort Lewis College student Madden Harlan in their band, Anarchy Hammer, he said.

“It's hard to play metal in a bluegrass town unless you go to the specific venues designed for it,” Harlan said.

Madden Harlan playing guitar for his band, Anarchy Hammer

Rock Fest isn’t the first venue to host primarily metal bands—Dalton has been managing a variety of local metal shows for over a decade, he said. 

“We had nowhere to play, so we started playing in the park and throwing our own shows,” Dalton said. 

“We started our own venue called The Manfort that we've been doing for 15 years now,” he said, “and so we've seen it come from very little bands to actually driving and flourishing.”

Other venues include The Hive and Anarchy Brewing, which recently repurposed and opened their doors for local heavy metal and punk bands, Dalton said.

“There's a lot of other venues, and then over the years, they kind of just shut down,” Harlan said, “then the Hive opened up when I was like, 15, and that's kind of what reunited the scene.”

The local punk scene also features Indigenous bands and women lead-vocalists, Justin Bogan of Acid Wrench said. 

Vanessa Bohaty has been singing for Acid Wrench since the creation of their band at Fort Lewis College five years ago, Bogan said.

“So what we did is we were meeting up at the Fort, and we were poaching electricity from, like, all the picnic areas,” Bohaty said. 

Their first real practice spot was the Smith Field pavilion, Bogan said. 

The band played at Fort Lewis most recently in April of this year at the Grub and Groove Celebration hosted by the Grub Hub.

Bohaty shared insights on what a local music scene needs to continue thriving and growing.

“Obviously, there needs to be venues and places that are willing to support that,” Bohaty said, “It’s also excellent when artists can be paid for their art and their time and their energy that they put into it.”

People dancing during Anarchy Hammer's set at Rock Fest 2025

As more and more shows continue to pop up, it is important to be on the lookout for new events and show up in whatever ways you can, Dalton said. 

The best thing about catching a Durango show is supporting local artists, said local metal enthusiast Francis.

“It doesn't matter how small the venue is—It matters how much fun that you have, and the vibe, the energy, everything,” he said, “If it's your type of music and it's new to you, keep listening to it and be there to support them.”