BLED Fest to Jam in Hartland on Saturday

Memorial Day weekend will be rocking in Hartland for the seventh straight year this Saturday as 71 bands will be performing over 10 hours under one roof.

BLED Fest brings together metal, hardcore, folk and indie pop artists such as Norma Jean, Eisley, I Am The Avalanche, La Dispute, The Chariot, Defeater in one place on six stages set up at the . It is from noon to 10 p.m. Tickets are $18 in advance at Bledfest.com and $22 at the door. (See below for more options).

Roughly 2,000 attended the festival last year and even more expected to show this year.

“It defies logic every year,” said Nate Dorough, owner of Fusion Shows, the event's promoter. “We don’t push anything and yet it keeps growing.”

From a house show that went by a different name than what it is known by now, to an annual event marking the beginning of summer to people of all ages, the concert has become a household name even amongst the bands that have played it in the past.

“It’s definitely our highlight to kick off the summer,” Ben Poppy, guitarist of the Howell band Endeavors, said. “There’s always a good turn out.”

Veterans to the annual concert, Endeavors will be performing for their fourth year on stage B from 12:20-12:40 p.m.

Seven years ago when BLED Fest (short for Big Love’s Educational Festival) began at Founder Ben Staub’s house, it was thrown together when the school year finished in hopes to expose kids to assorted rock music and underground, local bands.

“It opens up a lot of different music to people. I think some go just to hear good music and end up leaving with a whole new respect for a genre they might not have listened to before,” Poppy said.

Since the show’s early years, Staub had teamed up with Fusion Shows and Specs Howard to present a bigger and better show each year. In 2008, the metal band Gwen Stacy played to 900 and a year later, Whitechapel from Tennessee headlined to 1,700.

Last year’s headliner, Polar Bear Club, will be touring this summer with the successful Bayside and Silverstein for a national concert series.

Dorough says BLED Fest is popular because it is affordable and provides quality music with indoor amenities including air conditioning.

“The whole goal of it is to create something affordable for everyone and have the most possible crammed into one day,” Dorough said. “And unlike other tours, you don’t have to stand out in the sun and 135-degree weather for hours and hours.”

Other ticket outlets

Discs and Tapes in Howell, Hartland Community Education, Music Manor in Lansing, Flat Black and Circular in East Lansing, and Vertigo Music in Grand Rapids will also be selling tickets without service fees for $18 for cash only. VIP ticket packages (including exclusively designed T-shirt or hooded sweatshirt, a screen-printed event poster, and a drawstring backpack) are available through BledFest.com.

The show can be found on Facebook or followed on Twitter at @bledfest. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and parking is free.