Now in its fourth year, M3 Rock Festival has grown from an up-and-comer to the definitive way to party like it's 1989. Starting with the annual Kix-Off Party on Friday and heading straight into the festival on Saturday, M3 features enough hard rock and hair metal bands to make your head spin (although, let's be honest... that's probably from the two cans of hairspray you used). Both stages are coordinated so that no sets overlap with each other, meaning you can jam-pack your entire day with the maximum amount of metal. We recommend that you start doing tons of arm curls, '80s movie montage-style, because this May at Merriweather you'll be throwing up more horns than you can possibly imagine.

"Originally calling themselves The Shooze and eventually changing their name to the Generators (and, for a couple of weeks, The Baltimore Cocks) before ultimately settling on KIX, Baltimore’s favorite hard rock band garnered quite a reputation for themselves as one of Maryland’s most exciting live cover bands prior to signing to Atlantic Records in 1981. Led by frontman Steve Whiteman and creative mastermind/bassist Donnie Purnell, the band is rounded out by drummer Jimmy Chalfant and guitarists Ronnie Younkins (nicknamed 10/10) and Brian “Damage” Forsythe. Hitting the club circuit six nights a week for three straight years resulted in the band cultivating a huge local fan base and led to a contract with the Time Warner affiliate. Releasing their self-titled debut in 1981, KIX featured live favorites like “Atomic Bombs,” the glorious “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” and “The Kid.” To support the release, the quintet set out to hit every club up and down the East Coast.


Their 1983 follow-up, Cool Kids, showcased a slightly more commercial side of the band. Spearheaded by the single “Body Talk,” rumors ran rampant that the song was written to appease the band’s label, who, eager to capture some steam at radio, also forced the band into shooting a horrendous video for the song which featured the band commiserating with ladies in full-on workout garb. Other songs like “Restless Blood” and “Mighty Mouth” fared a little better.


Eager to get back in the studio, KIX partnered up with Ratt and future Warrant and Winger producer Beau Hill and released Midnite Dynamite — their “self-proclaimed favorite record ever.” The album featured a great single, “Cold Shower,” and some other notable cuts like “Sex” and “Bang Bang (Balls of Fire).” Then a funny thing happened on the way to album number three. As the band got ready for a brief West Coast jaunt, the boys kept hearing some fishy stuff about another young, good looking frontman by the name of Brett Michaels. The big hoopla around town was that the young upstart was said to have stolen singer Steve Whiteman’s stage act. Rumor became fact and here is why: prior to Poison relocating to Los Angeles from the Harrisburg PA area, the band - then known as ‘Paris’ had often come out to see KIX perform live. Now local heroes in their own right, it was clear that Michaels had more than borrowed a few stage moves from the charismatic KIX lead singer. Sadly, when KIX got the opportunity to open for Poison at L.A.’s Country Club, their worse fears materialized as they stood in stunned silence watching a younger, better looking, musically challenged Poison from the side of the stage. The band had not only stolen Whiteman’s stage moves, they’d just about stolen their entire stage act from underneath them.


Weathered but not to be counted out, KIX returned to the studio with hard rock veteran Tom Werman to record what would become their one and only breakthrough record. The band’s fourth effort, Blow My Fuse, was released in 1988 and would finally feature the monstrous hit the band had worked so hard for — it would appear in the way of a ballad, the “Dream On” inspired “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” As the song raced up the charts, the band began to garner the recognition it had fought so long and so hard for. To the band’s credit, other excellent cuts also permeated the release. First single and video “Cold Blood,” “Blow My Fuse,” “Red Lite, Green Lite, TNT,” and “No Ring Around Rosie” all showcased the band doing what it does best.


KIX finally graduated to arenas, and for the next year and a half the band would open for heroes AC/DC and Aerosmith, as well as a slew of others including David Lee Roth, Ratt, and Britny Fox. KIX were on top of the world — if only momentarily. Much larger problems were looming on the horizon. The old adage of “more money, more problems” had materialized itself as a stone around KIX’ collective necks for years and years. The band’s financial matters were now in a state of complete disarray. Now severely indebted to Atlantic Records, the band faced a painful wake up call when they realized that they hadn’t made a penny off Blow My Fuse. To make matters even worse, the label had plans to shift KIX from their roster to the label’s new imprint EastWest Records America. This proved to be disastrous move for the quintet as they now had to deal with a new regime to work their yet-to-be released fifth record.


By the time Hot Wire finally hit record stores in 1991, the musical climate had shifted dramatically. “Hair bands” were now a thing of the past. Grunge was all the rage, making a band like KIX a laughingstock. The new trend made it virtually impossible for KIX to garner the radio support necessary for them to prosper commercially. In hindsight, Hot Wire may have proven to be the band’s best sounding record ever. Bolstered by a little MTV airplay, the album’s first single “Girl Money” showcased everything that made KIX a first-rate bar band. With double-entendre verses in the vein of classic Bon Scott-era AC/DC, great musicianship, and a hearty sense of humor to boot, the track would have probably been huge in 1989. Selling just under 200,000 units, the album came and went and KIX returned to doing what it had done all along — hitting the road. The band then toured the Orient and recorded a live record at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House in 1992. It would be released by Atlantic in 1993 under the uninventive moniker, KIX Live. The 12-track live album would finally fulfill the band’s contractual obligation to the label. By the time KIX Live was released, founding member and guitarist Brain Forsythe had quit the band returning to the fold in 1994 in time to record Show Business, the band’s ill-fated debut on CMC. Released in 1995, Show Business tanked and the band was history. After a three-year hiatus away from the music biz, Steve Whiteman re-merged in Baltimore as the singer for Funny Money, with Jimmy Chalfant to join in on drums in 2004." - last.fm

Warrant got its fill of cherry pie in the 80s and 90s, but apparently that was not enough to squelch the band's hunger. Warrant will storm back to the stage in 2008, with plans for a tour and new music well into 2009 and beyond. The band, formed in 1984 by LA guitarist Erik Turner and bassist Jerry Dixon, hit the rock scene in February 1989 with the release of its debut album, "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" (Columbia Records). A blistering world tour of 262 shows helped push the 10-track record to double platinum status. The CD spawned three singles -- Down Boys (27 on the Billboard Top 100), Sometimes She Cries (20), and Heaven (2) – Heaven also sold over 750,000 singles. DRFSR live home video certified Platinum.

Topping their freshman success may have seemed like a daunting task, but the band members proved they were up to the challenge. Just 19 months after D.R.F.S.R. introduced the American rock fan to Warrant, "Cherry Pie" -- the band's second album (Columbia Records) – solidified Warrant's standing in rock history. The band toured again at home and abroad with 200+ shows pushing USA sales of Cherry Pie well into the 2 million mark. The record's title track became perhaps the band's most recognizable hit, and the album peaked at 7 on the charts.

Nearly 20 years and eight albums the later, the buzz surrounding Warrant remains. Since the success in the late 80s and early 90s, the band has seen many changes but has remained a key cog in the ever-changing rock landscape. Warrant has endured death, changes in record label and loss of band members, it appears these hardships have only fueled Warrant's drive.