Epicenter Festival to debut in California this August

As the festival season winds down later this season, a new one will just be starting. The Epicenter Festival, dubbed "So Cal's Rock Explosion," will launch its inaugural event on August 22 at Fairplex in Pomona, CA.

Twelve acts will be performing on numerous stages, including Tool, Linkin Park, Alice In Chains, Wolfmother, Atmosphere, Hollywood Undead, Atreyu, Street Sweeper Social Club, Aesop Rock, Sonny and others to be added. The event will mark Linkin Park's only performance in North America this year.

“Talk about a killer lineup,” said Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington in a statement. “Tool, Alice In Chains, Wolfmother -- if we weren't performing, we'd come just to see all the bands. This is gonna be our only North American gig all year, and we promise to make it a show to remember.”

General admission tickets are $79.50 and VIP passes are $125. Tickets go on sale June 27 through Ticketmaster.

The festival, which is intended to become an annual event, is presented by Right Arm Entertainment, which created the annual Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, OH, one of the earliest festivals of the season.

“To introduce a new rock festival in Southern California, you have to dream big,” added Right Arm Entertainment’s Gary Spivack, co-executive producer of the festival. “Having Tool is an event in and of itself -- and when you add Linkin Park's only 2009 North American concert, Alice In Chains, Wolfmother, Atmosphere and all these acts, it’s more than we could have envisioned for the first Epicenter. We’re dedicated to making this the best rock festival of the summer.”