Teresa Roncon, Where Art Thou?

Everyone loves the thrill of discovering a hot new band, but there's something equally exciting about watching a bunch of grizzled, middle-aged rock 'n' roll veterans show the kids that they can still hold it down.

The second annual MQMusicfest takes place on August 19 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, and promises to be filled to the point of overflow with old schoolers shredding like it was somewhere between 1985–95.

The Festival is headlined by former I Mother Earth frontman and Canrock veteran Edwin. The almost stupidly handsome post-grunge rocker is only the beginning of the retro party. Festival organizers Metal Queen Management have dug deep in the "where-are-they-now" file to fill the roster.

Arguably most impressive is the presence of Revolver, the new project from Slik Toxik's former lead vocalist, Nick Walsh. For those of you too young or insufficiently metal to remember Slik Toxik, they were a Toronto-based glam metal outfit who had two major hits ("Helluvatime" and "White Lies, Black Truth) and won one Juno in the early '90s before being blown into obscurity by Nirvana and the grunge revolution.

Automan.ca also features at least one recognizable face from the Canadian metal scene of the '80s and early '90s. Frontman Darrell "Dwarf" Millar spent most of the last 25 years drumming for legendary Canadian metal act the Killer Dwarfs.

For those of you who aren't into watching your childhood heroes try to recapture their past glory, MQMusicfest also has several younger bands rounding out the bill, most notably bagpipe rockers Mudmen, the sleazy sounds of Crackpuppy, and the reasonably-large-in-Europe-yet-inexplicably-underloved-at-home Zeroscape.

MQMusicfest goes off at noon on August 19 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. The rock will continue until midnight. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Picture of Nick Walsh taken from Slik Toxik's MySpace.