On Saturday, Jon Kruse, host of KZUM’s The Metal Manifesto, put together a day-long heavy metal rock fest fundraiser with thirteen of Nebraska’s top rock bands. Starting at noon, the bands converged at Grey’s Keg Saloon in Lincoln, NE, and they didn’t stop till 2 am Sunday morning. The Metal Inquisition brought together a variety of sounds from Peace, Love & Strychnine’s desert rock to Cynge’s fast-tempo thrash metal. There was a little taste of everything metal.
Henry Tomsu
– From the Arc
Ethan Gibson & Dylan Zoucha – Pharis 
Gabe Phares – Pharis 
From the Arc
However, the most impactful element of the night was the compelling presence of family; moms, dads, spouses, significant others and friends were all out in force. You could see the remarkable bond –really the brotherhood– within these bands. Throughout the day, bandmates supported each other by setting up equipment, tearing down sets, loading and unloading, taking pictures, selling merch, and, most importantly, just plain rocking out set after set.
Kruse, the godfather of the local heavy metal scene, was instrumental in putting together the diverse lineup for the day: Quicksand Devil (Omaha), Griffoctopuss (Lincoln), From The Arc (Omaha), Peace, Love & Strychnine (Lincoln), Grever (Lincoln), Pharis (Lincoln), Gorilla Spank (Grand Island), Broken Skulls (Lincoln), DND (Omaha), Molten (Omaha), Deadend (Kearney), Cynge (Lincoln), Mobius (Lincoln). All in all, it was a forcible and profitable night. Kruse helped raise over $1,100 for KZUM, bringing the station closer to their goal of $40,000. The money brought in will go towards studio operations and equipment maintenance. Kruse and KZUM have plans for another fundraiser in the spring to help get closer to reaching that goal.
Dean Whitman – D.N.D. 
Bob Hudson & Dustin Peters – Molten 
Mike Cook – Molten 
Danny Whitman – D.N.D.
For a regular dose of these bands and other local metal groups, tune into The Metal Manifesto on Friday nights. Starting at midnight, Kruse brings in bands to co-host three hours of local metal music from every sub-genre and every era.
Music: Live. Local. Lincoln. 