Concert Recap: 'Carolina Heavyweights Exhibition' in Wilmington, NC (August 16, 2025)

It's common to hear the phrase "support local music" and to see those three words thrown around online, but I really feel lucky to live in the area I do because of how solid the local music community is around here — I'm constantly finding new music even when I feel like I've finally learned who all the bands around here are, and I've been lucky to make so many friendships with a lot of the musicians I've gotten to know over the years. Every show feels like a reunion of sorts, and I never get tired of seeing the homies on stage doing their thing.

The latest local get-together came in the form of the 'Carolina Heavyweights Exhibition' at the Eagle's Dare in Wilmington, NC, organized by Defile the Crown frontman Aaron Johnson and featuring some of North and South Carolina's heaviest hitters. First and foremost, all the credit in the world goes to Johnson for making this event happen and having it be a success — amidst several lineup changes due to certain cancellations, it was still a stacked bill and a packed house.

This was an all-day festival that spanned from early afternoon to late at night, and the crowd was in for the long haul. When I showed up, the venue was already full and ready for the music. What's even better is they somehow kept the same energy from the first band to the end of the night — I come across a lot of the same people at the heavier shows around town, and as a non-mosher, I have no idea how these guys have the stamina to be in the pit for hours on end. From a photography perspective, I found myself having to sit some sets out and chill in the back or off to the side a lot of the time because of the action on the floor — the last thing I'd want to do is get in the middle of all that, especially with a camera, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love seeing that type of energy during a show.

While I was familiar with a decent amount of the bands on this bill, I was excited to see some bands for the first time like Prone, JawJacked, Egocide, and Until They Bleed. Obviously, I had heard many of these names through the grapevine, but never got the chance to see around half the bands on the lineup, but I'm glad the time finally came with this show. There wasn't a single weak performance throughout the day, and I highly recommend seeing these bands live because no matter how good their production is on their recorded music, the studio versions don't do justice to the raw energy of a live show.

One surprise for me was getting to see Escape Velocity, who had gone through some lineup changes since the last time I saw them earlier this spring — while they had established a reputation as an instrumental act, the band now has the vocalist Mark "Ralz" Cessna in the fold, who adds an extra layer of heaviness to their music. This was my first time seeing them perform with a vocalist, and after seeing their set I feel like Cessna's a great addition to the band and I'm excited to hear what their new music will sound like with him in the mix.

Donnybrook has also established quite the reputation around the eastern Carolina area since their debut last year — as one of the heaviest bands in the region, if not the absolute heaviest, these guys have garnered a dedicated fanbase that will happily see them any chance they can, regardless of where they're playing, and the Carolina Heavyweights show was no exception. I happily just stood in the back next to Corte Dixon's drumset while they were playing, because the thought of shooting while that pit was raging didn't sound like a very good idea to me. They're definitely the heaviest band I've ever seen, and they had no problem meeting the crowd's energy with even more musical aggression. The band had the audience in their hands, with everyone losing their minds when they closed their set with their debut single, "Tar Tongue."

Defile the Crown ended the night with what felt like a very fast set that flew by quickly, likely to meet the curfew for the venue. Regardless, everyone still had the same energy for as long as their set lasted, and there was even a quick encore due to fan demand. Frontman Aaron Johnson had done a couple guest vocals during the other bands' sets, and with this being his event, he had no problem doing his thing and working the crowd throughout the day. While it felt like it just came and went, everyone seemed to make sure to have enough gas in the tank to come correct for the final band, and Defile tore the room up for as long as they could, leaving everyone still wanting more.

Like I said earlier, in spite of all the changes that came to the lineup over the course of the last few months, the Carolina Heavyweights Exhibition was a success and one of many examples of why it's important to support local music. Personally, I would love to see this become an annual event, because it did a great job of spotlighting heavy bands from both North and South Carolina — we have JimFest at the beginning of the year, which showcases both rock and metal bands, but to have something like Carolina Heavyweights in the summer for some of the more extreme and hardcore bands would be a great thing to add to the local show calendar each year. At the end of the day, that's up to someone a lot smarter than me, but one thing's certain — Aaron Johnson and the bands knocked it out of the park with this show, and it's great to see the local scene continuing to thrive in Wilmington, NC.