(Note: This is a continuation of the Concert Review: Rock on the Range 2011 Day 1)
Rock on the Range 2011
Columbus Crew Stadium – Columbus, OH
5/21-5/22
Day 2. The previous entire day was spent drinking, pushing, screaming, singing, and standing for about 14 straight hours. We woke up tired, sore, sun-burned, dehydrated, and with our ears ringing. Usually, after a day like that, I’m usually debating whether I will ever step foot at a concert again. But not this weekend. This is ROTR baby.
Let’s do this.”
While Sunday’s entire lineup was really good, my excitement for Day Two was really focused around three bands: Bullet for my Valentine (an all-time favorite), A Day to Remember (a new and upcoming favorite), and All that Remains (some Phil Labonte redemption). However, I was also bummed because at the last minute Stone Sour had to pull out of the lineup (and got replaced by Puddle of Mudd, blegh) because Ray Mayorga had a stroke a few days before ROTR (he seems to be doing fine now).
By 9:30, we had eaten our bomblettes (a term I invented to describe our amazingly good breakfast at the hotel restaurant) and were ready to roll. By 10:30, we were in the parking lot playing baseball (which is an awesome drinking game that combines flippy cup and beer pong). At 11:00, we were in all out tailgating mode, grilling hot dogs, brats, and burgers, and drinking with our friends from Wisconsin that we hook up with every year. And finally, at 12:30, we were once again strolling towards the entrance to Crew Stadium, the flasks strapped to our inner thighs causing us to limp just slightly.
Once inside, I completely forgot about Stone Sour, and was just inundated with good music. We saw so many good shows that day: all in all, it was a much stronger day that Saturday. Once again, it would be impossible to discuss all the shows we saw, so here’s my top 5 from Sunday.
5. Art of Dying
Art of Dying’s show had a ton of energy, with all three front guys jumping around and flinging their long hair all over the place. Their sound was really fine tuned (which is a rarity on the Jager stage), and the vocalists voice, which is raspy and great, came through extremely clear. (Often times for lesser bands the Jager stage can just sound like a lot of noise). For a relatively unknown band, they sounded very put together and clean. Nothing really specific about their show to call out here, just solid music (highlighted by the songs Get Through This and Die Trying) and tons of crowd interaction that pushed this show to the top of my list. Admittedly, another reason I loved it was because it epitomizes what’s so great about Rock on the Range. Most of the people at that show walked in with no expectations of Art of Dying, but they put on a great show, and have a great new album out. Even better news? Revolver Magazine just named them one of their “Band’s to Watch” for 2011, and they just booked a slot on Rockstar’s Uproar tour this fall. I’ll look forward to seeing you then, bitches.
4. 10 Years
So, I’ve been a fan of this band for a long time….they are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I fell in love with the song Wasteland when I was in college and first starting to go to concerts. Their latest CD Feeding the Wolves was really a ground breaker for them. I saw them for the first time in years when they opened for Sevendust in January, and their show had improved ten-fold in the past 5 years (only a small amount of pun intended). The show at ROTR was dominated for me by Wasteland, as I thought it was really cool to watch such a big crowd sort of pause for a slower song. Also, I really like the songs Shoot it Out and Cast it Out (even though the two song titles are annoyingly closely named). I don’t have a whole lot of other specific memories of this show, other than the whole thing being solid from front to back. All I can read from my notes is that my one criticism is that they did struggle a bit to engage the ENTIRE audience, as they were on the main stage, which I’m guessing is much larger than their typical stage. The rest of my notes look like hodge-podge chicken scratches that basically say “maybe you should have had one less beer in the parking lot”. What can I say…their show was early.
3. All That Remains
Here’s the thing about AtR. I LOVE their music. I always have. I remember the first time I heard the band was when someone recommeded the song Six to me several years back, and I didn’t even know who sang it, so I just googled the song name, and it took me forever to find. Fast forward a few years, and AtR sits solidly in my top 5 current bands. However, I needed Phil Labonte to rock the ROTR show. I’ve seen him sing twice for AtR and once for Killswitch Engage, and my response to his vocals has always been “meh”. I mean, the guitars and the drums and everything else about the band is great, and Phil sounds GREAT on his albums, but live, he’s always just been an average singer for me. I was hoping SO badly that he could redeem himself in this show, and I was extremely suprised….he absolutely KILLED it. It was head and shoulders above how I’ve ever heard him before. He hit notes full on that he had to scratch and growl through in previous shows, and there were even times when he sang higher notes than on the album. I also noticed a significant reduction in the “I’m gonna hold one ear shut so I can hear the pitch I’m on so I can make sure that it’s where it should be” move that he has pulled quite frequently in past shows. He didn’t need that at all for this show. He sounded really good, and I’m so glad.
2. Bullet for My Valentine
So, anyone who reads this blog, or knows me at all, knows that I am obsessed Bullet for my Valentine. They alternate between #2 and #3 on my all time favorite bands list. So, its no surprise that they are at the top of the weekend for me, but I’ve already written a blog about BFMV playing a very similar show to this one, and so I want to focus this blurb on why this particular show was so fun for me. The sheer mass of people at ROTR means that there are that many more people who want to get CRAZY. Now, I am usually one to stand on the side of the mosh pit and pass judgement on others for being stupid. However, I was so excited at this show, and was a perfect amount of the way through my flask, that I decided at 26 years of age it was time to start moshing.
While now I’ll tell you that my two severely bruised ribs and throbbing shoulder weren’t worth it, I’m confident in saying that moshing during a couple songs of this show is one of my favorite concert memories of all time. I specifically remember, coming out to take a break, feeling my shoulder start to hurt, taking a pull off my flask, and going right back in. There was so much energy and power in that stadium I just couldn’t help it. On top of that, the majority of the show where I was just standing and listening, BFMV sounded exceptional. This is a perfect example of a show that was so much better because just under 40,000 people were enjoying it. The video shown here was taken on the complete opposite side of where I was, so you can’t see the massive mosh pits, but trust me, they were there. The best I can say is to stay tuned for the next ROTR blog, which will be a picture blog of the weekend that will include plenty of incriminating evidence. Mostly I blame Matt Tuck. He simply has too much awesome for one person.
1. A Day to Remember
The bottom line is that this show was damn near the price of the entire weekend for me. The show that ADtR put on would top nearly any concert that I have ever been to, and the fact that it didn’t top the ROTR weekend is a true testament to the amazing music that was there all weekend. Before the lineup for ROTR came out in February, I am embarrassed to say that A Day to Remember was a band I had never heard, but as I tried the impossible task of digesting all the new music to prepare for ROTR, this band jumped out right away as something I had really been missing out on. However, as I dug further and watched some of their live videos on YouTube, they really didn’t sound that great live, so while I was highly impressed with the albums, I was a bit apprehensive that the live show might not be worth the excitement. However, ADtR had hands down the most exciting and interesting SHOW in Columbus that weekend. They played on the side stage, and it was absolutely packed. ADtR also had the biggest circle pit I’ve ever seen. It wrapped in a giant circle that was centered around the big sound booth in the middle of the crowd, and people were just running around the circle going crazy. It was really cool. While the lead singer’s voice didn’t blow me away live, it was much better than it sounded in some of the YouTube videos that I watched, and the crowd’s excitement more than compensated.
Between the hundreds of rolls of toilet paper and all the beach balls flying around, I could barely see the stage for the start of their encore, but that didn’t stop the hair on the back of my neck from standing up as they started the opening line to the song Downfall Of Us All. Such a powerful and great conclusion to a nearly perfect show. I also thoroughly enjoyed the simultaneous head banging that they did. In fact, the show was SO good, that it talked me into buying tickets for Warped Tour to see them again. On a weekday. With a bunch of teenagers. Ugh. I feel like I’ll be a chaperon. As my friend said, “Bust out the guy-liner, we’re headed to Warped Tour.”
Other notes on the day:
- I’m glad I can say that I’ve seen Black Label Society, and Zakk Wylde is an amazing guitarist, but…their show was pretty boring. I love guitar solos, but his were 4-5 minutes long, and got really old really quick. I’ll stick to listening to their albums.
- I missed Hollywood Undead AGAIN, for the second straight concert that I’ve been to that they’ve played. Not that I think I would have absolutely loved them, but I would have liked to see them so I could check them off my list. Sort of bummed about that.
- Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was a band that I would have been totally fine never seeing live…but I did get a chance to catch them, and that’s what I get for judging a band based on one song that was decent that came out in high school. Solid show. Honorable mention for me.
- I couldn’t really participate in Disturbed’s show because I was dealing with bruised ribs, but from what I heard, Draiman just can’t sing anymore. This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen them, and he just doesn’t sound very good. I’ll see them again headline the Rockstar Mayhem Festival later this summer, so I’ll get a better gauge then. Hopefully I’m wrong, because Disturbed is one of those bands that has been good for so long, I’d hate to think I missed them while they were good.
- From what I hear A Perfect Circle’s show was pretty good. I am not a huge fan of the psychedelic rock (I made that term up), but I do recognize the talent that APC has. I watched most of their show from the back of the stadium, and while it looked somewhat entertaining, I’m not disappointed that I didn’t really hardcore participate.
Final Notes on Rock on the Range 2011:
I hope that I can return to this show every year. I’ll say again that I think it is hands down the best organized festival in the country, and I give severe props to Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live for pulling off the third consecutive great weekend. We’ll see you next year. Look for a big van full of idiots. Stay tuned for a third blog on ROTR that has all of the pictures of us at the show. Cheers!!
(Rock on the Range 2011 Day 1 Available Here: Rock on the Range 2011: Day 1)
(Rock on the Range 2011 Picture Blog Available Here: Picture Blog: Rock on the Range 2011)