Festival Review: Rock on the Range 2016 Day 1

Simply put, this is one of my favorite weekends of the year. For eight straight years, a contingent from The Music Pill has been traveling from all over the Midwest to meet in Columbus, OH the weekend before memorial day for North America’s biggest rock and metal festival. The weekend features nearly 60 bands on three stages over three days, and boasts a complete sell out audience of 120,000 for the weekend. It’s become the pinnacle of the concert season for me, and provided the setting for some of the most unique, memorable, and amazing shows of my long concert history.

Rock on the Range 2016 was no different – the festival celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this year, and did so in style by putting together their most unique and star-studded lineup yet. Staying true to it’s identity, the ROTR festival featured bands from countless sub-genres, resulting in a weekend that everyone could love. The three day festival boasted headliners of Disturbed, Rob Zombie, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Music Pill was there to capture it all.

As I’ve done the past couple years, I’ll do three separate posts – one for each day of Rock on the Range 2016. My hope is that by reading this, you either get to relive the madness that you experienced a few weeks ago, or you weren’t there, and you get so bummed that it finally convinces you to give ROTR 2017 a shot. If I’ve done that, I consider this coverage a major success.

So lets get rolling! Below is a detailed analysis of which shows were rock solid, which were slightly disappointing, and which ones blew my mind.

Happy Reading!

Concert Review: Mumford & Sons

I’ll admit that Mumford & Sons isn’t the typical band that I review. Clearly we gravitate towards the harder stuff on this site, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate great music of all kinds, and I think Mumford & Sons clearly fits that mold. The band is full of talented musicians who really love what they do, and their quick ascent to worldwide fame indicates that they struck a chord with a much broader fan base than anyone expected. I’ve heard so many good things about their live shows, and decided a long time ago that I needed to go see for myself if they were as captivating as I’ve been told. I finally got that opportunity when Indianapolis was given the last spot on the recent Arrow Through the Heartland Tour. The show got pushed back a day due to the Pacers schedule, but went off without a hitch on a Sunday evening, and it was undoubtedly a sight to be seen.

Concert Review: Dropkick Murphys

College taught me many things, but none more important than the fact that any St. Patty’s day party worth sneezing at ends the night with the song “Kiss Me, I’m S***faced” by Dropkick Murphys. It’s one of the most ridiculously fun Irish songs around, and it became a staple among my college friends. In fact, one of those friends (Bryan) insists on wearing an obnoxious green shirt with that song title featured prominently across the front whenever he gets the chance. As much as I hate that stupid shirt, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Dropkick Murphys, partially because of fond memories of those college years. For years I’d been looking for the chance to see them live, and for some reason it had never worked out.

Fast forward nearly fifteen years – Dropkick Murphys schedules a 20th anniversary show at one of my favorite venues in Cincinnati (Bogarts). There was just no way that I could turn this show down, even though it was on a Sunday night.

Concert Review: Glassjaw

Recently, a group of us headed up to Chicago to catch out Coheed and Cambria and Glassjaw at The Aragon Ballroom. A previous post covered the fantastic Coheed and Cambria show, as well as detailed what makes The Aragon Ballroom such a cool venue. (Check out that post here). Typically, we would have included some notes on the opener in that post, however, Glassjaw was really interesting, and so we felt it merited it’s own post. Here’s some notes!

As the resident post-hardcore fan of The Music Pill, Glassjaw is a long time favorite of mine. Over the years they’ve been through a variety of line up changes, but have always remained pretty true to their original sound. The latest incarnation includes bassist Travis Sykes and drummer Chad Hasty, both previously from Glass Cloud. It has been many years since I’ve seen Glassjaw, and this show was the first time for the current lineup, so I was cautiously optimistic. Glassjaw started their show with a medley of the first two songs off their album Worship and Tribute (Their best overall album in my opinion), “Tip your Bartender,” and “Mu Empire.” These two were a great combination of songs that feature lots of energy as well as catchy choruses. Guitarist Justin Beck has always had a very cool guitar tone, and it really cut through at the Aragon. Surprisingly, Daryl’s vocals were a bit more tame then usual, but sounded really good in the mix. As usual, his unique blend of scream/growls/clean singing was on point. New comers Travis and Chad, really seemed to fit the band’s latest sound and image, and I was impressed how tight they all sounded.

Concert Review: Coheed and Cambria

Coheed has been around for a couple decades now, and it didn’t take them long to climb up my list of favorite bands. In a music landscape where monotony is so common, bands like Coheed stand out because they create something so unique. Coheed’s creative engine, Claudio Sanchez, exudes artistic ability in nearly every way: he has great songwriting, boasts a one-of-a-kind singing voice, and even has created a complex comic series called The Armory Wars that their albums narrate. In addition, their live show is really something to be seen. They are currently on a trek with Glassjaw to support their latest album, which created a perfect opportunity to catch a great band, see Glassjaw for the first time, and scope out a new venue. So my gang hit the road for the monotonous drive up I-65 towards Chicago.

Rock on the Range 2016: Lineup Announcement

Rock on the Range released it’s lineup on Monday, and after two days of letting it marinate, I had to get some thoughts down on what is sure to be a fantastic, record-setting weekend in Columbus. Rock on the Range is North America’s biggest rock festival, and they are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. For the eighth straight year, The Music Pill will be gathering our crew and heading from Indianapolis to Columbus to participate in the chaos.

Here is a breakdown of the lineup, including my opinion on the headliners, a breakdown of many of the middle-of-the-pack bands, a few bands that have something to prove, and some can’t miss bands that you may never have heard of. Hope you enjoy!

Concert Review: Amaranthe

Amaranthe, Butcher Babies, and Lullwater
November 5th, 2015
The Palace Theater – Stafford Springs, CT

As a fan of heavy music, I always look for unique and creative bands that separate themselves from the masses. I’m always looking for that band that stretches my understanding of music and genres and makes me think. Enter Amaranthe: a Swedish metal band that blends power metal, death metal, electronica, and pop-style vocals to create sound that makes you want to mosh and sing at the same time. They have great musicians, and feature three vocalists, using male/female co-lead singers to pair with a third vocalist who focuses only on screams. As I started digging into this band, I found myself becoming a really big fan. For the past several years, I’ve been trying to catch an Amaranthe show, and they just hadn’t played a show in the Midwest that worked with my schedule. However, I would finally get my chance to the see the mighty Amaranthe when their tour schedule and a work trip of mine crossed paths in a small town in Connecticut.

Concert Review: Clutch

Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and The Shrine
Psychic Warfare Tour – Oct 13th, 2015
The Vogue Theater – Indianapolis, IN

Anytime I get the chance to see Clutch, I take it – no questions asked. They are veterans of the stage, with over two decades under their belt and the original lineup in tact. Their music touches just about every genre on the planet – maybe most evident by a relatively new song called DC Sound Attack, that features a killer Go-Go beat on a cowbell as a prominent theme. Seemingly nothing is out of bounds for Clutch – Metal, stoner rock, blues, southern rock, and many more fall right in their wheelhouse, and the result is a seemingly endless catalog of fantastic songs, and albums that range from solid to absolute classic. However, in my humble opinion, their real brilliance only comes to life during their show. Oh man that live show…

My most recent opportunity to catch them live was at The Vogue in Indy, which is a great small venue in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis. (Recently, Nonpoint and 10 Years performed there). Clutch was on tour supporting their latest (eleventh!) album, called Psychic Warfare, and hit Indy on a rainy October day. To open up the night, The Shrine and Corrosion of Conformity both put on really good shows, and my initial introduction to both bands was one of pleasant surprise. As CoC finished their show, I snagged one last Sun King WeeMac and headed to the front of the venue. Something told me that the mob was about to go wild… My expectations couldn’t be higher Clutch – let’s do this.

Concert Review: Foo Fighters @ Wrigley

The Foo Fighters
Sonic Highway World Tour – Aug 29th, 2015
Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL

In 2014, The Foo Fighters released an HBO special entitled “Sonic Highway”. In the documentary, which Dave Grohl called a “love letter to the history of American music”, the Foo Fighters toured the country visiting eight music-laden cities, like Nashville, Austin, LA, New Orleans, and more. In each city, they wrote and recorded a song that paid homage to the history of music in that town, and the result was their latest album, also titled Sonic Highway. It was amazing experiment that not only paid tribute to music of all kinds, but also gave insight into how The Foo Fighters write songs from very real inspiration. The first episode of the documentary, and possibly my favorite episode, talks about Chicago, and the beginning of Dave Grohl’s interest in punk music. Chicago is the place where Dave went to visit his cousin Tracy as a teenager, and ended up seeing his first live show: Naked Raygun at the Cubby Bear. This episode of the documentary also resulted in the best song on the album – a killer track called Something from Nothing.

Shortly after the documentary and the album dropped, rumors started circulating about a Foo Fighters tour. In all my years of going to concerts, The Foo Fighters have always eluded me – so my antennas were up. The first show I saw announced was a one-off performance at Wrigley Field, across the street from The Cubby Bear. What an epic chance to catch The Foo Fighters for the first time live. On October 27, 2014, nearly a year before the actual show, tickets went on sale, and my crew was ready. We had 7 people logged on trying to get tickets, and fortunately enough, two of us got through (the tickets sold out in minutes). Finally, after 15 years of listening to their music, I was going to be able to see Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters live, and in one of my favorite places in all of the country – Wrigleyville. I could not wait for this experience.

Concert Review: 10 Years / Nonpoint

10 Years / Nonpoint
When The Sky Cracks Open Tour – Friday, July 17th, 2015
The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN

As my music tastes have matured, I have really started gravitating towards what I like to call mid-major bands. Taken from world of college athletics, my analogy alludes to bands that may not be as well known as some others, but have no trouble standing toe to toe with any of the powerhouses. Sure, I love catching bands like Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, and Machine Head in front of 10,000 fans. But for my money, a small venue show of a band like Clutch, Aranda, Shaman’s Harvest, Foxy Shazam, or Crobot can be equally as entertaining. There’s just something about these smaller bands that seems more personal, and easier to connect with.

This tour featured two great mid majors – 10 Years and Nonpoint have both been around for a decade, and are a great example of smaller bands that do absolutely everything right. I’ve been a fan of both of these bands for years – I remember my introduction to 10 Years in 2006 at a local festival, (which caused me to sing Wasteland for two months straight). I also remember my first Nonpoint show – a mud-soaked, sweat-drenched, nonstop mosh pit party on the Jager stage at Rock on the Range in 2010 that I will never forget. A rare chance to catch both of these bands at a great small venue 20 minutes from my house? SOLD!