Rock on the Range 2011 Day 1
Columbus Crew Stadium – Columbus, OH
5/21-5/22
This is it my friends. The pinnacle of the concert season. The greatest concert of the year. A 72-hour binge of music, music, and more music. 3 stages. 40 bands. 70,000 people. One night of anticipation, and then two straight days of music for 12 hours. It’s what every concert festival dreams to be. Nearly every major act in the hard rock or mainstream metal genre that is touring or willing to play a show is in attendance. And you better believe that we are as well.
A small group of us discovered this concert in 2009, when it was in its third year of existence. It more than likely would have remained a distant wish, however, as we went over the lineup, I couldn’t help but stare at the fact that the headliner was a little band called Slipknot. After much waffling, a group of four of us decided to make a weekend out of it, and we made the 4 hour drive from Indianapolis to Columbus to check it out. It very well may have been the best concert decision I’ve ever made.
The History:
The original concert in 2009 boasted so many great shows, including performances by Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, The Used, Clutch, and Atreyu. We had such a great time, and were so impressed with the event, that making this an annual event was a no-brainer. A return in 2010 gave us memorable shows by Shaman’s Harvest, Sevendust, Adelita’s Way, Killswitch Engage, and Rise Against (among many, many others), along with an extremely surprising headlining show by Limp Bizkit. It even further solidified our decision that as long as we are able, we will be heading to Columbus in May.
Excitement for Rock on the Range 2011 began roughly three weeks after Rock on the Range 2010. After waiting forever, the line-up was released in February of 2011, and while there was some concern that the music wouldn’t be quite as epic as years past, there was little doubt that it would be a great weekend. The original four of us spent so much time talking it up, the amount of people wanting to make the trip started going up and up, and by late spring of 2011, we had 10 people who wanted to make the trip.
In addition, being our third straight year made us sort of experts when it comes to the logistics of the situation. Going in, we knew exactly what tickets to buy, where to park, what to bring, how to navigate the insane crowd to get to all the shows that we want to see, how to survive two straight days of standing in the sun listening to music, etc. We even decided to rent a van and ride over all together. All in all, we knew this weekend was going to be GREAT.
The Venue:
Simply put, ROTR is the most well-organized concert I have ever been to. The venue is excellent. The security staff is in the right place at the right time, and does exactly what they are needed to do. The stages are well set up, easy to get to, and each have great character. The whole thing runs smoothly. It’s just a fantastically run show. I specifically sent an email to the organizers at AEG to tell them how great the show is run this past year. It’s that impressive.
At Rock on the Range, there are three distinct stages that all have their own flavor and experience. As far as festival stages go, the main stage at Columbus Crew Stadium is as good as it gets. It holds an enormous amount of people and is just so impressive to see. Its the single most impressive concert scene that I’ve seen. The second stage (or side stage) is another medium to large sized stage that can handle a lot of people but still gives an intimate, smaller stage feeling. Finally, the third stage, or Jager stage, which is sandwiched on the backside of the venue in a long, narrow area, is tight and compact, which allows for great smaller shows. Really, all three of them are great, and if I took my top 5 memories of bands at ROTR, I can guarantee that all three stages would make an appearance on the list.
The Saturday Shows:
There are so many good shows, even on this first day, I couldn’t possibly mention them all, so for now, you get the top 5 shows. I know that I will be seeing some of these bands again, so I can blog about them more in depth at that time.
5. Asking Alexandria
Performing early in the day on the side stage, Asking Alexandria, an English metalcore band, put on a great show from start to finish. I had never heard of this band before they got added to the ROTR bill (late, as the result of a cancellation), and I am really glad they did. I really enjoyed their lead singer, who covered up several issues (including a guitar amp going out and the fact that he announced one of the songs wrong) perfectly, with humor. The Final Episode, which is quickly climbing my list of favorite songs, was awesome live. The crowd went nuts when screaming OH. MY. GOD. to start the song. I distinctly remember thinking that fact that we had finally arrived at ROTR during this show. I’d love to see these guys again.
4. Korn
So, I’ve seen Korn tons of times. They are always good. But believe me when I tell you, this show was INSANE. It was absolutely nuts. We were two or three rows back from fence when this show started, and it immediately went crazy. As someone who’s survived the pit at death metal concerts and made it through Jumpdafuckup in the front row of a Slipknot show, I am no stranger to crowds pushing and moving and falling and crowd surfing, but I am telling you this was the most insanely physical and awesomely painful show I’ve ever been to. It’s really not even close. For the first time ever, I couldn’t take it and bailed from the front and moved back so I could see more. I’m so glad I did, because when I stepped back and actually watched this show, it was so great. (Even though Jonathan Davis was wearing an ADIDAS track suit instead of a kilt). This show had so much energy and power. I’ve never simultaneously loved a show, and been so glad that it was over in my entire life. I’m telling you, I still shudder to this day when I hear a Korn song.
3. 2 Cents
This band gets the “Best Surprise Band” award for me. I listened to their CD a few times before we left for the show, and thought that they may be really good. However, what I expected (a relatively young group of guys just starting out who didn’t know how to be on a stage) was completely off-base. As we walked up to the Jager stage, what we saw was a seasoned group of guys who owned the stage. The lead vocalist did a fantastic job of leading the tightly packed Jager stage, doing goofy dances and mocking the crowd for not being active enough. He stopped Dressed to Kill right in the middle of the show to mock the people stage right because they were just standing there. “Did you come here to hear some emo bullshit? Do you want me to pass out razor blades so you can all cut yourselves and whine about it to each other?” Not only was he a great lead, but the band sounded great. Their music was just up my alley, and he sounded great on vocals. They definately made a fan out of me. I hope they plan on touring soon.
2. Sick Puppies
So, before this weekend, Sick Puppies was just another middle of the ground band for me. They got lumped in with bands like Theory of a Deadman and Drowning Pool. They put out decent music that I liked if I heard, but never really paid attention to. However, Sick Puppies’ show at ROTR blew me away. First off, I was surprised how powerful they sounded for only having three people. Mostly, this was because all three musicians are really top notch. I’m always a big fan of bassists, because usually their music isn’t insanely difficult and so they can have a real impact on the show, but Emma Anzai is one of the best. Not only does she sing great backup vocals, and have a great time on stage, but let me tell you, she plays the SHIT out of that bass. She was so fun to watch. Overall, I was shocked at how captive the audience for this show was, and this is now a classic case for me of a band that doesn’t stand out musically, but puts on a show that’s easily worth paying for. (Although, I really do like their song Riptide).
1. Avenged Sevenfold
I know. I know. I get it. “You’ve seen this show before. It was the exact same show as you saw and blogged about in January.” I don’t care. The show was awesome. It was so good that even though I was trying to recover from the the beating I took during Korn, I couldn’t help myself from sneaking back up front. I ended up against the fence for several of the slower songs that they do for The Rev. In fact, they started talking about how the last show The Rev played was at Rock on the Range 2009, and the crowd went crazy. The bottom line is, A7X’s show blew my mind again. If you have’t seen a show on the Nightmare Tour, please do it. It’s worth it. I promise.
Other notes on the day:
- Alter Bridge wasn’t as good of a show as I’d hoped. I love the dude’s voice, but he pretty much just stood there and sang. I’d like to see them as a headliner.
- Escape the Fate was also excellent, despite how gay my friends thought their lead singer was. I thought their show was very good.
- Rev Theory was also great. The terrible TV show Blue Mountain State got me interested in them, along with some historical songs that were pretty decent. I enjoyed their show, but unfortunately it was early and I don’t remember much about it.
- Hinder is still marginal.
- Staind sounded great, but Aaron Lewis is a bitch and completely acted like he didn’t want to be there. Kinda bummed about that.
Thats all for now. Stay tuned for another blog about Sunday, as well as a picture blog of the weekend. Cheers!
(Blog Continued Here: Concert Review: Rock on the Range 2011 Day 2)