Rock on the Range 2015: Day 3
Sunday 5/17/2015
Mapfre Stadium – Columbus, OH
Day Three of Rock on the Range 2015. This day’s lineup featured a lineup as diverse as ever – with the chance to see Crobot again, a Halestorm show that I was hoping would surprise me, and a Tech N9ne show that was sure to be an outlier in a day full of hard rock and metal. On top of that, it was all culminating for a massive Linkin Park show to headline the weekend. We loaded up the van for the third straight day, with a slight headache and my beloved Monster Rehab, headed back to Mapfre Stadium for the grand finale.
Art of Dying
The day opened up with Art of Dying, a band that was introduced to me at ROTR in 2011 (see the review here), and they were a pleasant surprise. Get Through This and Die Trying were strong enough tracks to peak my interest, and I was excited to see what was in store for this band. Fast forward 4 years, and I haven’t heard much from them since. Unfortunately, this show didn’t quite stack up well to the previous one. I still enjoyed a handful of their songs, including a surprisingly fun version of Rise Up, but overall show seemed like a slightly less energetic version of the one four years ago and didn’t feature anything that stood out or felt unique. Not a BAD way to open up the day, but I was excited to move on.
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead has caused quite the rift in the music world – to some they are the incredibly fun party animals, and to others they are childish punks. LI’ll be the first to admit I am the former. The fusion of rock, metal, and nonstop party lyrics is different, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it makes me feel like I’m in college. If “pregaming” was still a concept that my body (and society) was comfortable with me doing, I would pregame to Hollywood Undead nonstop. They got a hot start several years back, and have drifted into the background a bit, so I was curious to see how this show went. I’m happy to report that I thought this show went really, really well. Since I caught their show last, they have evolved into an even bigger, more creative spectacle. They fail my “maximum number of on-stage mics” test, but I was surprised that their vocals were really solid, and even without Deuce, they sounded strong. Songs like Everywhere I Go, Undead, Day of the Dead, and Hear Me Now brought their instant party to the crowd, and I had a blast listening to them. The show certainly wasn’t perfect, and they aren’t game changing musicians, but it was a strong show, and they have added enough new content to keep their show interesting and dynamic. No blame if Hollywood Undead isn’t your thing, and as a music critic, I wasn’t blown away, but as a fan, I had a heck of a time. If I had to guess, that’s all Hollywood Undead caresd about anyway. Kudos to a fun set.
Crobot
I saw Crobot last year at ROTR, and they absolutely blew me away. I became a huge fan overnight, to the point that later last year, I drove to Louisville for Louder than Life to catch them again. They did not disappoint here – this show matched the insane talent, energy, and passion that they played with last year, and to be honest, I really felt that this show turned up the funk a notch (which I did NOT think was possible). As I watched this show, I really focused on the musicians rather than the lead singer (not an easy feat), and I was thoroughly impressed with the band as individual musicians. They have the chops to back up every ounce of their live show antics. Why is this band great? Because it’s unique, and its comprised of really, REALLY good musicians. Elite musicians. If you want proof, go catch a show, or go check out this show on YouTube. A few people I was with had yet to be introduced to Crobot, so it was great to see their jaws drop during the show. I loved this show, and it was everything I was hoping that it’d be. Highlights include The Necromancer, where lead singer Brandon Yeagley absolutely destroyed the Harmonica (because of course he does), and Skull of Gerinomo, which isn’t usually my favorite song of theirs, but listening to the high notes soar in this song really blew me away. I simply can’t argue that they are “Crobot. C. R. O. B. O. T. and funkified to the third degree”. Damn right they are. AWESOME show.
Upon a Burning Body
This was dangerously close to a “lay in the grass” break for me, but I sucked it up and decided to check out a band that was new to me. Upon a Burning Body is an intense deathcore band from San Antonio signed to Sumerian, and while I typically don’t delve into that genre a tremendous amount, I did stick around for this band, and I was very impressed. Solid musicians, highlighted by great guitar work by Sal Dominguez, and a far-above-average crowd for a side-stage band. The clear highlight of this show, and a memory that will stick with me for a while, was the song Texas Blood Money, where the band sent a circle pit around the sound booth while thousands screamed EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TEXAS. I also really dug the song Sin City, even though I didn’t love the “life is terrible and then we die” lyrics. Great show, and impressive crowd engagement for a deathcore band at a festival focused mostly on rock. Color me impressed.
Volbeat
I love Volbeat so much. They are talented and experienced and their music is amazing and really weird all at once, and it’s great. I’ve admitted before that Volbeat took a while for me to figure out, but after years of being a confused, silly American, I have finally been converted into a huge fan. (I’m not alone here – they have 5 certified gold albums, yet remained unheard of on the US scene until just three years ago) I was amped to see this show, and about 2 minutes into the show, when Michael Poulsen asked us to make some noise from Lola Montez, I pretty much lost my mind. Volbeat threw incredible song after incredible song at us, hitting Dead but Rising, Sad Man’s Tongue, The Hangman’s Body Count, and on and on. By the time we got to The Warrior’s Call, I turned to a buddy of mine and said “I’m pretty sure this is the best band of all time.” Now, that might have been sliiiight exaggeration, but seriously, there’s not much to dislike here – Volbeat is critically acclaimed in every possible way, they put on an incredible show, and they write songs that would make Johnny Cash and Ronnie James Dio proud at the same time. I was particularly impressed with their musicianship in this show – ex-Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano had an absolutely amazing solo on Sad Man’s Tongue that somehow I have missed the first three thousand times I listened to that song. I also loved the tribute to B.B. King that they did – King had passed away the day before, which was a nice touch that even further proves that these guys just love great music. Another very high quality show in the Volbeat bucket.
Tech N9ne
As if my bias on Volbeat wasn’t enough, I have to start this review by admitting that I’m a HUGE Tech N9ne fan. I have a friend from high school that has been forcing Tech on me for 10 years, and while I would pass a polygraph telling you that I can’t stand rap, I truly believe that Tech N9ne is the exception that proves the rule. The first Tech N9ne show I saw completely blindsided me – I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. Something about his performance and his incredible lyrics just hooked me. However, I had some major reserve about how Tech’s show would be received at Rock on the Range. I should have known better than to doubt Tech – he and Krizz Kaliko had this crowd at their fingertips, just like every other crowd I’ve seen them perform in front of. The place was packed, and the passion for Tech coming out of the crowd was electric. People moshed to Midwest Choppers, they shouted and cheered through Am I a Psycho, and they screamed their heads off during Riot Maker. You should have seen that crowd as Tech said “I’m a riot maker, and in case you don’t know….I don’t give a damn about nooooothing.” The place was nuts. I spent the majority of the show in the back, but when the song Einstein hit, I moved up front (in an attempt to get “the house on lock” of course…) I just couldn’t be a spectator anymore – I wanted to get involved. I fought to the front and spent about 10 songs in the third row just losing my mind. Tech and Kutt traded off songs, performing all their hits, while adding the band element ,which I have not seen before. When Tech closed, and walked off stage, the crowd screamed one more song so loud it made my head hurt. Tech did come back on stage, and you could tell he wanted to do one more, but wasn’t allowed to by the festival. When he left the final time, a small group of people shouted at him through the fence as he walked to his trailer. He heard them, turned around, and walked back towards the fence, ignoring the obvious concerns of the security guards that were escorting him. He spent 10 minutes high-fiving every fan that was waiting for him, including yours truly, genuinely thanking every fan he talked to. The whole experience was absolutely amazing. I worried that his show wouldn’t work at a rock festival. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He’s the number one independent rapper in the world for a reason. Every year Rock on the Range has a show that I will never forget. Slipknot 2009. Nonpoint 2010. Avenged Sevenfold 2011. Egypt Central 2013. Jason Bonham 2014. I’d like to introduce everyone to Tech N9ne 2015. Awesome show.
Rise Against
We moved on to Rise Against. I have no beef with Rise Against – they always put on a solid show, and their music is good enough to land them near-headlining slots at big festivals like this. They also pair perfectly with Linkin Park. This was the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen Rise Against, and their performance was strong, but I have to say that there was nothing about it that really wow-ed me. It just felt like more of the same – another solid, A- show that I’ve seen so many times before. Musically, the show was solid, but not the best I’ve heard, and from a production standpoint, other than some lighting, there was nothing going on that created visual interest. There were certainly flashes of brilliance, like the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young cover of the song Ohio that lead singer Tim McIlrath did, as well as the song Prayer of the Refugee, which is just an awesome song. I also loved the song Savior, which Tim McIlrath dedicated to the blood, sweat, and tears that were left at that stadium that weekend. One surprise element that was refreshing and new was a song off their new album, called I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore, which I must have overlooked the first few times through their latest album. Like I said, no strong complaints – it was simply a really solid warm up to Linkin Park. Nothing more and nothing less.
Linkin Park
I was lucky enough to catch a Linkin Park headlining show outside of Chicago last August, and it absolutely blew me away. I went into great detail in my post about that show, so I won’t get too painstaking here, but I went into this show expecting nothing less than perfection, and I’m happy to say that they met nearly every expectation. Linkin Park played for an hour and a half, and delivered a stand out show that stood toe to toe with it’s purpose: to close out a spectacular weekend of music. Linkin Park has the talent, the creativity, the production value, and the variety to deliver a show that’s constantly unique and always changing. I’m really not certain how you could watch this show and be anything but impressed. Chester Bennington is an absolute stud – his screams continue to blow me away, especially for someone really known for his clean vocals. Mike Shinoda continues to excel at rapping/piano/samples/guitar/singing/literally every single thing you could do on stage. (Although to be fair, he did sound like he had a bit of a cold for this show, so it wasn’t his absolute best, but he’s still an incredible). Shinoda had an even bigger solo than I’m used to in this show, spending several songs up there on stage by himself. The whole band is wildly accurate, and almost sounds like they’ve been playing together since I was in high school (/sarcasm). Because I had seen their show recently, I allowed myself to be less of a critic, and more of just a crowd participant, and it was awesome to see this band thrive on stage. Somehow, it still feels like Linkin Park is in their prime, even after all these years.
About 75% of the way through this show, I did something I’ve never done before. I hopped over the fence near the stage, and walked up the stairs towards the back. Thanks to a friend’s hook up, we went into one of the suites at Mapfre stadium, and sat on the balcony to relax, breathe a bit, and enjoy the show from a different perspective. While I was a bit bummed not to see it up close, there is something so incredibly powerful about watching a show like this from far away. So many people. So much power. So many lights. Such great sound, even all the way up where I was. As I sat there, I reminisced about the weekend a bit – and felt very thankful that I am able to travel and watch these shows. I can’t wait to talk to my grandkids about seeing these performances, under the lights.
That’s all she wrote. We headed back to the van, hit the hotel, and got some much needed sleep, before heading back to Indy the next day and back to the real world. That’ll do it for Rock on the Range 2015. If you haven’t seen my other posts, check out Rock on the Range 2015: Day 1 and Rock on the Range 2015: Day 2. For previous year’s content, see these search results, which include reviews from all Rock on the Range back to 2011.
Thanks for reading! Can’t wait for Rock on the Range #8 next year!