Concert Review: Avenged Sevenfold

Recently, The Music Pill got the chance to sneak up to Ft. Wayne, IN on a Tuesday night to check out a fantastic show at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The show featured four really solid bands. Swedish Metal band Avatar opened and were followed by Killswitch Engage and Volbeat. Filling out the bill was the explosive Avenged Sevenfold.

The review below compares Avatar and Killswitch to recent shows that I’ve already reviewed, and then dives a bit deeper on Volbeat and Avenged Sevenfold. Hope you enjoy!

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!

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!

Festival Review: Rock on the Range 2014 – Day 2

Rock on the Range Day 2. As I gathered my old, nearly-30 year old self up on Saturday morning to get in the shower at 8am and get ready for the day (which included recovering from some ill-advised White Castle sliders the night before), I’d be remiss if I didn’t utter “man…this thing used to only be two days…”. But, nonetheless, I was excited, and we were out in the parking lot at 9am, getting the grill ready and preparing for a great day of music. This would prove to be one of the strongest days of the weekend, and one that came out of nowhere a bit with some great side stage bands.

Without further ado – Here’s Rock on the Range 2014 Day 2 broken down.