Rock on the Range 2017: Lineup Analysis

We’re closing in on May, and that means that Rock on the Range 2017 is quickly approaching. ROTR is North America’s biggest rock festival and year after year, it has hosted the best lineup, the biggest crowd, and the best organization of any festival attended by The Music Pill. Quite simply, it sets the standard.

This will be the ninth straight year that The Music Pill is lucky enough to attend this great event, and I can assure you that there’s no shortage of excitement in this camp! In fact, we’re desperate for any excuse to turn our attention towards anything ROTR, and because of that, we’re releasing our in-depth Rock on the Range 2017 Lineup Analysis.

The past few years, we’ve channeled our obsessive focus on the weeks leading up to ROTR by providing a detailed lineup analysis. The analysis below is for people who may not know all the bands in this years lineup, newcomers to the ROTR festival, or other people who are desperate for a legitimate excuse to focus on how amazing this festival will be.

The Rock on the Range 2017 Lineup Analysis below provides a detailed look at the landscape for this year’s ROTR. We provide commentary on what you might expect based on previous experiences, other shows and tours we’ve seen, and the current status of the bands. The bands are grouped by the slot they were given: the headliners, the top-tier bands, and the mid-tier bands. In addition, we include some bands that have something to prove, and suggest some can’t miss shows that may not be on you radar.

Rock on the Range 2015: Day 1

Seven years ago, I was 23 years old, just out of college, and had all the free time in the world. I was single, with no kids, and lived in an apartment. It was also the first year that a friend of mine happened to stumble onto some info about an up and coming festival called Rock on the Range. I’ve been in love ever since. This past weekend, for the seventh consecutive year, a group of my crazy, music-obsessed friends from all over the midwest (nine of us this year) piled into a rental van and headed to Columbus to catch the 2015 version of the mighty Rock on the Range. We were equipped with every tailgating accessory you can possibly imagine (planned to the minute detail), and a perfect concert weather forecast: clouds and a little tiny bit of rain.

As the festival has grown each year, so has my blogging effort. This year, like last, I will do three separate blogs on the three separate days of this festival. First up – a Friday lineup packed with great bands, and headlined by my favorite band, Slipknot. I was juiced when we got to Columbus, and even though some of us had driven all night to get there by 10am, I couldn’t get into the venue fast enough.

My only hope: that this year would simply live up to previous year’s incredible experiences. That’s no easy feat my friends. ROTR 2015 – I’ve been looking forward to you for exactly 362 days. Let’s do this.