Category Archives: Festival Reviews: USA

Rock on the Range Live at Mapfre Stadium

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What began at Crew Stadium in 2007 as a one day festival with 14 bands has evolved into a three-day festival with around 60 bands each year. Since its humble beginnings of Rock on the Range, it has sold out. In 2007, the fest sold out at only 30,000 tickets compared to this year’s 140,000 tickets. ROTR has become the “mecca” of rock fests on the east coast. Rockers AKA “Rangers” migrate by the thousands to Mapfre Stadium in Ohio from across the globe to attend. A spiritual pilgrimage of sorts for die-hard rock fans perhaps? I can only speak for myself, but it is an amazing experience to embrace the many cultures.

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Welcome To Rockville 2018 Live At Metropolitan Park

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What happens when you take a tired musician and send him to Welcome to Rockville? You AMP him beyond belief, yes pun intended. As I stood in line waiting to get into the venue, I could feel the wave of emotions in the air. Shouts of joy and chants from all over, spurred on by local rock hype group “The Rockvillans”, were just the tip of what I was about to experience.

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Back To The Beach Festival, Huntington Beach, California

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Travis Barker is a man of many talents. One of those talents is playing host to some damn good shows. The most recent iteration, hot off the heels of Barker’s Musink in March, was in the form of the (hopefully) first annual Back to the Beach festival—a punk/ska/reggae revival wherein Travis joined forces with John “Feldy” Feldmann of Goldfinger fame.Continue reading →


Musink Festival Live At The Costa Mesa OC Fairgrounds

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The Costa Mesa OC Fairgrounds once again played host to Travis Barker’s music and tattoo convention, 11th annual Musink Festival, a Danny Wimmer Presents shindig.Continue reading →


Black Label Society – Corrosion of Conformity – EyeHateGod At House Of Blues Chicago

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The brotherhood of the Almighty Black Label Society brought its POWAH and PAIN to the Chicago chapter in the Grimmest of ways on January 3rd 2018. Loud and Proud is how Zakk Wylde does it to kick off the New Year on an ice-filled, frozen city kind of evening. With Zakk embarking tours supporting Book of Shadows II (eOne), Zakk Sabbath, and of course performing with Ozzy it’s been over 2 years since BLS has taken the Blessed Hellride. The family of the House of Blues Chicago BLS DOOM crew came out in droves and packed the hall to the limit on a sub-zero night in Chicago. The house wasn’t heating up inside, it was burning up! The anticipation of the crowd was insurmountable – ready to rock with Father Zakk and the crew once again.Continue reading →


Aftershock 2017: Live At Discovery Park

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The latest concert series bestowed upon us by venerable Danny Wimmer Presents was held—for its sixth year—at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California. This year’s iteration of the Aftershock Festival boasted three stages (Monster, Blackcraft, and the Capital stage), dozens of vendors and supporters, and a respectable thirty-five-band lineup. Continue reading →


Rock Allegiance 2017: Live At BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ

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On a perfect autumn day in October, the 3rd annual Rock Allegiance Festival rolled into BB&T Pavilion & Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden NJ and over 20,000 rock and metal fans took in a great one-day event. Twenty bands played on three stages while fans of all ages enjoyed food and a fun atmosphere that included a riverside view of Philadelphia and a great VIP area on a real Navy battleship! Continue reading →


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Riot Fest 2017 – Douglas Park, Chicago

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Nine Inch Nails at Riot Fest 2017, by Omar Cordy/OJC PICS

Riot Fest was started a few years back in the grand spirit of the old school one-off festivals of lore. It was intended to be special from the get-go and they have done a reasonable job of sandwiching themselves into a busy summer of Lollapalooza, Chicago Open Air, and many other destination festival shows. Having a mix of alternative rock, metal, Hip-Hop, indie rock, and more has helped carve out its own niche, and between special performances, varied food and beer options, late-night after parties, and basically the cool factor Chicago offers as one of the best cities in America, it’s no wonder fans flocked to the event from all over the world.Continue reading →


Louder Than Life At Champions Park, Louisville KY

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Fans from around the world gathered at Champion’s Park in Louisville, KY for Louder than Life’s 4th year. Still young in fest years, it was hoped Ozzy Osborne with Zakk Wylde by his side would bring in generations of rockers. This goal was met and, in total, over 60,000 fans were in attendance. This is the largest crowd to date for Louder than Life.Continue reading →


Chicago Open Air – Daytona Park, Bridgeview, IL

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Korn at Chicago Open Air, by Isabel Uzcategui/Originate Designs Photography

Fans gathered from around the USA and even the far reaches of the globe to attend the second annual Chicago Open Air festival. Although Rock On The Range, Louder than Life, Aftershock and others wear the crown for the greatest commercial rock and metal festivals in America, COA is poised to challenge both of those fests. Over 70,000 fans from everywhere came out to the fest in one of America’s greatest cities to see 40 bands on two stages. From what Ghost Cult saw, heard, tasted, and imbibed this weekend, this is a legit possibility. Continue reading →