The opening day of the 4th annual Rock On The Range was a weird day weather wise, with sunshine creeping through clouds and brief drizzles. As nearly 20 bands descended on bustling Columbus Crew Stadium, the biggest names and [...]]]>

Day 1 @ ROTR is in the books, Day 2 starts soon.

The opening day of the 4^th annual Rock On The Range was a weird day weather wise, with sunshine creeping through clouds and brief drizzles. As nearly 20 bands descended on bustling Columbus Crew Stadium, the biggest names and hard rock and metal collided. 30,000+ made their way into the stadium in what was referred to as the festival’s biggest crowd to date to witness a mixed bag of good, bad and sloppy performances.

Much like the weather on Day 1, the bands that played the first day of Rock on the Range varied greatly. Some bands impressed, while others disappointed. But after checking out Day 1 at ROTR 2010, here is who takes my three stars of the day:

Star #1- Killswitch Engage. With lead singer Howard Jones playing his first show since coming back from a “personal break” that he took from the band during their winter tour, Killswitch played with a fire that showed that the band picked up right where they left off. Spanning their catalog of albums, Killswitch had the Kicker Stage going for a 45-minute set. Guitarist Adam D was his usual comedic self and the crowd ate it all up as crowd surfing and empty beer bottle throwing was the norm throughout the set. And the crowd did go crazy as the band launched into their closer, the Dio classic “Holy Diver.” In a day that varied greatly, Killswitch Engage proved that they are dependable as always.

Star #2: Helmet. The band’s mastermind, Page Hamilton, just turned 50 but compared to the boredom-inducing tone of some of the bands, Helmet had more energy during the band’s 35-minute set than I saw from guys half his age today. Playing a fan favorite set which included the grunge-era mainstays “Unsung” and “In The Meantime,” Helmet didn’t perform to the biggest crowd of the day, but they may have had some of the best mosh pits of the day and the people that did attend, saw a band re-energized and ready to go in the new year.

Star #3: Sevendust. Being the first band on the main stage was not the best scheduling strategy, but long time hard rock warriors Sevendust did a fine job in their 30-minute set. With guitarist Clint Lowery back in town, the band sounded tight and got the fans out of the weather doldrums and made the most of their set.

Other Notes:

-If you were there, I am sure you saw the trainwreck of a performance by Puddle of Mudd earlier this afternoon. It looked like lead singer Wes Scantlin was on a different page than the rest of the band, switching lyrics mid-song during the set and in a very ADD style, taking three tries to get fan favorite “She Hates Me” started. It got confusing and you could tell at least the lead singer had been partying just a little bit too early. Good cover of “TnT” by AC/DC though.

-The Deftones decided to use the first part of their set to play most of the band’s new album. But let’s be honest- even though the new album is good, the band has been gone for a while and the band’s more feverish tracks were in order. It seemed to me that the crowd seemed puzzled as to how to react to the band and the lack of enthusiasm was already zapped out of the crowd by the time the band played some older material. Love the band, but this was not one of their better performances.

-I didn’t know what to make from Rise Against’s performance. I like the band, and have seen them a bunch of times, but I don’t know if the Budweiser drinking, downhome folks of Ohio viewed a Vegan band from Chicago as one of them. The band seemed to make it out ok, but wasn’t blowing a lot of people away in the crowd.

On Day 1, I did interviews with Ryan of Puddle of Mudd and Richy Nix. Those interviews will be up within the next few days. Now, it’s time to chill out and get ready for the Limp Bizkit headlined second day at ROTR. See ya then…

As the opening day of the fourth year of Rock on the Range festival gets ready to converge on Columbus Crew Stadium, it’s always important to know what to look out for on this day. In the past, the opening day [...]]]>

The 4th annual Rock on the Range invades Columbus starting tomorrow.

As the opening day of the fourth year of Rock on the Range festival gets ready to converge on Columbus Crew Stadium, it’s always important to know what to look out for on this day. In the past, the opening day of ROTR has been a mixed bag weather-wise: 2009 was a blustery, drizzling mess at times on one end of the spectrum, but 80 degree weather for the first ROTR back in 2007. So, just to be on the safe side- just be prepared for anything.

With the weather aside, Rock on the Range 2010 will bring a solid first day, with some of the bands who have taken over the stadium in the past, and some new entries as well. Here’s some potential stories to look out for at Day 1 at Rock on the Range:

Main Stage:
Godsmack (headliner)- Ok, I’ve pretty much discussed my melancholy attitude towards’ their new album, “The Oracle”, but Godsmack always puts on a strong live show that is tough to match in the hard rock scene. Don’t burn yourself out too much during the day, because most of the fans will be here to see the ‘Smack layed out (preferably not on Nikki Sixx- the supposed target in the hit song “Cryin’ Like a Bitch”).

Deftones- For a band that used to tour feverishly, the band has been quiet the past few years. With the ongoing coma for bassist Chi Cheng and scrapping an entire album, we’re just happy to see the Deftones touring again. If this show is anything like the way the band played in their heyday, the Deftones could play show stealer.

Kicker Stage:
Killswitch Engage- Will Howard Jones be back? Is he doing ok? Those are just some of the questions that will need to be answered as lead singer Jones plays his first shows since taking a self imposed leave of absence earlier this year. In their show in Royal Oak in February, the band looked tight- but will Howard return to his peak form? We’ll see.

Richy Nix- Score one for Windsor. The first artist to come out of the border town that I can ever remember is picking up steam at radio with his single “In My Head”. Things play out well, Nix could be a main stage artist at this festival for years to come.

Jagermeister Stage:
Helmet- This may be been kind of surprise to most fans, seeing that most fans didn’t expect a cult favorite like Helmet to be on a festival like this. But I think enough band’s on the bill were probably influenced to some degree by the band and gives the band the elder statesman tag on this day.

Make sure to check back to arthatesyou.blogspot.com and mycitybuzz.com each night of the festival (probably sometime around last call) for my daily blog for Rock on the Range 2010. And yes, I’ll probably be tweeting as well- check those out at www.twitter.com/mycitybuzz.

To say that February 2010 has been a troubling month is probably an understatement. With lead singer Howard Jones out for “personal reasons” (in which no further information still has not been given), the Massachusetts-based metal stars have vowed to forge ahead on tour in his absence.

Killswitch made their way to a quite [...]]]>

To say that February 2010 has been a troubling month is probably an understatement. With lead singer Howard Jones out for “personal reasons” (in which no further information still has not been given), the Massachusetts-based metal stars have vowed to forge ahead on tour in his absence.

Killswitch made their way to a quite busy, but not quite sold out show at the Royal Oak Theater and played a 70-minute set in which temporary fill in singer Phil Labonte of All That Remains gave the old school fans what they wanted with a majority of the songs from earlier days of the band.

Starting with the charging “Rose Of Sharyn”, Labonte and the rest of the band played a strong set that was definitely a crowd pleaser. Most of the material in the set was from their first three records, so songs like “Take This Oath” and “My Last Serenade” took precedent over newer songs, but most of the fans didn’t seem to care.

As a singer with All That Remains, Labonte is highly comfortable on stage, but with Killswitch, he still looks a little tentative and relied heavily on crowd participation to help him with the songs. As he plays more shows with the band, odds are that will change. It is quite ironic that Labonte is singing for the band, given that he originally tried out for the position when Jones got the nod. But his energy was enough to carry the band on this night.

Phil also fits in well with wild guitarist Adam Dukewitcz, who ripped on his friend to no end last night. Adam’s targets on most nights are most in the audience, but on this night it was geared at hazing his good friend Labonte. At one point, a chant of “Phil Is Short” erupted at Dukwitiecz’s command, which caused Labonte to mimic his friend. All in all, it was all good-natured between friends.

With Labonte leading the way, it was a solid but perhaps not stellar show. No one outside of the band knows what will come of this and what Jones’ timetable is for sure. A lot of questions will needed to be answered in the near future, but for now, Killswitch is gonna be OK, at least on stage.