It’s hard to think that it’s been 10 years since Static-X released their major label debut, Wisconsin Death Trip and stormed into the rock world with that platinum release. The band has recently finished the 2009 SnoCore Tour with Saliva and is turning their attention to touring behind the just released Cult Of Static album . The album debuted in the Billboard Top 20 in late March.
Before a show in Montana, we got a hold of frontman Wayne Static and talked with him about the new album and the band’s taste in covers.

On the vibe of the Cult Of Static record: “We wanted to pick up where the Cannibal record left off. We wanted to have a darker, moodier and edgier vibe to this record. We switched things up by slowing things down on some of the tempos and we worked on certain songs a bit more than usual. Also, I wrote most of the record during the middle of the night, which helps with the darker vibe.”

On getting Dave Mustaine to guest on the guitar solo for the new song "Lunatic": “We’ve done a few tours with him in the past. We saved a spot for him on the song and got him in the studio and play on the track. I feel very honored to him have on our record.”

Discussing lyrical content for Cult of Static: “I think it was different this time because I spent writing about marriage to my wife Tera (Wray) and just having a good time. Just about hanging out, driving fast, that sort of thing. I don’t think writing lyrics have gotten easier or harder over the years, it's just different. I tend to challenge myself with writing songs and I’ve seem to get better at doing that over time.”

On the choices for hair metal covers by Whitesnake and Motley Crue on the bonus tracks: “I thought it would be fun to do

Now that there has been some blogging on my part on some of the sights and sounds of this year’s Rock on the Range, we have a chance to sit down and digest all of the performances and overall feeling of the festival. The 2009 edition was a bit better than last year’s version, even if the weather was an exact duplicate of the year before. Although attendance figures aren’t out yet, but more than likely due to the economy, I'm guessing the numbers were slightly down from last year. However, the concourses and beer lines were busy as ever from the first guitar licks of Early Pearl to the encore of Motley Crue late Sunday night. So, here are the highlights and lowlights of what you might have missed at Rock on the Range 2009:

Saturday's Highlights
Static-X- Maybe it was the brief torrential downpour during “Cold” or the couple of dudes that fell out of trees while trying to climb them, but there was an element of danger at the crammed Jager Stage for their Saturday headlining set. During the 40 minutes, Wayne Static and company gave the rest of the bands on that stage a taste of their 'evil disco' and sent people moshing into beer tables and fences. The set was reminiscent of the days of early OzzFest - days that are sorely missed in this era of corporate run traveling festivals.
All That Remains- The rain turned to a fine mist during the Boston boys set and even though lead singer Phil Labonte slipped as he came out, the band seemed to gain a lot of new fans in their set. ATR didn’t shy away from full on metal ragers such as “This Calling” and “Six” while also delivering on their first rock radio hit “Two Weeks.” Note to Rock on the Range organizers: Bring on more metal in years to come.
Alice in Chains- With Jerry Cantrell and new-ish lead singer William Duvall in tow- this was clearly what the fans were looking for. Name a song by the band; “Would,” “Rooster,” “Angry Chair,” “Man in The Box,” the band kept the hits coming in a 50-minute set that showed that even as Layne Staley rests in peace, the band soldiers on sounding almost as fresh as ever.

Before an appearance at Rock on the Range, the Utah based band The Used played to a crowd of about 10,000 at DTE Energy Music Theatre. Instead of racing from DTE all the way down to Columbus, I had good buddy, Terry Cottrell, play Guest Reviewer for the night. You might know him from an interview with Linkin Park back in early 2008 that he posted on here as well.
Here was Terry’s take on the show as the Used opened up for Korn and Avenged Sevenfold:

When the Used came on, you could tell they have a following and everybody finally got up from their seats as the band took stage. As they came out on stage, they took awhile to get going into the first song as it seemed they were taking it all in from the crowd. Once lead singer Bert McCracken took the microphone from the stand, he tripped and fell, with the microphone stand and microphone flying across the stage. McCracken went falling on to the ground in this incident, leaving the fans puzzled. After a few seconds he got up and went back towards the drums to regain his composure. He picked up the microphone and then went right into the first song. During the band’s 40-minute set, the band seemed a little off at first, but played one of their first songs off their new album, Artwork (due out in July). Once the band launched into the new songs, they seemed to find their place. The song titled "Blood on my Hands" was the highlight for me. If "Blood" is anything like the rest of their songs on the new album, it's going to be a big hit. The Used had a diverse following as most of the DTE crowd was a mix of young and old fans. They definitely had the younger crowd going during their performance with a mix of new and old tracks.

Avenged Sevenfold came out next and picked up the energy level about five notches. Maybe it was the fire kicking out from the stage or the mosh pit on the lawn. The crowd was going nuts and after the show, I have a lot more respect for the band. They played "Almost Easy" and it sounded great. The last time I saw them was at Ozzfest 2006 and they sounded terrible. This time around was completely different as their stage presence and overall performance was awesome and much improved. M. Shadows spoke about the war in the Middle East saying they were not for or against the war, but supported our troops in their endeavors. He also spoke about the economy and how they were a hard working band symbolizing the hard working men in the city of Detroit.

Finally Korn came out at 9:30 with the sounds of "Blind," "Freak on a Leash" and "Falling Away from Me." It was left a little short as they only played an hour and there was no encore. Everybody was shocked that it was cut short because they rocked it out the entire time, but left us wanting more. Most of the fans were waiting to see if they would do an encore, but to no avail.

The Used wrap up a short tour on May 26^th in Indiana. The band’s new album “Artwork” is scheduled for release in July. Additional tour dates and info are available at www.theused.net

As the Seattle based sludge rock band Big Business continues to tour supporting their recent release Mind The Drift (out May 12^th), I had a chance to talk with drummer Coady Willis before one of the band’s shows. We discussed the process of making the new record and Coady’s double duty work with the Melvins. Here is my chat with Coady from Big Business:

MyCityBuzz: How was the writing and recording process different for this record?
Coady Willis: Well, this was the first time we’ve done studio work with our new bassist Toshi Kasai (who joined the band in 2008) and brought a dynamic to the band that we hadn’t seen before. We also had a change of scenery in the process; we mixed the album in L.A. instead of Seattle, where we usually do all of our records at. I think you’ll see that with the record, the songwriting has evolved and it's better and crazier than before. It’s definitely not the same record.

MCB: What do you expect people to take from the new record?
CW: With the addition of Toshi, we brought in new dimensions- there are a lot more harmonies and more technically sound stuff. When we were a 2 piece, we were pretty much blasting right ahead with the music. I can see some listeners being confused at first, but then learn to appreciate it after a few listens.

MCB: You have released the new album for sale at shows before the album’s release, were you afraid of leaks that might hurt sales?

After a very successful 2008, Rock on the Range heads back to Columbus Crew Stadium for its third year as the two-day event rolls into 2009. After a awesome Saturday lineup last year, and a little too much filler on Sunday, ROTR promises to be mostly killer and not much filler this year as the festival adds a third stage as well too. With Slipknot and Motley Crue headlining their respective nights, ROTR 2009 already is proving to have a leg up on last year’s show. Here is a rundown of what you want to check out for each day at Rock on the Range 2009:

Saturday: Fury will reign down on Columbus on Saturday as Slipknot continues their tour behind their #1 album All Hope Is Gone, so make sure to save your energy for that. The resurgent and reloaded Alice in Chains plays on the main stage right before Slipknot. If ROTR happened 5 years ago, Korn might have owned a headlining slot, but they make a great fit in the early evening this year around.
Fans will get their first taste of Duff McKagan’s new band Loaded, as they play on the second stage in the afternoon. And after a supposedly successful experiment with a metal band like Killswitch Engage, this year gives us All That Remains, Static X and Atreyu all on the Saturday bill. Yeah, yeah, Atreyu might not be as metal as they used to be, but the old stuff promises to wake you from your early evening doldrums. But don’t wait til later to show up Saturday, the main stage kicks off with Black Stone Cherry at 1:20, and Saliva (will Josey Scott be back in time or not from his hernia surgery?) at 2:30.

Sunday: If fury is the name of the game on Saturday, sleaze, sleaze and even more sleaze dominates Sunday’s lineup on the main stage. Fans will get the triple bill of Motley Crue, Buckcherry and Avenged Sevenfold to cap off a very entertaining evening. Not sure if Tommy Lee will break out the 'Titty Cam,' but you never know what sort of crazed madness will take place during any one of those three bands.
Sunday’s bill may be more diverse than Saturday’s bill with the long time hard rock jam rockers Clutch playing the third stage mixed in with the Canadian punk act Billy Talent, who will be playing the second stage during that day. Michigan fans might want to check out Grand Rapids’ own Pop Evil, who are starting to make a name for themselves in the rock ranks. Also, the hard working and touring new band Burn Halo plays the second stage that day as well. Hoobastank and Blue October stick out on the bill on the main stage. Perhaps Framing Hanley or the Used would have been better off on the main stage spots and been more relevant. But we’ll see.

Rock on the Range is at Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday, May 16^th and Sunday, May 17^th. Bands start at noon both Saturday and Sunday. One day tickets range from $54-64, while the two day package range from $99-$114. A military discount is also available for $30 per day. Additional info on tickets, set times and band information can be found at www.rockontherange.com. Also, check back to mycitybuzz.com for a review and a day by day update on the festival.