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Columbus, OH-The second installment of the Rock on the Range series brought a wide array of acts and plenty of fun for the fans in attendance at Crew Stadium. Many things have changed since last year. First, the stage was set up at the other end of the stadium. Second, they had a tent set up through FYE for a meet and greet with most of the bands (which I don’t remember them having last year). Lastly, Rock on the Range was expanded from a one day show to a two day festival. We here at GlamMetal.com try to provide as much coverage as possible, but it was just impossible to cover and do a review of all the bands involved. This was due to the time it took to travel in between the two stages and interviews we had scheduled with some of the artists.
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We did witness the amazing return of the Stone Temple Pilots who closed the show on Saturday. I was very impressed with singer Scott Weiland’s voice and the overall tightness of the band considering that this was their second gig (they did a private show last month in California). Instead of coming out with a more up tempo and rocking tune (ex. Crackerman), they took a left turn and opened up with “Big Empty.” I believe they took more of a chance but they pulled it off completely and it showed that this band will be the “must see” show of the summer! After the first song, the crowd was chanting STP! STP! STP! Scott acknowledged and encouraged the chants by saying “This is something we haven’t heard in a long time and it’s good to hear it again!” Some of the other songs that were performed by STP were “Vasoline,” “Wicked Garden,” and “Creep.” This was by far the biggest highlight of the two day festival.
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Another high point was my witnessing of the Australian band Airbourne. It seems I was like the last person to see this band live but it was well worth the wait! A shirtless, Jack Daniels swigging Joel O’Keefe cranked up the crowd by kicking into an appropriate opening tune entitled “Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll.” This band definitely has fire and grit. The entire band was gracious enough to sit down with us after their set to give us their insight on how America has welcomed them so far. Stay tuned for that.
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Finger Eleven was another band that is steadily becoming more recognized in the United States after tearing it up in Canada for years. The band opened up with “Good Times” and took off from there. The crowd really lost it when they played “Paralyzer.” One of the most insane performers you will find is guitarist Rick Jackett. How he is able to hit the correct notes and keep in line with the song when he is swinging his guitar and dancing around on stage is bewildering to me. Rick and drummer Rich Beddoe also talked to us and we chatted about their hometown roots of Burlington, Ontario and their recent success of the latest CD “Them vs. You vs. Me.”
We also managed to see partial performances of Disturbed, Shinedown, and Filter.
It was cool to see Filter reform as they headlined the second stage on Saturday. The Deleo brothers (STP) watched their former bandmate (from the project Army of Anyone) Richard Patrick scream his head off during his performance. The new CD “Anthems For The Damned” was just released on May 13th and a tour will coincide this summer.
Sunday supplied another great day of rock and roll. Probably the best and definitely the most energetic performance was put on by Rock on the Range veterans, Papa Roach. This was the only band invited back and Jacoby mentioned during their set that “In two years we will be headlining this motherf*cking thing!” The way that they performed, who can argue that fact? Jacoby is probably the most electrifying frontman on the music scene today. The band opened up with a new song called ‘Courageous” that will be on their forthcoming CD. This band will be part of Cruefest 2008. I would make sure that this is another “can’t miss” tour on your schedule for 2008.
This was the first time I was able to catch 3 Doors Down and was really impressed by singer Brad Arnold’s voice. Their hour plus set was filled with songs off their new CD “Self Titled” and some of their hits that included “When I’m Gone,” “Kryptonite,” and “Loser.” This band will be going out on tour with Hinder and Stained this summer.
One of the more talented bands that we witnessed during the day was Alter Bridge. The dueling guitar work between Marc Tremonti and Miles Kennedy is a sight to see. Marc (in my opinion) is one of the best players to come out in the last 15 years. He has a great and talented frontman, Miles Kennedy, who also is an impressive guitarist in his own right. Alter Bridge opened up with “Come to Life,” and played a very strong 9 song, 45 minute set. A different and interesting cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmere” was tackled by the band.
One of the bands that have a huge following in the Ohio area that played on the second stage was a band called Bobaflex. These guys have the makings of a band that is ready to make the next level. They had quite the following and played like headliners. Guitarist and singer Marty McCoy actually jumped into the crowd and crowd surfed while singing!! He and his brother Shaun traded off vocals and guitars during their set.
We also witnessed partial sets by Sevendust and Seether. For the limited time I saw them, both had huge responses and crowd participation. I was disappointed to hear that Flyleaf had to cancel this date and the rest of the tour due to the recent diagnosis of singer Lacey Moses having strep throat.
After making the 5 hour trip to Columbus we did not leave disappointed, barring of course what we shelled out for gas!
Stay tuned for interviews with John Humphrey of Seether, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, Rick Jackett and Rich Beddoe from Finger Eleven, Marc Tremonti from Alter Bridge, Kyle Gass from Tenacious D, and the band Airbourne. They will be posted within the next month so stay tuned for them! I must admit, I actually do miss the one day show but overall, it was a great two day festival! Will you be here next year??
The bands that took part in Rock on the Range 2008 (not in any order):
Saturday:
Stone Temple Pilots
Disturbed
Stained
Killswitch Engage
Serj Tankian
Shinedown
Finger Eleven
Filter
10 years
Red
Theory of a Deadman
Ashes Divide
Drive A
Airbourne
Sunday: 
Kid Rock
3 Doors Down
Seether
Papa Roach
Alter Bridge
Sevendust
Five Finger Death Punch
Black Tide
Drowning Pool
Bobaflex
Rev Theory
Saving Abel
*Flyleaf was also scheduled to perform but had to cancel this date and the rest of the tour due to singer Lacey Moses having strep throat.
There was no review of Kid Rock. All photographers were able to shoot all the bands except Kid Rock. Only 5 out of 46 photographers were able to photograph the band and we were e-mailed the Friday afternoon before the show.
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