After a great 1st day, it made you wonder how day 2 would turn out. Any doubts were put to rest right away.
Opening the Main stage was the band, Red, whose new album, Release the Panic has been climbing the charts. While they are known as a Christian rock band, you could never tell the difference. With head banging songs and a few ballads they got the crowd to connect to them right away.
Right after Red it was time for Nonpoint to destroy the stage. With many hardcore fans knowing their music from when they started out in Florida, the crowd was ready to set it off. With pure adrenaline pumping hard rock, they tore through their set which ended with Alive & Kicking and Bullet with a Name. For any fan of hard rock, Nonpoint is a must see on tour.
The afternoon was filled with great rock from bands - Salvia, Saving Abel, Filter and Steel Panther - who gave the most outrageous
performance. With songs like Asian Hooker, Just like Tiger Woods, and 17 Girls in a Row they had the crowd laughing and banging their head with great musicians playing a Spinal Tap role.
Hollywood Undead gave a powerhouse performance as they went from the first 3 songs with masks and the rest of the show without. The set ended with We Are as the crowd roared their approval.
All the way over on the side stages, Airbourne played pure rock & roll with an AC/DC style and being from down under as well; opening with Raise the Flag and ending with Runnin’ Wild & Stand Up for Rock ‘N’ Roll. Airbourne set the stage for the last two bands as the crowd became bigger for Motionless in White and Lead singer for Disturbed side project Device.
As a three piece, there are a lot of background tracks with Will Hunt on drums and Virus on guitar. While singer, David Draiman’s vocals are hard to not picture Disturbed in the early days, it still is very much a side project. Playing a short setlist of 7 songs, they ended with the top single, Vilify.
Over on the 2nd stage, Buckcherry was having microphone issues leaving singer, Josh Todd to storm off the stage with the rest of the band. After 10 minutes, the issue was fixed and they came back on to finish strong with Crazy Bitch.
Skillet was the surprise band of the night with heavy Christian themes; their music rocks as hard as any of the bands on the bill. Opening with Whispers in the Dark, they had the crowd in it. Playing a few songs of the new album, Rise to be released in June of this year gave a hint to what should be one of the best albums of the year.
Playing close to an hour, they preached to the crowd about being positive as they broke into Awake and Alive. They ended with Rebirthing. Be sure to check them out, as they will tour non-stop this summer.
The last two bands, to end the night, call Jacksonville home and where they started their career -Shinedown and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Having seen Shinedown several times this year, I have to say this was the best performance I have seen from them in the last 2 years.
Singer, Brent Smith came on the stage as if he was among family and commanded the stage with ease. Drummer, Barry Kerch, who still lives in the Jacksonville area, was all smiles as he played before his wife and daughter.
Opening with Enemies and Devour, they set off the largest waves of crowd surfers of the two days. Zach Myers & Eric Bass ran across the stage as they tore it up on Sound of Madness.
Shinedown teased the crowd in playing a medley of cover songs before playing Simple Man. Hearing the crowd sing along gave everyone goose bumps and was breathtaking to witness it. They ended their set with Bully, allowing the crowd one last chance to go insane.
As the crowd packed the main stage it was time for the band that put Jacksonville on the music map, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Opening with Last of a Dyin’ Breed, What’s Your Name, and Down South Jukin,’ the crowd settled in for some good ‘ole Southern Rock. Playing all the classics and with the three guitar attack, brought the music alive for classic Saturday Night Special and one of my favorites, The Needle and the Spoon.
The crowd was singing and dancing as they ended with Sweet Home Alabama and the song known for yelling out at concert and as classic - Free Bird.
With two nights of great music, Welcome to Rockville raised the level from past years and a hope for many to be around for years.
Photos & Review by Peter Lizano
