ROCK ON THE RANGE
Columbus, Ohio - USA
May 16th 2015
The 2015 Rock On The Range Festival has come and gone for another year but if you missed out, The Rockpit was there to cover all the action! Legendary metal band Judas Priest headlined day 2 of the festival with fellow British band Saxon along with rockers Godsmack, Papa Roach and European metallers Sabaton filling out the rest of the day. Here then is day 2 of the 3 day event which took place in Columbus, Ohio.
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Saturday proved to be the biggest and probably the best line up to date in Rock on The Range history. The day started off at 11:50 am, with UK band Novallo opening up the Jager stage while Sabaton opened up the Ernie Ball stage for their range debut.
If you haven’t had the chance to catch Sabaton live, then you are missing out. These guys turly love what they do. Their stage performance is always incredibly energetic and they absolutely love interacting with the crowd. Sabaton hails from Sweden and are known for writing songs about past wars and other major conflicts. Their latest album Heros, was released in 2014 and the band has been touring the globe relentlessly. Check out their site for more details and tour dates.
Rock on the Range announced early on that they would have a special guest opening up the Main stage on Saturday. Saints Of Asonia a new "super group" is led by former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Grontier on lead vocals along with Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, Eye Empire bass player Corey Lowery and former Finger Eleven drummer Rich Beddoe. The band have recently released their first single "Better Place," and are expecting to release their debut album this summer. The crowd was elated to see the surprise guests appear on stage as well as being able to sing along to familiar songs from Grontiers previous band, including, I Hate Everything About You.
UK metal veterans Saxon had a chance to catch up with their fans at rotr. I caught up with frontman Biff Byford for a few minutes after their set. Biff that while they thoroughly enjoyed being at rotr, is was hard to chose only 30 minutes worth of material from their 20 albums. They are looking forward to hitting the road again for the 2015 world tour as well as several other stops at various festivals. Check out their world tour schedule here.
Rock on the Range is a great spring board for new bands wanting to get the word out about their music. Ohio natives Red Sun Rising is a band to watch for in the near future. They will be releasing their first studio album this summer entitled, "Polyester Zeal". "The Otherside" is there new single and can be found here. The guys have been touring with Shinedown, and will be joining Nothing More on the road.
Rock on The Range veterans In This Moment were upgraded to the Monster Main stage this year after playing the side stages. Maria and the guys put on a great show full of wardrobe changes and dancers. Maria's voice tends to take over the stadium, demanding full attention. Maria is kinda like the metal lady gaga, only much cooler. This band loves, loves, loves to play live and they truly appreciate their fans. They will go above and beyond to interact personally with their fans, posing for photos and signing as much as possible. Maria and the rest of the band are extremely approachable in person as well and encourage fans to become the show instead of just watching the show.
Godsmack, always a crowd favorite at the range, had the entire stadium fired up. The crowd stood up unified, chanting and singing along in unison. Sully loves to get the crowd riled up and always demands that everyone in the crowd gets involved, including the folks sitting up in the bleachers. One of the biggest hightlights of any Godsma
ck show is the drum battle between frontman Sully Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin. Batalla do los tambores has been a part of their set for a few years now and never seems to get old.The drum battle is also included on their Changes DVD.
Godsmack tour dates can be found on their website.
Metal gods, Judas Priest headlined the festival on Saturday night for their first performance at Rock on The Range.
It's hard to believe that Halford and the rest of the band have been hitting the road since they first formed back in 1969. JP are known for being metal pioneers with twin guitars combined with Halfords' melodic, operatic and sometimes haunting vocals. At the age of 63 Halford's voice is still in top form....
