A four-day rock festival in May in Daytona Beach Florida…what could go wrong? Actually, this was one of the smoothest run festivals that I have ever been to and the music was great too. Let’s run down my experience at my first Welcome To Rockville.
First, logistics. Everything ran very smoothly for a festival with five stages over four days. Parking was stupid, but once we figured out the hack on Friday it was all good. Everything is expensive, but if you brought a bottle they had fill up stations for water so all good there too. I could not recommend the VIP experience enough, just for the bathrooms alone. The stages were not that far apart so getting from band to band was not bad at all. There were a couple of really bad conflicts with bands that did not make sense (everyone who saw Clutch wanted to see Queens Of The Stone Age too, people) but overall the schedule was well done too.
First, logistics. Everything ran very smoothly for a festival with five stages over four days. Parking was stupid, but once we figured out the hack on Friday it was all good. Everything is expensive, but if you brought a bottle they had fill up stations for water so all good there too. I could not recommend the VIP experience enough, just for the bathrooms alone. The stages were not that far apart so getting from band to band was not bad at all. There were a couple of really bad conflicts with bands that did not make sense (everyone who saw Clutch wanted to see Queens Of The Stone Age too, people) but overall the schedule was well done too.
It was damn hot, but it is Florida in May, but even for Florida it was unusually hot. Daytona hit near records on Thursday and Friday. But there were water cannons and cool down tents too. The most surprising thing was how cool the crowd was, especially for Florida. Everyone was chill (even in the heat), respectful, and even nice, if you can believe it, outside of the dude wrapped in the Southern flag. This was a really great experience that I would absolutely do again.
OK, so what about the music? Prior commitments had me go late on Friday and miss Sunday completely, which was fine given the lineup on the final day did not really interest me at all outside of a couple of bands. My big day was Saturday, but we will get to that.
Let’s start with Thursday. The headliner was Motley Crue, but given the recent reviews on their live shows I was fine with skipping their set and beating the traffic. The day started with 90s pseudo goth industrial band Orgy, who had their big hit with a cover of New Order’s Blue Monday, which they played along with a Prodigy cover and some other stuff. It was early and hot and they were pretty much a cover band. Not the best way to start. Same deal with Saliva. Early 2000s new metal stuff. Not really my thing.
Friday, I started late with Nitzer Ebb, the German electronic/industrial act who got the small crowd dancing and singing along to their best-known tracks like, Join In The Chant. I have been a fan for a while so this was really fun for me. Just two bald German dudes dancing around and playing synths in 97-degree heat. The crowd ate it up. I caught a bit of the In Flames set as well. They also sounded great, but I am not that big of a fan to really know the material. More nostalgia with The Offspring set which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. I loved those first few records back in the day and found myself shouting along with crowd.
Saturday was my big day, let’s get a rundown going:
Crobot had fun little set under the hot, but not as hot 2PM sun. lots of energy and they sounded great. They even debuted a new song. Reignwolf were a super talented duo, especially the main guy, who just ripped it up on guitar and even played drums and guitar at the same time at one point. Great stuff.
Royal Blood were disappointing and boring, the band did nothing for me and I was happy to move on half way though the set to get some food. Red Fang had great too short set focused on older material that got their small group of fans all worked up. I need to see these guys headlining in a small club.
It didn’t matter who was signing Stone Temple Pilots, because the nostalgic of hearing all of those great songs hooked me. I sang every word from Wicked Garden to Big Empty to Sex Type Thing. Primus; never does Les Claypool not blow me away with his unworldly skill on the bass guitar. They sounded great too and played all the “hits”. I love seeing the crowd bounce during Jerry Was A Racecar Driver a perfect song for our settings. Too short, but still killer.
Baroness played one of my top 3 sets of the weekend. Baroness rules. I have not seen them with Gina on guitar and wow does she rip it up. Her playing and background vocals and the chemistry with Baizley is off the charts. Another too short set, but it made me want to spend a week just with their catalog. reat to It was great to see the L7 ladies back. They were on point and gave the crowd what they wanted setlist wise. Fun little set.
Clutch were my most anticipated shows, the band did not disappoint with a killer setlist and a wild crowd. Escape From The Prison Planet into Spacegrass knocked me for a loop. Maybe one or two tracks too many from the first record but that is what their tour is about. Clutch never disappoints and didn’t here either. It was not cool that Queens Of The Stone Age were overlapping with Clutch but I did get to see the second half of the set.
OK, so what about the music? Prior commitments had me go late on Friday and miss Sunday completely, which was fine given the lineup on the final day did not really interest me at all outside of a couple of bands. My big day was Saturday, but we will get to that.
Let’s start with Thursday. The headliner was Motley Crue, but given the recent reviews on their live shows I was fine with skipping their set and beating the traffic. The day started with 90s pseudo goth industrial band Orgy, who had their big hit with a cover of New Order’s Blue Monday, which they played along with a Prodigy cover and some other stuff. It was early and hot and they were pretty much a cover band. Not the best way to start. Same deal with Saliva. Early 2000s new metal stuff. Not really my thing.
Now Amigo The Devil and his banjo-led tales of woe? That was excellent. This was my first time seeing ATD and I left a huge fan and with a cool shirt. My plan next was to see 90s industrial-lite Stabbing Westward but braved the merch tent instead, which wasn’t as bad as I thought, only taking about an hour to come away with an armful of shirts. I got to see the first half of the Dirty Honey set that was full of energy and a throwback to good time L.A. rock. Fun stuff.
The night really kicked in with the Shadows Fall set. It’s been a while, but they still kick ass and had the crowd going nuts, as well as this reviewer, especially during Destroyer Of Senses from 2002’s The Art Of Balance. The band was super tight and sounded as good as ever. One of my two biggies for Thursday was Anthrax, who sounded great and went way back in their catalog for the 45-minute set. Joey sounded great, even if he did get a bit confused a couple of times with what was up next. There was a weird stoppage in the middle of a song too that I am still not sure what happened, but hearing some of those classic Anthrax songs was the experience I was looking for.
I didn’t realize how big Mudvayne got after the one song I remember, Dig, but apparently, they still have a big following, but to me didn’t sound great and I was happy to move on to get my nostalgia on with the set from Biohazard. Talk about memories…they also sounded like they did not miss a beat and played all of what a fan would want to hear given their short 40-minute time allotment.
Judas Priest was what I was most about on Thursday, and the band did not disappoint. Rob still sounds amazing and the band was spot on. The short one-hour set was packed full of the hits and a couple of from the new record, including a killer version of Panic Attack to open the set. It was cool to hear Love Bites and I lost my mind during the closer, Painkiller. The Priest set was worth admission on Thursday alone, but the pleasant surprise of the evening was the set from Kerry King, who played a ton of new stuff as well as Raining Blood. Outside of the lead singing being a bit cliché and corny, the set was great and the new stuff sounded excellent. This is where my night ended, leaving the Crue show for those who don’t care if bands actually sing or play their instruments.
Friday, I started late with Nitzer Ebb, the German electronic/industrial act who got the small crowd dancing and singing along to their best-known tracks like, Join In The Chant. I have been a fan for a while so this was really fun for me. Just two bald German dudes dancing around and playing synths in 97-degree heat. The crowd ate it up. I caught a bit of the In Flames set as well. They also sounded great, but I am not that big of a fan to really know the material. More nostalgia with The Offspring set which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. I loved those first few records back in the day and found myself shouting along with crowd.
But my night was all about Mr. Bungle. Mike Patton is one of my all-time favourite performers and I had never seen Bungle before. I went right up front for this one and let me tell you, they destroyed me. What a set. So tight, so fast, so much fun, with their slow covers thrown into their version of thrash/death/hardcore metal. Hell Awaits and True by Spandau Ballet? Of course. Patton was totally on and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. They even played My Ass Is On Fire from the debut record that I lost my mind over. By far the set of the festival for me. My festival partners wanted to see Friday’s headliner Limp Bizkit and I obliged. Not my cup of tea, let’s leave it at that. Fred Durst’s banter was awful and their hits are worse than I remember. But hey, at least I got to see Mr. Bungle on Friday. Overall, a fun evening.
Saturday was my big day, let’s get a rundown going:
Crobot had fun little set under the hot, but not as hot 2PM sun. lots of energy and they sounded great. They even debuted a new song. Reignwolf were a super talented duo, especially the main guy, who just ripped it up on guitar and even played drums and guitar at the same time at one point. Great stuff.
Royal Blood were disappointing and boring, the band did nothing for me and I was happy to move on half way though the set to get some food. Red Fang had great too short set focused on older material that got their small group of fans all worked up. I need to see these guys headlining in a small club.
It didn’t matter who was signing Stone Temple Pilots, because the nostalgic of hearing all of those great songs hooked me. I sang every word from Wicked Garden to Big Empty to Sex Type Thing. Primus; never does Les Claypool not blow me away with his unworldly skill on the bass guitar. They sounded great too and played all the “hits”. I love seeing the crowd bounce during Jerry Was A Racecar Driver a perfect song for our settings. Too short, but still killer.
Baroness played one of my top 3 sets of the weekend. Baroness rules. I have not seen them with Gina on guitar and wow does she rip it up. Her playing and background vocals and the chemistry with Baizley is off the charts. Another too short set, but it made me want to spend a week just with their catalog. reat to It was great to see the L7 ladies back. They were on point and gave the crowd what they wanted setlist wise. Fun little set.
Clutch were my most anticipated shows, the band did not disappoint with a killer setlist and a wild crowd. Escape From The Prison Planet into Spacegrass knocked me for a loop. Maybe one or two tracks too many from the first record but that is what their tour is about. Clutch never disappoints and didn’t here either. It was not cool that Queens Of The Stone Age were overlapping with Clutch but I did get to see the second half of the set.
Honestly, they were just OK. The setlist ignores the first couple of records and even though they sounded good I found myself kind of bored. Glad I decided for Clutch, even though I never saw QOTSA before. Finally Foo Fighters a band I always want to like but always walk away kind of bored, the half of a set I watched was no different for me. Dave seems like a great guy but outside of the first record and part of the second nothing in their catalog really holds my interest and I was happy to beat the traffic since everyone else seemed super engaged with the set.
So, there it is; three days of fun, mostly great sets, sweat, and lots of $4 water and $7 PowerAid. If the lineup is close to as good next year, I will happily buy the VIP pass again and hang out in Daytona, which is really saying a lot for me.
So, there it is; three days of fun, mostly great sets, sweat, and lots of $4 water and $7 PowerAid. If the lineup is close to as good next year, I will happily buy the VIP pass again and hang out in Daytona, which is really saying a lot for me.
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