Rob Zombie Packs the Heat at Welcome to Rockville Day 2
Welcome To Rockville, Metropolitan Park, Jacksonville, FL, USA, May 3rd – 5th
by John Sorrentino
On the second day of Welcome to Rockville, the sun, and therefore the heat, was out. This led to a much bigger crowd, which went well with the lineup getting bigger itself. Outside of the action on stage, vendors offering all kinds of products were out in full force, as well as art installations and meet-and-greets at other tents. It was apparent early on that it was not going to be a repeat of the day before, as it was sunny, in the upper 80s, and all bands were able to go on as scheduled.
The first band I was able to see was Badflower. Brand new out of Los Angeles, this band has a lot of a Green Day sound, mixed with a little bit of Papa Roach. I first caught them at the Zippo Sessions, where they performed a shorter, private, acoustic set that offered new versions of their hit songs Ghost, Animal, and Heroin. Then, an hour later, I saw them on the second stage at the festival, with more traditional versions along with other songs they didn’t get to earlier. In both environments, they provided a solid show, working with what was expected in each set to give a unique feel to each performance. They will be a band to keep an eye out for for years to come.
After Badflower, the next band on the second stage was Tremonti. The namesake of the band, Mark Tremonti, is their lead singer and guitarist, as well as being the lead guitarist for both Creed and Alter Bridge. However, his solo band is much heavier than either of those, and their mid-afternoon set really brought the energy and heat as the day got hotter. Their show was packed with hit after hit, which the crowd was engaged with and made for a very fun atmosphere.
While Tremonti has his own solo work, he wasn’t the only legendary guitarist who brought his band to Rockville on Saturday. As soon as his set was over, it was time on the main stage for Black Label Society, the band led by a legendary guitarist for Ozzy, Zakk Wylde. Over a 40-minute set, the Ozzy influence was clearly present, as hit after hit sounded like something that could have been provided for the Prince of Darkness. Zakk truly impressed the crowd, as he worked as the singer, guitarist, and piano player for the band.
Back over at the second stage, it was time for Christian rock legends Skillet to take the stage. Drummer Jen Ledger has recently had some success in her own solo career, but the band brought out both hits and brand new songs that have yet to be released. While having the mosh pits that are typical of a rock band, they also brought the crowd to church during Sick Of It, as lead singer John Cooper spoke out against suicide with a very inspirational speech.
Keeping with the trend of unique bands, the next band on the main stage was In This Moment. ITM is a hard rock band with heavy EDM, metal, and pop influences, led by singer Maria Brink. They brought out the theatrics in full force during their performance, which included four costume changes in between a medley of hits. All of their set led up to a very inspired performance of their big hit Whore, which Maria delivered from the top of a giant staircase in the middle of the stage with the title word emblazoned on it.
At the second stage, the last band to go on before the big headliners of the evening was British rockers The Cult, who became popular with a string of hits in the late 1980s. For a solid forty minutes, they had a fun performance, which included a lot of their famous songs from that era. The crowd seemed to be into the performance, which really kicked up a notch when they played their two most famous songs, Fire Woman and She Sells Sanctuary, before ending with Love Removal Machine.
After a thirty minute break that allowed the crowd to get settled in for the night, it was time for the big guns to come out. The next band up was Shinedown, who is from Jacksonville and truly brought an incredible performance. You could tell that they were excited to be performing both at home and at a festival, and didn’t mind not closing out one of the main stages. Instead, they brought a full normal set with pyrotechnics, fireworks, and a string of hits that lasted for a full hour. Between riotous songs with mosh pits such as Bully and Cut the Cord, they also played a good selection of ballads such as Second Chance and Unity, and their set spanned their whole career in a splendid way. The best moment of the set came through in the second to last song, when they covered Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic hit Simple Man, and brought out the granddaughter of late Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zandt for the third chorus, which was an emotional and gripping moment for the crowd.
After the hometown boys’ turn, it was time for British legends Judas Priest to rip up the second stage as the evening’s co-headliner. Despite an unconventional decision to focus more on their deeper tracks than their big hits, Priest still brought the intensity and wowed the crowd. Singer Rob Halford sounded just like he did on their CDs, which was impressive given that he is now 70 years old, and most of their material was recorded over thirty years ago. The coolest moment of the set was towards the end when Halford rode out his classic motorbike to lead into Hell Bent for Leather, which is something he’s done since the song’s release but is still cool to see live. All in all, it was a really good set, even if it didn’t provide the traditional hits that more casual fans might be used to.
Closing out the evening was the legendary singer Rob Zombie. Armed with a legion of animatronics, wild videos, special effects, and a scintillating band clad with makeup and masks, Zombie made for a wild party and a riot at the craziest set of the weekend, and the craziest show I’ve ever seen. Despite having a ton of solo material, Zombie also made it a point to play some of his older stuff, from when he was in White Zombie, which he also mixed in with new material and included a trailer for his next movie, Three From Hell, which comes out this summer. In a set full of highlights, one of the coolest moments was at the end of the main set, when Zombie had everyone put away their phones for Thunder Kiss ’65, which led into a rousing rendition of the Ramones’ classic Blitzkrieg Bop. All in all, though, it was a full on party for a solid hour, leaving everyone fully entertained as they left. Before it was all said and done though, one last thing was in order: a selfie with the crowd to be sent to Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, who is recovering from surgery.
In total, Day 2 at Welcome to Rockville was a rousing success. A good variety of big-name bands, along with a perfect day of weather, allowed for a lot of fun for hours on end, to all 40,000 who were present.
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