LIVE! : Carolina Rebellion Music Festival

CAROLINA REBELLION

Saturday, May 7th Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC.

AEG Live and Right Arm Entertainment latest production, Carolina Rebellion music festival, is proud to be sponsored by Jägermeister, Monster Energy drink and FYE. This is the same team that produces the highly successful Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH. The one day music festival features many of today’s hard hitting rock artists appearing on three stages (two main stages) at the Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC.

The festival featured two main stages for the biggest acts in rock today, both sponsored by Monster Energy. The bands participating in Carolina Rebellion festival included: Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge, Hinder, Skillet, Saving Abel, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, My Darkest Days, Cavo, Rev Theory, Pop Evil, Art Of Dying and more.

“It seems the Carolinas are in need of a rock festival to call their own and we are honored to unleash the Rebellion to the great rock fans of this area,” says Gary Spivack, co-executive producer of the event for Right Arm Entertainment. “With our partners at AEG we locked into an amazing outdoor venue just minutes from downtown Charlotte. We are so proud of this lineup. From Godsmack to Avenged Sevenfold to Three Days Grace to Stone Sour….it’s nonstop…one great band after another.”

Cavo – 12:20pm
Halestorm – 1:50pm
Skillet – 3:30pm
Bullet For My Valentine – 5:20pm
Seether – 7:10pm
Three Days Grace – 8:45pm
Avenged Sevenfold – 10:45pm

My Darkest Days – 11:50am
Saving Abel – 1:20pm
Hinder – 2:50pm
Alter Bridge – 4:40pm
Theory of a Deadman – 6:30pm
Stone Sour – 7:50pm
Godsmack – 9:40pm

Drop D – 11:30am
Art of Dying – 12:50pm
Pop Evil – 2:20pm
Black Stone Cherry – 4:10pm
Rev Theory – 6:00pm

www.carolinarebellion.com

Carolina Rebellion Photo Gallery

Photos appear courtesy of Steve Trager

Skillet Awake and Remixed EP

by Mark Allen
Staff Writer

Skillet, who began their career in the Christian rock niche before crossing over, have always been trend-chasers rather than trendsetters. They groped at grunge, infused their sound with industrial, nibbled on nu-metal, and most recently have moved very comfortably into the modern melodic hard rock market where they have been embraced by millions thanks to their anthemic hook-drenched approach to the genre. Their last studio album, Awake, was also their most successful, so what’s a trend-savvy band to do? What so many others have done before them: release a remix album.

Well, not an album, exactly, merely an EP featuring four popular songs off Awake. Contrary to what we have come to expect when we hear the term “remix,” this is not a bunch of techno beats hammered over some song snippets that have been chopped up worse than nubile young teens in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel. No, these are full-fledged tweaks and alternative takes on well-known tracks. But rather than breathe fresh, energizing life into the songs, they merely sound…different. Not necessarily bad, but nothing that’s going to make you jump around like bullfrog on a hot griddle.

“Awake and Alive (The Quickening)” opens the EP and despite what the parenthetical subtitle says, there is nothing quick about it. The song has been slowed way down compared to the original, now driven by piano rather than guitar, with an echoic vocal effect that lends them a moody, experimental aura. While the memorable melody remains unmolested, it now slouches along at a pace that is borderline lethargic until seeing salvation in the final minute when the guitars come crashing in and whip the track furiously toward the finish line.

Skillet cooks things just right on “Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix)” and the result is the best concoction of the EP. The band nostalgically indulges in their early industrial days, sifting the song through that Nine Inch Nails/White Zombie filter, retaining the heaviness of the original while simultaneously serving up a cool new dark-edged spin. Old-school Skillet fans should love this one and in this digital age when you can download only the songs you desire, don’t be surprised if this one receives the most purchase clicks while the others are ignored like the ugly girl on prom night.

Skillet have always harbored a soft spot for a good power ballad and even on a four-track EP feel obligated to provide one. “Don’t Wake Me (Pull Remix)” fulfills that obligation and while it won’t make anyone forget the original, it does offer a moodier, more haunting feel thanks to the electronic beats and sinister synthesizers that swell during the chorus, accentuated by a sultry guitar riff.

Skillet seriously errs by slapping the worst song, “Monster (Unleash the Beast)” at the end of the EP instead of exiting on a high note. The original is a head-banging hard rocker, but here it is twisted into a boring mess. While there are distorted vocal clips from Cooper and Ledger sprinkled throughout this droning disaster, this borders on being an instrumental, with those vocals buried deep in the mix like a mangled, Auto-Tuned corpse nobody wants you to find. This leaves the electronic overload to carry the track and unfortunately it carries it right into the realm of, “I never want to hear that song again.”

As remix projects go, this is not a total loss. You get one great remix, two okay ones, and one total turd. Diehard Skillet enthusiasts will most likely experience some limited enjoyment, but if you choose to ignore this novelty project and just go back to sleep until the band’s next studio album, you’ll probably still respect yourself when you wake up.

Genre: Christian/modern hard rock

Band:
John Cooper (lead vocals, bass)
Korey Cooper (Keys, synthesizers, rhythm guitar, vocals)
Jen Ledger (drums, vocals)
Jonathan Salas (lead guitar)

Track Listing:
1. Awake and Alive (The Quickening)
2. Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix)
3. Don’t Wake Me (Pull Remix)
4. Monster (Unleash the Beast)

Label: Atlantic Records

Online: www.skillet.com

Hardrock Haven rating: 6.7/10

Rock On The Range 2010 LIVE!

May 22 & 23, 2010 at Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

by Chris A. & Deb Rao
Staff Writer

[author: Chris A.] It’s the fourth time Columbus has hosted the “Rock on the Range” festival and by the size of the audience you’d never know there was any kind of economic crisis. With approximately 50,000 people attending each day, “Rock on the Range” is proving to be “the” show of the year in the upper Midwest of the United States. Three stages, 30-plus bands, dozens of vendors and lots of creative merchandise for sale, it’s a big party and a very good time. As with past years, there were three stages; the Monster Stage was the main stage inside the Columbus Crew Stadium while the Kicker Stage was located on the north side of the stadium and the smaller Jaegermeister Stage was positioned on the south. “Rock on the Range” has always been a great place for upstart “baby bands” to get some exposure plus they don’t seem to shy away from including diverse acts on the bill. In the case of Rock on the Range, a show known primarily as a “metal festival” it was interesting that the show would be opened and closed by rap oriented acts. Headliners for Saturday on the Monster Stage were, “Rise Against”, “Three Days Grace” and “Godsmack”. On Sunday the main bands were, “Seether”, “Rob Zombie” with “Limb Bizkit” closing the festival.

Despite a damp start to Saturday, gray clouds and occasional sprinkles didn’t appear to hold the crowd back as the yellow benches in Crew Stadium started to disappear as fans arrived to the show. At noon, the show started with Windsor, Ontario Detroit Tigers fan, “Richy Nix,” a tall thin white-guy from Ontario, rapping to metal. Twenty minutes later on the main stage, “Sevendust” exploded into their set, erasing any memories of cockeyed baseball caps and robotic hand gestures, with in-your-face metal intensity. Nearly 11 hours later the sound of electric guitars and the gritty metal of “Godsmack” faded as day-one came to an end.

Sunday was a glorious day, blue skies, beautiful hot sun and no indication of rain. At noon, “Shaman’s Harvest” a great young band, opened the show on the Kicker stage. Over the course of the next 11 hours Apocalyptica performed its brand of “metal”. Australian metal band “Airbourne” made a lot of friends and demonstrated why we all love blues-based rock ‘n’ roll! At nearly 10 pm, Fred Durst and the now out-of-seclusion “Limb Bizkit” capped off an incredible two-days of great music.

With three stages and almost invariably two running at one time, it was impossible for anyone to see all the bands. As seems to be the case with Columbus rock ‘n’ roll crowds, the fans were very mellow at Rock on the Range. It was a big party with lots of beer and thousands of friends. Sitting back and observing, It was amazing to watch the incredibly orderly procession of thousands of people snaking along the paths to get from stage to stage. Venue security, the Columbus Police Department (who were there in numbers) were extremely fan-friendly and were clearly there to keep an eye on things and to snatch up the occasional drunk-moron who got a bit too out of hand.

Each performance day started at 12 noon and for the most part the show stayed on time and ran smoothly. “Rock on the Range” 2010 was a very successful event with great bands and thousands of happy fans. Keep any eye here for interview articles from John 5, Airbourne and others from the weekends show. For more information on “Rock on the Range” visit www.rockontherange.com You can also see my photos of “Rock on the Range” by visiting www.chrisa.us

Rock on the Range Photo Gallery

Photos appear courtesy of Chris A. and Deb Rao

[author: Deb Rao] As thousands of rock fans descended to Columbus, Ohio at Crew Stadium, one thing was for certain the sporting venue was turned into a rock and roll extravaganza for one of the most anticipated events of the summer Rock On The Range 2010. The event promised to feature one of the most solid line-ups to date. This year Rock On The Range was hosted by Mistress Juliya and broadcast live by Nikki Sixx and his new hit radio show Sixx Sense.

Tattoos, body jewelry and rock clothing venders filled the area to the hilt. The crowd featured a young audience and some older fans of the older bands. One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s line-up on May 22 headlined by Boston’s Godsmack with the diversity to the line-up. ROTR featured the best in punk, alternative, hip-hop and hard rock cutting edge bands making an impact in music today. The festival featured three stages of music included the Jager Stage. Kicker Stage, and Monster Stage. I found myself mostly stationed at the Kicker Stage but after the days shooting of that stage was over, I managed to catch full sets of Rise Against, Three Days Grace, and Godsmack. More on the main acts later.

My journey began early in the morning from Boston, as my flight landed in Columbus, Ohio a tad late due to flight delays. But no worries a full day of music was ahead of me. One of the first acts I had the pleasure of seeing was Eleven Seven Music recording artists Drowning Pool on the Monster Stage. This band is one of the hardest working bands in music today. Singer Ryan McCombs has picked up the pieces and breathed new life into the band. As the sun tried to break through the ominous clouds, Drowning Pool heated up the stage with a set that included these songs,”Enemy,” “Sinner”,”37 Stitches,” Feel Like I Do”,”Regret”,”Tear Away”, and “Bodies.”

Next up on the Monster Stage was Puddle of Mudd who is in the midst of a successful headlining tour. Puddle Of Mudd is best when performing at festivals like this. Lead frontman Wes Scantlin always manages to get the crowd rolling and today’s performance was no exception. The band opened with the ferocious “Control”, as Wes took full control of the moment and the mosh pits began. Slammin’ into new song “Spaceship’ let the party begin as Wes yelled,”What’s up Motherf***ers?” Highlight of the set with fists in the air included the AC/DC cover “TNT.”

I proceeded to make my way to the Kicker Stage to catch one of the most exciting and promising acts of the day Halestorm. Mistress Juliya introduced the band as Lzzy Hale dressed in a black and red dress and hit the stage with a set that was clearly mesmerizing. Halestorm opened their set with “It’s Not You.” The ’80s had Heart and Pat Benetar as the reigning rock queens. Well, this is the Millennium and Lzzy Hale most definitely deserves the title as best new female of the decade. Lzzy can rock with the best of them and Halestorm clearly won the title for best act on the Kicker Stage at ROTR 2010.

It was great to see all the female musicians performing here today. Next up another great band that gave an outstanding performance was Christian rock band Skillet. Fronted by John Cooper, his wife Korey Cooper on guitar was also spellbinding. Jen Ledger was featured on drums. The band also featured a cello and violin, which added a nice flavor to the hard rock sound. Highlights of the set were the songs “Hero”, and “Monster.”

The Kicker Stage featured some of the best acts all day. Next up Killswitch Engage made Massachusetts proud. It was exhilarating to see all the talent from the Mass area here today. Highlight of the Killswitch Engage set was when singer Howard Jones dedicated the song “Holy Diver” to the legendary Dio. Metal horns in the air. May you rest in peace.

Throughout the day many of the bands held meet and greets including Adelita’s Way and Puddle Of Mudd. It was great to see the inter-action between fans and bands. This festival is all about the music. The rock stars left their attitudes at the door and chatted with the fans and showed their appreciation.

The event was blessed by the weather this year as the sun finally broke through the crowds with temperatures in the 80′s. Finally, the Kicker Stage music was over and now it was time to enjoy the Monster Stage. The floor began to fill up to capacity for The Deftones. I spoke with many fans who were eager to see the band. The Deftones took full advantage of the set premiering many new songs from their latest release Diamond Eyes. They are definitely one of the best punk rock bands around; true pioneers.

One of the most promising acts on the Monster Stage was Rise Against. I never heard of them before and really enjoy their high-energy set. The award for most promising act on the Monster Stage would have to go to Three Days Grace. This is a band that you associate all their hits on the radio when you hear them they play live and you go “I know that song.” This was my first time seeing this Canadian band perform live and I have to say I was very impressed by Adam Gontier vocals. Sporting a black hat, Adam and company delivered a set that was powerful and poignant. Adam is the master of love gone wrong songs. I highly enjoyed the “I Hate Everything About You.”

Boston’s Godsmack was the headliner on the Monster Stage and did Boston Proud. Sully Erna took full control of the Mid-western crowd and showed them how we rock in Boston. Their set list included

Godsmack Set List:
Awake
Straight Out of Line
Re-Align
War and Peace
The Enemy
Bad Religion
The Oracle
Cryin’ Like a Bitch
Keep Away
Speak
Voodoo
Batalla de los Tambores

Spotted in the audience, was Jackass star Jason Acuna. Actually, he was sitting in back of me with a beret of beauties on his lap. The announcer of the show commented that this years show broke all attendance records. Rock On The Range 2010 proved to be a haven for rock fans to unite and enjoy some of the best cutting edge bands in music today. It was a time to make new friends, spend time with old friends, and celebrate the exciting new wave of music today.

Special Thanks to the great staff of MSO for letting Hardrock Haven cover Rock On The Range 2010. Be sure to check out Rock On The Range interviews with Puddle Of Mudd, Sevendust, Richy Nix, and coming soon Adelita’s Way and Apocalyptica.

Rock On The Range May 22 Line-up:

Monster Stage:
Sevendust 12:25
Drowning Pool 1:40
Puddle of Mudd 2:55
Papa Roach 4:15
Deftones 5:35
Rise Against 7:05
Three Days Grace 8:51
Godsmack 9:45

Kicker Stage:
Richy Nix 12:00
Violent Soho 1:05
Adelita’s Way 2:20
Halestorm 3:40
Skillet 5:00
Killswitch Engage 6:20

Jager Stage:
Like A Storm 12:00
Taddy Porter 1:05
Janus 2:20
Non Point 3:40
Helmet 5:00