Welcome to Rockville 2016

Florida had an impressive stream of artists fly through for WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE, which took place in Jacksonville, FL on the weekend of April 30^th& May 1^st.

DAY ONE:

Big Jesus kicked things off for us right after gates opened delivering an impressive energetic set to get fans going. The day continued with bands such as Enter Shikari, Red Sun Rising, and even the legendary Candlebox. We even saw some lineup changes in bands, as Pop Evil had a guest drummer on with them. We are unsure of her name, but she killed it on the kit.

Enter Shikari at Welcome to Rockville

Filter played the Metropolitan Stage at WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE and highlighted some of their songs off their new album Crazy Eyes.  All the while front man Richard Patrick was sporting an anti-Trump t-shirt.  That instantly deserved our attention.

Filter at Welcome to Rockville 2016

By the time 3 Doors Down took the stage at 7:45PM, the crowd was either lit, or burned out from an exhausting day in the sun- but still managed to sing along to every word as they played through their set of hits and prepared us for the headliners of the night: Disturbed, and Shinedown.

DAY TWO:

Beartooth brought their high energy set to kickoff the River Stage on Day Two of the festival. The crowd seemed to love it as they sang every line back at the band. There was also a great transition into the following bands such as Texas Hippie Coalition, Avatar, and Sevendust as the day continued on. The lineup included newer acts such as: From Ashes To New to older favorites like headliner Rob Zombie.

Crown the Empire at Welcome to Rockville 2016

Dave Mustaine and company closed out the Metropolitan Stage on Day Two of WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE.  It was by far the most crowded the stage had been for the entire festival and the band wasted no time in performing at full volume; including songs ranging from the 80’s to their most recent release Dystopia.

Megadeth at Welcome to Rockville 2016

WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE was a bucket-list festival for any rock fan. It offered a variety of different sub genre rock artists, which blended perfectly to make up this festival. Out of all of the festivals on the World’s Loudest Month it seemed that WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE offered the most for the more up and coming acts, that you’d typically see on the VANS WARPED TOUR. This year some of those acts included: Memphis May Fire, We Came As Romans, Ghost, Issues, Miss May I, Cane Hill, and Crown The Empire. It was great to see these bands breaking out, and we hope to see more of them in the future!

At this year’s WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE, the entertainment, the experience, and the people were amazing. However, the overall layout seemed to cause large traffic jams and left the non-VIP audience to walk extra distances and possibly miss some of their most anticipated sets throughout the day.

The BIGGEST downside of the festival was that most of the time the bands played at the same time on different stages. So, you had to choose whether to see an old favorite, or discover a new one. However, whichever you chose, WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE had it all, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! This year was the festival’s best yet, with more than 50,000 in attendance for the sold-out weekend, marking the biggest rock experience in Florida’s history!

Amon Amarth Rocks Chicago

Amon Amarth in Chicago

Written by Jacek Leja for Bloodrock Media on May 10, 2016

You know, I really love to see how bands evolve.  Some bands change their sound, some bands even change genres, but in Amon Amarth’s case, these guys now put on a theatrical show to go along with their crushing and punishing riffs.  One thing I really noticed about Amon Amarth’s newest album, ‘Jomsviking’, is that the songs are written to pump up the audience.  You can almost hear and guess when the next chant, or sing along are coming next. Predictable, but not in a bad way. 

Now to talk about Amon Amarth’s stage presence.  We are all used to seeing Johann running across a massive viking ship on stage, but this time was a bit different.  A huge viking helmet, which had their new drummer’s kit on it, took up most of the stage.  The band played while actors LARPed during the performance.  Definitely a change of pace from your average metal show.  

I can definitely bet on Amon Amarth stepping up their stage game in the future, but for now they are still giving us fans a very sweet show pleasing to the eyes and ears.