Three stages, 14 bands, Rockstar Energy Drinks galore and enough Jagermeister to go around kept the crowd happy, hyped and slightly tipsy as pulsating, loud, hard music filled the air and, man, it never sounded or tasted so great as it did in Atlanta.
Review and photos by Danielle Boise
The Rockstar Uproar Festival kicked off its tour run on August 17th in Bonner Springs, Kansas, Kansas City and made its way to Atlanta on Wednesday September 12, 2012, at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood.
Every stop is slightly different, adding and subtracting bands along the way for the earlier acts, but the headliners stay consistent for the tour, with Shinedown, Godsmack, Staind and Adelitas Way taking the main stage by storm. While Uncrown kicked off the day on the Jagermeister stage, followed by Within Reason, Candlelight Red, Deuce, and Fozzy. On the Ernie Ball Rockstar stage, The Battle of the Band winner, Poynte, played, followed by Mindset Evolution (last year’s BOTB winners), Thousand Foot Krutch, Redlight King, and P.O.D. wrapped up the outdoor festivities before the audience migrated inside to see the headliners take the stage at Aaron’s Amphitheatre.
Poynte
“You may not be the biggest crowd we’ve seen on this tour, but I bet you’re the loudest fucking crowd on this tour” promoted Godsmack’s lead singer, Sully Erna. Even though attendance was sluggish in Atlanta, all the performances were over the top and vibrantly full of life and so much emotion. Every act put heart, sweat and tears into each set and the crowd did not disappoint in response, cheering and having a good time.
The Birmingham based band Within Reason put on a hell of a performance as they performed songs like “Control,” “Ayo technology,” “Enemy” and “Here Comes The Light,” off their latest release, After The Crawl, as a black beach ball with the band’s logo floated around in the air as fans played and listened to a great set. For more information on Within Reason or see where they will be performing next, visit www.withinreasonmusic.com. Read our interview with the band HERE.
Within Reason
“Rockstar Uproar Festival is the greatest mother fucking ride in rock-n-roll.” – Rob Ulrich, lead singer of Mindset Evolution
Mindset Evolution started their set off by dedicating their song, “Rise,” to their bass player, Josh Bodeen, who blew his knee out on the second stop of the tour, but was determined to keep performing with the band for the remainder of the tour. They rounded out their set by playing, “Norma Genes,” “Ready,” “Relevant,” and ending on “We Are the Stars.” For more information on the band Mindset Evolution or to see where they will be performing next, visit www.mindsetevolution.com.
Mindset Evolution
The hard rock band Candlelight Red came on stage next and performed songs off their latest release, Demons included “In Your Hands,” “Demons,” “Cutter,” “Medicated,” a cover of Roxette’s song, “The Look,” followed by “Closer” and ended on “The Wreckage.” For more information on Candlelight Red, visit www.candlelightred.com.
Candlelight Red
“We are Thousand Foot Krutch and we love God and we love rock-n-roll, hope that’s ok with you.” – Trevor McNevan, lead singer of TFK
Thousand Foot Krutch performed songs off their latest release, The End is Where We Begin, which included songs like, “Let The Sparks Fly,” “Falls Apart,” “Move,” “War of Change,” “Light Up the Sky,” and ended on “Fire it Up.” For more information on Thousand Foot Krutch, visit www.thousandfootkrutch.com.
Thousand Foot Krutch
Deuce was up next and came out on stage covered in their trademark faces covered with masks or bandanas for the first couple of songs. While they are not my particular taste in music, I did appreciate that they put on one hell of a high energy show that left the fans chanting and cheering for more Deuce, as they performed the Hollywood Undead’s cover “9 Lives,” followed by performing “Let’s Get It Crackin’,” “Story of a Snitch,” “I Came To Party,” “The One” and ended on “America.” For more information on Deuce, visit www.deucela.com.
Deuce
Redlight King came on next and performed some tracks off of Something For The Pain, like “Comeback,” “City Life,” “Old Man,” “Built to Last,” “Underground” and rounded their set out with “Bullet in My Hand.” For more information on Redlight King, visit www.redlightkingmusic.com.
Redlight King
What can one say about Fozzy, other than the crowd went absolutely crazy over Chris Jericho and company when Fozzy hit the stage at the Rockstar Uproar Festival. Fozzy performed “Spider in My Mouth,” “Sandpaper,” “God Pounds His Nails,” “Enemy” and ended on “Blood Happens.” For more information on Fozzy, visit www.fozzyrock.com.
Fozzy
P.O.D.’s set was one I was looking forward to the most and they did not disappoint as they ended the outdoor part of the day when they kicked off their set with “Boom,” as fans crowd surfed to “Murdered Love,” “On Fire,” “Set It Off,” “Without Jah, Nothin’,” “Youth of a Nation,” “Southtown,” “West Coast Rock Steady,” “Lost in Forever,” “Alive” and ended their set with the Sublime cover “What I Got.” For more information on P.O.D., visit www.payableondeath.com.
P.O.D.
Adelitas Way kicked the night off on the main stage by putting on a dynamic and passionate performance as they performed songs off their album Home School Valedictorian like “The Collapse,” “Hurt,” “Alive,” “Cage the Beast,” “Criticize,” “Sick” and ended the night by performing “Invincible.” For more information on Adelitas Way, visit www.adelitaswaymusic.com.
Adelitas Way
Staind took the stage in an almost quiet manner, allowing the music to be the main focus as Aaron Lewis’s voice riveted the audience as Staind performed “Eyes Wide Open,” “Right Here,” “Now,” “For You,” “Paper Wings,” “It’s Been Awhile,” “Not Again,” “Outside,” “Mudshovel” and ended the night by performing the heart breaking song “Something to Remind You.” For more information Staind, visit www.staind.com.
Staind
“Nothing will ever replicate the energy of a live audience, so put away your phones, your cameras, stop Youtubing and just be in this moment for just one second.” – Sully Erna
Godsmack was shrouded by a white curtain covering the entire stage that was ripped off as the band kicked off their set with “The Enemy,” “Keep Away,” “Cryin’ Like a Bitch,” “Straight Out of Line,” “Awake,” “Re-Align,” “Speak,” “Voodoo,” “Batallas de los Tambores,” “Whatever” and “I Stand Alone.” What was the most visually amazing thing to witness was when Sully Erna and Shannon Larkin had a battle of the drums as they went head to head in an amazing display of talent and pure awesomeness. It was probably my favorite moment of the night watching them duke it out on stage. For more information on Godsmack, visit www.godsmack.com.
Godsmack
Last, but not least, Shinedown took the stage in pure darkness as they kicked their set off with “Sound of Madness,” followed by “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom),” and pyrotechnics came into play as Shinedown performed the song “Enemies.” They continued their set with “If You Only Knew,” “Devour,” “I’ll Follow You,” “Unity,” “45” and “Bully.” Brent Smith and Zach Myers took to the crowd to cover Lyndard Skynard’s “Simple Man” in a beautiful and almost angelic way as everything else was stripped away except for the duo in a sea of fans. Smith and Myers returned to the stage to perform “Second Chance” and ended the night with “Fly From the Inside.” For more information on Shinedown, visit www.shinedown.com.
Shinedown
The Rockstar Uproar Festival is still touring through the end of September. If you get the chance, this is a show worth seeing with so many great acts to get to see from up and coming artists to fan favorites. For more information on the Rockstar Uproar Festival or to find out the next stop on the tour, visit www.rockstaruproar.com.
