River City Rockfest once again rocked San Antonio this year. This heat filled day made the various artists literally put their blood, sweat, and tears into delivering a performance that the 28,000 attendees would remember. With three stages fans had to run from one stage to another to catch their favorites. Here are some of our favorites.
Black Stone Cherry was the third band to hit the main stage. Despite it still being early in the day, they were able to bring in a big crowd. The band started off the set with their hit songs Me & Mary Jane and Blame it on the Boom Boom. While all of the members showed the band’s energy, the guitarist, Ben Wells, demonstrated the importance of crowd interaction.
Next up on the main stage was Buckcherry. The band obviously had several fans in the crowd as many people could be heard singing along. However, Josh Todd, maybe before singing Slammin’ you shouldn’t shout “big tits, fat a**” considering the videographer had to zoom in to find your backside. All jokes aside, Buckcherry showed the crowd a good time and set another expectation for later bands.
After Buckcherry we ran over to another stage to catch In Flames. They definitely appealed to the harder edge fans in the audience. This was a band that I had heard several good things about but never really listened to. But they won over this fan that day. They are a Swedish melodic metal band who have been playing together since the 90’s. If you are a fan of people like Godsmack and other bands harder than Black Stone Cherry and Buckcherry, you’ll like In Flames.
The singer for The Pretty Reckless, Taylor Momsen, had me sweating as she walked out in a thick coat in the 100 degree heat. That took dedication. Her setlist consisted of songs that would make any fan of hers happy. It had a mixture of her older songs and songs from her new album like: Oh My God and Take Me Down. At the end of the set, Taylor and Ben Phillips performed a tribute to Chris Cornell that made grown men cry. Their performance of Like a Stone held so much emotion that mesmerized the crowd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql0Sp9iisvQ
While many fans of Three Days Grace believed that Adam leaving the band marked their downfall, the current singer Matt Walst, proved them wrong. As evidence from all the happy fans singing along to their favorite songs, this band had hardly changed. Their set gave a good balance of the classic songs like Pain and newer songs like Painkiller. In an energy-packed performance, any doubts about this lineup was dispelled.
Despite the heat and exhaustion from the day, people were still going strong and very eager to see Papa Roach before the three headliners. Since there were three stages in the festival, the crowd seemed conflicted on whether or not they should finish listening to Three Days Grace or head over and see Papa Roach. Those of which who decided to see Papa Roach were not disappointed.
So…. Godsmack, The Offspring, and Def Leppard walk into a bar; sounds like the beginning of a bad joke right. This lineup confused many people as all three bands seem so incredibly different, although the lineup ended up being a good decision as anyone who attended was able to find a style of music they enjoy. At the start of these three bands, the sun already set and the heat had died down from the earlier performances, making it a lot easier on the crowd. All three bands engaged the audience in a different way and ultimately left people going home ecstatic.
So despite the heat, and fainting metalheads, this festival is worth going to in the future.
So despite the heat, and fainting metalheads, this festival is worth going to in the future.
So if you didn't get enough , here are a few more pictures from River City Rock Fest!