For those of you who aren’t familiar with Carolina Rebellion it is a two day rock festival featuring some of the heavy hitters of rock N’ roll in Charlotte, North Carolina. In my opinion, this is one of the best rock festivals in the US. The newly expanded two day festival was sadly cut short on the second day due to inclimate weather, Nonpoint, Volbeat, Rise Against, Bush and Soundgarden’s sets were canceled. But considering the circumstances it was a great turnout and we are looking forward to a bigger, better, louder weekend next year.
Day 1
Asking Alexandria
For me the first band of the day was Asking Alexandria I am not really a fan of their music, but I love photographing them. These guys are constantly moving around the stage and getting the crowd involved in their sets. Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell were constantly
running all over the stage and stopping to play side by side. They do a great job of amping up the crowd and getting them involved in their set. The biggest fall back for me, was their lead singer Danny Worsnop. He didn’t have nearly the energy everyone else in the band had. He has also been slipping vocally. He is definitely not as strong as we had seen him in the past. It’s a good thing his band was there to carry him through the set.
Halestorm
I have a love/hate relationship with Halestorm. While I think they are a phenomenal live band, their music is nothing exciting. Lzzy and Arejay Hale are hands down two of the biggest spectacles in rock. Lizzy has a voice that gives me chills every time I see them live. She is incredibly talented and studio tracks just do her justice. As for Arejay, he stands alone. Most drummers tend to fall to the back burner being put behind a large inanimate object in a chair while the rest of the band stands in front of them and acts as “the face” of the band. Arejay breaks the monotony. He always seems to be dressed up in a marching band
uniform, sometimes a face mask, he over exaggerates every move, sometimes braking out huge drumsticks. My problem with them is their music itself is pretty generic, I feel like they have so much potential but I want something new, I want them to step outside the cookie cutter radio friendly band and do more. I think they are worth every penny to see live but I’m just waiting for them to take it to the next level.
Aranda
Aranda is a band that I literally know nothing about, everyone was telling me they were a lot of fun to photograph and I shouldn’t pass up the opportunity… and I’m glad I didn’t. These guys came out running. Their bassist, B. Webb was one of my favorite parts of their set. He was constantly in your face, throwing his bass around his back, he was a great contributed to the band’s upbeat set.
Bullet for my Valentine
I have seen Bullet For My Valentine once before about, two summers ago, and I really liked them. They were fun and sounded great, but this time, they blew me away. Every member of the band was fun to watch and contributed so much to their stage presence. Guitarist Michael Paget was always found at the top of the stage raging out on his guitar, making faces at people in the crowd, and of corse doing his signature bull horns on the forehead move. These guys hands down put on one of the best sets all weekend, the crowd was super excited, they sounded great and had an all-around great performance.
Papa Roach
Papa Roach is one of my favorite bands to see live. They are very consistent and always full of energy. Jacoby Shaddix is one of the best frontmen out there, running around the stage, and sometimes right off the stage and on to what ever he can find and into the crowd. This show was no exception. Shaddix hit every corner of the stage before jumping into a sea of people and crowd surfing back to the stage. After just seeing them a week prior to Carolina, they still managed to keep their set interesting.
Device
Device is a band I haven’t taken the time to listen to just yet, I have somewhat expected to hear Disturbed all over again. While to some extent that was the case, these guys have a little more industrial sound but it is hard to get past Draiman’s distinct vocals. It definitely hinders his attempts at breaking away from his old band. On stage, Draiman is no different. I don’t see Device being a huge success until they can do something completely different or redefine who they are as musicians.
Deftones
The Deftones are one of the bands I was really looking forward to, though I wasn’t sure what the morale of the band would be like since the passing of their bassist Chi Cheng. I’m not sure that I like them in a large festival setting, they didn’t blow me away like they did when I saw they earlier this year in Baltimore. Unfortunately, they just weren’t very exciting. Lead vocalist, Chino Moreno was the only one really moving around the stage, he did his best to come to the front and engage the crowd. I don’t think they are a bad band by any means, but I just prefer them in a more intimate venue.
Limp Bizket
One of the bands I was most excited for was Limp Bizket, this was my first time seeing them, and I really had no idea what to expect from them. As soon as they hit the stage, the energy in the crowd was off the chart. Everyone sang along word for word with fists in the air as Fred Durst came out screaming “Rollin.” These guys were on point all night, they sounded great and put on a hell of a show. I was definitely impressed with how well they preformed considering they had disappeared for so many years.
Day 2
All That Remains
Because of the rain delay and cancelations, All that Remains was the first band of the day. They came on stage with middle fingers in the air yelling “fuck the rain!” (This, of course, was after Nonpoint’s set had been canceled and an hour delay has been instituted by the festival) This definitely set the tone for the rest of the day while it poured relentlessly. Unfortunately, All that Remain’s set was rushed while the bands tried to play catch up, but they made the best of it. They came out, they had fun with the crowd and got everyone excited for the rest of the day.
Pop Evil
I absolutely love Pop Evil, they put everything they have into their show and the rain was not going to stop them. I think one of my favorite things about these guys is their live set, they leave everything they have on stage. Lead, Leigh Kakaty, relentlessly runs all over the stage onto the speakers, in the crowd and uses his mic stand as a prop, throwing it in the air every chance he gets. Josh Marunde is another drummer to look out for. He is another one who will stand up and scream along word for word. He looks like he is having so much fun doing what he does and I love that he makes himself seen. This is an all around hard working, great group of guys, and I photograph them every opportunity I get.
Steel Panther
Steel Panther was another new band for me. The only thing I’d heard about these guys prior to their set was that they were a LOT of fun. When they came out, I feel like we stepped back in time. These guys are super glam rock, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. I would almost identify them more as comedians than musicians, in-between songs they have this whole commentary where they poke fun at each other, re-apply lip gloss and talk about asian hookers. While Im not a fan of their music (very Weird Al Yankovic meets Motley Crue) they are so much fun to watch and enjoy them for what they are.
Hollywood Undead
I always thought Hollywood Undead was just good ‘let’s get drunk and party music’… until Deuce left, then I could actually take them seriously as a band. They definitely have a fun element to their sound, but I was glad to hear their sound mature as they released their second and third albums. This was my first time actually watching them and I really like them, more than I had expected to. They were a little chaotic on stage bobbing and weaving between one another but it really works well with their sound. All around I think they finally found what works for them, and they put on a hell of a set.
Sevendust
Even though I had just seen Sevendust a couple weeks prior, I was really looking forward to their set in Carolina. I was a little nervous with the cancelation of Volbeat and the worsening conditions that their set would be canceled as well. But once again, Sevendust came out proclaiming that the rain wasn’t going to stop them from playing for the dedicated fans who had stood in the ran all day. Despite the conditions, these guy put on a phenomenal set, and had one of the largest crowds of the day. Lajon Witherspoon has a commanding presence on stage, I’m glad to see these guys back in support of their album “Black out the Sun.”
Escape the Fate
Escape the Fate was our second to last band of the day. Going into the photo pit, it looked and sounded like they were having a ton of technical issues from the ongoing wind and rain. Once they were able to take the stage they went in head first and barreled through their set. I also saw these guys less than a week before carolina in Baltimore in direct support for Papa Roach. I am not familiar with much of their music, but on stage they are in your face running around the whole time their live show has definitely won me over.
Buckcherry
Buckcherry ended up being the last band of the weekend going on just after Escape the Fate started their set. I have never been a huge fan of these guys, but I had heard that lead singer Josh Todd had been fighting off a cold on top of coming out to preform in the wind and rain. I definitely have a new found respect for these guys to still put on a kick ass show with the odds being stacked against them. After Rise against, Bush and Soundgarden were forced to cancel, members of buckcherry tweeted various comments about the cancelation, including my favorite from Stevie Dacanay.. “10,000 swingin’ dicks ready to party… And Bush doesn’t want to get wet. #Carolina Rebellion #GwenKeepsHisNutsInAJar.” While I don’t completely agree with the petty comments, it wasn’t fair for the fans who waited in the rain all day just to have the headliner’s sets get canceled with absolutely no announcement or heads up that it was a possibility. I think Carolina Rebellion handled the post cancelation whip lash to the best of their ability, but hopefully next year they will be ready for whatever the weather has in store for the weekend.
Asking Alexandria
Halestorm
Aranda
Bullet for my Valentine
Papa Roach
Device
Deftones
Limp Bizket
All that Remains
Pop Evil
Steel Panther
Hollywood Undead
Sevendust
Escape the Fate
Buckcherry
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