Review: Rock On The Range ‘08 – Day One

Posted: May 20th, 2008
Contributed By: Nick

Arrival/Day 1 | Day 2

After a long day of travel, I made it back to my front door in Charleston, South Carolina. I fumbled with my keys for a bit before finding the one that opened the door. I walked in and shut it gently behind me, dropping my bags to floor. I knelt down to unlace my shoes, caked with mud. As I removed one and began untying the other, I stopped, and, still clutching one of my filthy shoes, began recollecting on the weekend that was Rock on the Range 2008.

It all began for me on Friday morning, crawling out of bed at a painfully early 4:00 A.M. to catch a flight at 5:45. I touched down in Baltimore a little after 9, where I met TuneLab founding father Jay Rushing for the first time before we set out in his pickup to Columbus, Ohio, site of Rock on the Range. Despite viewing a museum of deer carcasses, an overabundance of Pittsburgh Steeler gift shops, and being pelted by hazardous metal fasteners from unsecured work trucks, we made it to the hotel unscathed.

A few hours later, TuneLab president/CEO Chris Smith pulled up, as all three of us shook hands for the very first time. After grabbing dinner, scoping out the perimeter, and stocking the cooler, we shot the shit from the balcony outside our room. We weren’t alone however, as kids poured out of room after room, each group doing their best to outblast the other with their party music; we chose the high road. After screening the new Disturbed record, watching Jay guzzle his dozen beer pledge, and jamming out to Wesley Willis’ “Rock and Roll McDonald’s”, we were ready for some shut-eye; Saturday was when it all began.

We arrived at Columbus Crew Stadium a little after 11 A.M., wanting to ensure a spot in the press tent. As soon as I walked inside the stadium I saw just how monstrous this was-2 stages, hundreds of vendors, more band buses than I could count on my fingers, and a press/media cluster that was as big as a standard venue in itself. Once we set up shop, all three of us got down to business; we wanted to cover this thing better than we ever thought we could.

Rock on the Range 2008’s first act was Drive A, a babyfaced, potty-mouthed group of youngsters out of Los Angeles who cussed their way through our friends in Cage Rattle Radio’s first interview of the weekend. I set out to speak with 10 Years, excited to interview a band whose new album I reviewed with such high accolades. With my nerves worked up for some reason, I labored through the interview, mistakenly calling their debut album ‘The Autumn Offering’ before being upbraided by drummer Brian Vodinh; my apologies to 10 Years for such a lackluster interview.

I needed an elixir to erase the 10 Years debacle from memory, and what better remedy than Shinedown. My friend from Charleston, Mr. Eric Bass is the band’s new bass player, so it was extra special this time around; the new stuff sounded intense. I rushed back to the tent to find Staind’s Aaron Lewis and Mike Mushok feet from my chair, both noticeably stoned. Aaron was kind enough to pose for a picture, one of my favorite moments from the weekend. Not long after they left, Shinedown arrived and I got the chance to chat with Eric as well as Brent Smith, redeeming myself with this interview. It was nice to speak with Eric again, and I wish him much success with Shinedown.

Watching Killswitch Engage was entertaining. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz sported a blow-up female doll on his back, complete with her own beer bottle enema. Howard Jones ordered a “wall of death” for the crowd and said “I wanna see white people crashing into each other.” Dutkiewicz was on his usual tirade, snarling into the microphone his rage towards “sloppy” parts of the female anatomy to which he compared “a plate of old, sloppy calamari”. Humor greatly appreciated.

I caught bits and pieces of the remaining performers on the second stage throughout the day. Red’s set was far too loud to enjoy, but 10 Years tore it up before Theory of a Deadman came on to whisk you to sleep; frontman Tyler Connolly had hair that made him look like an emo Elvis, making it hard to take him seriously at all.

Our Saturday concluded with just a handful of interviews, so we packed it in, watched some more of Cage Rattle’s interviews, and headed to the main stage to watch Staind. Their set-list has changed little if at all the four times I have seen them, but the nostalgia of hearing “It’s Been Awhile”, “Open Your Eyes” and “Mudshovel” was worth it in the end. Once Staind concluded, we went and found a good view from the stadium to watch Filter on the second stage. Frontman Richard Patrick decided to turn the stage into his own political pulpit, so we decided to cut our losses and move down to the field for Disturbed.

By the time Disturbed hit the stage, the entire place was in mayhem. I have never been a huge Disturbed fan, but they made the crowd their own. Disturbed wrapped up their set and left the stage, the headliner set to take stage a half hour later.

Who was said headliner? Oh, just a little band called Stone Temple Pilots, reuniting for the first time in almost eight years at Rock on the Range; needless to say, we were all rather anxious.

The three of us placed our bets as to what song we believed STP would open with. Jay offered “Interstate Love Song”. I suggested “Vasoline”. I can’t recall Chris’ pick. Before we knew it, the lights cut out, the big screen on the stage fired up, and Stone Temple Pilots was about to happen again for the first time in just under a decade.

Drummer Eric Kretz nestled in behind the kit, the DeLeo brothers sauntered behind, and the infamous Scott Weiland was last out. The four were met with a sea of cheers and screams, but with their opening track, a little number called “Big Empty”, STP hushed the ravenous crowd with the haunting and enrapturing song; my eyes welled up with tears a little bit, because I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

Stone Temple Pilots roared through a very diverse and eclectic set-list. I never expected to hear “Lounge Fly” but I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, the band played all the favorites-”Plush”, “Interstate Love Song”, “Creep”, and “Sex Type Thing” among others. They matched their older material song for song with tracks like “Down”, “All In the Suit That You Wear”, and “Hollywood Bitch”. My favorite song of their set was “Big Bang Baby”, the first single from their 1996 album ‘Tiny Music…’; although disappointed they skipped my all-time favorite STP tune “Still Remains”, “Big Bang Baby” sufficed in its place. The band ended their set unceremoniously, before a bevy of “S-T-P!” chants lured them back out for a one-off encore of “Dead and Bloated”. As people poured out into the night, I could only stand there still for a moment, trying to find the right words to express how I felt about seeing one of the bands that fueled my interest in music at such a young age. It was magical, it was breathtaking, it left me speechless.

And that was only the first day…

TuneLab Music Rock On The Range Interviews | Continue to day two… »