As is the case every year in these parts, May is the big dog as far as major rock & roll happenings in Ohio. Columbus is home to the Sonic Temple Festival (formerly Rock on the Range) and always brings in some of the biggest names in rock and metal music. This year is certainly no exception. We are going to start with that festival as they are bringing in the biggest metal band in the world and we will end in Cleveland with the biggest hard rock band in the world.
Next week, May 8-11, will mark the return of the massive Sonic Temple Music and Art Festival to Columbus at Historic Crew Stadium. In recent years it was expanded to four days and now even offers four stages of music. There will be over 100 performances over the course of the four days. The event is 97% sold out and it is definitely not cheap. If you haven’t already secured tickets, they can be purchased here. They do offer a “pay later” option if that is up your alley. If the event does not sell out, you will likely be able to score good deals on the days of the shows. I’ve bought from the long-time scalpers that stand on 17th Avenue before and they are usually pretty negotiable. Highlighting the four days will of course be Metallica. They will headline on Friday and Sunday and will play two entirely different set lists. No songs will be repeated. They will be supported on Friday by the legendary Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie. On Sunday, when they close out the festival, they’ll be supported by Alice In Chains. All of these bands put on phenomenal live shows.
Wednesday May 14th brings Nazareth to my favorite small venue; Columbus’ The King of Clubs. The 70’s rockers will be appearing there for the first time. Tickets are still available and range from $30 for general admission to $60 for floor seating. There are also tables available from $200-$300 depending on how many seats. I’ve never seen Nazareth, but think this should definitely be a show worth checking out.
May 19th brings two of the bigger hard rock acts of the 2000’s to Blossom Music Center up in Cuyahoga Falls. Six days later they will also visit Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. The tour features Staind and Breaking Benjamin. I’ve seen both of these bands a number of times and they both sound great live. There are plenty of tickets available for both shows and those can be purchased right here.
On May 21st Billy Idol and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will come to Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. I haven’t seen Billy Idol live, but Joan Jett was great at the very first Sonic Temple back in 2019. There are plenty of tickets available in all sections of the large venue. They range in price from $22-$270 depending on location and can be purchased here.
May 23rd will bring another classic rock veteran to the Buckeye State. Pat Benatar will visit The Ohio State University’s Mershon Auditorium. Tickets are pricey and range from $65-$270. They can be bought here. I saw her open for Journey once and her show was fine. The tour will make stops in Sylvania (Toledo-ish) the next night and down on the river in Marietta on the 27th.
There is only one active band right now that could top the Metallica visit next week. Short of Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin reuniting, that band is AC/DC. It’s been a long time since the boys from Down Under have played in Ohio and it very well could be the last time that they do. They will be playing in Cleveland for the final night of their tour on May 28th at Huntington Bank Field; home of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. The show is nearly sold out and the few remaining seats range in price from $221-$360. If you can swing it, buy your tickets here, and go see one of the greatest rock acts of all time for possibly the final time. I’ve been fortunate enough to see AC/DC twice and can’t recommend it enough!
That’s all for May! June has some good stuff coming up too, but May is definitely the time to go see some live music!
It had been four long years since I last saw a concert at Historic Crew Stadium, home of the Sonic Temple Music Festival. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the entire world shutting down. 2021 was cancelled as well due to lingering fear peddling and no word on ever was publicly made that I’m aware of as to why the event didn’t happen in 2022. As someone who is one of the originals from 2007 when this event was formerly known as Rock On The Range, the pilgrimage to Columbus for this festival kind of became ingrained into my psyche. For this year’s festival, I only visited on Friday and Saturday. While pulling off of 17th Avenue onto the festival grounds, I was met with a rush of familiarity and memories with friends and strangers. Unfortunately, I arrived too late in the day to park in my usual spot under the shade of the infamous Pee Tree. If you’ve ever pre-gamed for this festival with me and my friends, you should remember the Pee Tree. Good times.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get down on Friday in time for Black Stone Cherry. one of my long time favorites whom I first discovered on those very grounds. While walking in, Badflower had just started their performance, but I was headed straight to the Octane Stage for Dorothy. I watched the rest of Badflower’s set from the video screens as Dorothy’s stage was being put together. She remains rock & roll’s best kept secret. She’s got a powerful voice. She’s got a great, hard rocking band behind her. She’s authentically authentic. Due to being a festival performance, the 7 song set was all too brief, especially after getting to see her perform a headlining set on her own tour last year. With that said, the band made the most of their 40 minute slot. Quite literally, their frontwoman stopped the show to shout a prayer over a fan that was having some sort of medical emergency. The show did not continue until security and medical personnel confirmed that the individual was okay. While there were a few dozen apparent nonbelievers that were looking for a reason to be offended and left, I found it refreshing to hear this woman bring everything to a halt and immediately reach out for divine intervention for a complete stranger in need. How sad it is that in today’s age, someone could be offended by somebody praying over somebody in distress. Dorothy Martin is admittedly no saint. She has been open for years about vulnerable moments in her life, her own demons and the things that have led her to her renewed faith. At a festival that had tents devoted to tarot card readings, tents devoted to coven members, and countless performers and fans wearing and saying things that blaspheme virtually every religion on earth, it is absolutely mind blowing that there were a vocal minority of people complaining about someone praying and making sure the devil wasn’t welcome to harm her fans. I know, not very “metal” of me to have this take, but oh well, I’m not ashamed. Anyway, the rest of her performance continued without incident and as always was one of the highlights.
Dorothy performing “What’s Coming To Me” at Sonic Temple Festival, May 26, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.
From there it was to the main stage for the rest of the evening for me. As always, Illinois’ alt metal titans, Chevelle were their typical solid selves. Having also seen them multiple times, this three-piece isn’t there to be flashy. They show up and let their music speak for them. In their fifty minute set they fit in as many songs as the evening’s headliner, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Sandwiched between Chevelle and the Friday headliner was Seattle’s Queens Of The Stone Age. They aren’t my typical go-to type of band, but their set was fine and lead vocalist Josh Homme remarked that it was their first gig in five years. I’d have flipped them and Chevelle, but no real complaints there. QOTSA also managed to play an 11 song set, matching the output of the final band of the night.
Chevelle performing “The Red” at Sonic Temple Music Festival, Columbus, OH.
Queens Of The Stone Age performing “No One Knows” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
Friday night’s headliner marked the return of a festival favorite; Avenged Sevenfold. The three new tracks were fine, and expected on an album tour. It was that there was only eight other tracks during their performance that puzzles me. I love A7X and have been a fan of theirs since the early 2000’s. Yet every time that they have headlined this festival, I don’t think they’ve ever played what is a proper headlining set. In 2018 they played a whopping ten songs and didn’t encore. In 2014 they played thirteen. In 2011 they played ten and in 2009 as the direct support to the headlining Motley Crue they only played seven songs. I don’t get it. Again, Friday night in 2023, they only played eleven songs and forget an encore song or two; because they stopped playing twenty minutes before their advertised set time was supposed to end. Again, I love this band, but if there is a physical reason that they can’t play a proper headlining set then drop them to the direct support and let them play for an hour since that seems to be about what they want to do.
The band sounded better than I anticipated. The new songs are growing on me. I don’t understand the shock that people have expressed in their new sound. This has kind of been the trajectory that they’ve been heading for awhile now. I’m all for being creative and trying to grow. I do hope, however, that they are all in a good place and are taking care of themselves both in body, mind and spirit. I can’t put my finger on it, but something just seems like members of this band may need some help. They’ve been through a lot. I hope for the best and I hope to see them again, but ending a major festival performance 20 minutes earlier than what was advertised and what people paid a lot of money for makes it seem like maybe things aren’t just quite right in A7X world.
Avenged Sevenfold Set List Columbus, OH
1. Game Over
2. Afterlife
3. Hail To The King
4. We Love You
5. Buried Alive
6. So Far Away
7. Nobody
8. Nightmare
9. Bat Country
10. Unholy Confessions
11. A Little Piece Of Heaven
Avenged Sevenfold performing “Bat Country” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH
I trekked back down on Saturday for my most anticipated concert of 2023: KISS. I”ve been a KISS fan since I was about fifteen years old since Santa Claus, apparently growing tired of my rap phase, gifted me the iconic Destroyer album for Christmas. From the first time I heard “Detroit Rock City” and “God Of Thunder” among others on the record, I’ve been hooked. I first saw KISS in 2003 with my Dad on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith. I saw them a second time with my brother in 2009 in Cleveland where they had the curious choice of having Buckcherry as their opening act. Anyway, every time that KISS had came to town since then, they’ve eluded me for whatever reason. To say that I had been waiting for that concert for a long time would be an understatement. To pass on the goodwill that my Dad, er, Santa Claus passed on to me; I took my 13 year old nephew with me for his first large scale concert experience.
We arrived in time to catch From Ashes To New on the Octane Stage. Hailing from neighboring Pennsylvania, these hard rockers were really good. They brought great energy and packed 9 songs into their forty minute set. See my confusion with Avenged Sevenfold? They were given 90 minutes to headline the event, played for 70 minutes instead, and only played 11 songs. Anyway, for being the first band my nephew ever got to see at a festival, they left a lasting impression on him and I was impressed as well.
From Ashes To New performing “Panic” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
Following them were Sweden’s Avatar. Their performances are always entertaining. For those of you that might not be familiar; imagine Alice Cooper’s theatrics meets King Diamond piercing vocals meets Swedish heavy metal. It makes sense to me. I’m here for it and the crowd reaction was great, particularly for “Smells Like A Freakshow”. I must wonder, though, if those same complainers about Dorothy shared any complaints about the subject matter from Avatar’s performance. I’m doubtful. Anyway, this is a band that I recommend people to check out if you are a metalhead that might be looking for something new.
Avatar performing “Smells Like A Freakshow” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
For the rest of the evening it was time to venture from the Octane Stage into the stadium for the big acts. For the first time in awhile at this event, Rob Zombie was not in a headlining role. He understood the assignment though. Zombie is a huge KISS fan and was all on board with being the act that got the privilege of opening for them. I’d have made some changes to his set list, but as always he worked the crowd into a frenzy with his unique brand of grooving “dance” songs that tackle Gothic era horror and comics. I’ve never not enjoyed myself during a Rob Zombie performance and yesterday was not an exception.
Rob Zombie performing “Scum Of The Earth” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH
Rob Zombie Set List Columbus, OH
1. The Triumph Of King Freak (A Crypt Of Preservation And Superstition)
2. Superbeast
3. Meet The Creeper
4. Shake Your Ass – Smoke Your Grass
5. Living Dead Girl
6. More Human Than Human
7. Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
8. Scum Of The Earth
9. Never Gonna Stop ( The Red, Red Kroovy)
10. Well, Everybody’s *Friendly* In A U.F.O.
11. House Of 1000 Corpses
12. Thunder Kiss ’65
13. Dragula
An hour after Zombie’s set finished, it was time for KISS. They did not disappoint. This band takes a lot of flak from people and some of it deservedly so; but their live performances are rivaled by very few acts and it makes me happy to see that they are ending this thing in a fashion where they are still able to put on a great show. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are well into their 70’s and it would be easy to phone it in on this last run of shows that will see their touring days come to an end; but they aren’t. Columbus, OH was treated to the “hottest band in the world” one final time and packed as much into a 90 minute set that I think they could. Getting to share it with my young nephew made it even cooler. With every explosion, rising platform, spitting fire, and blood capsule trick; I would look over and see a thirteen year old boy with a look of awe on his face that I was hoping for. Outside of Metallica at Rock On The Range 2017, KISS firmly planted themselves as the best performance in the event’s history in my not so humble opinion. It was awesome, for one last time, to lose our minds in *Columbus* Rock City with KISS.
KISS performing “Detroit Rock City” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Finally. It will have been over four years since the last Sonic Temple Festival (formerly Rock on the Range), when it will make its long anticipated return during Memorial Day weekend to the Historic Crew Stadium. After a great festival in 2019, that saw an amazing performance by the Foo Fighters close out the event, Sonic Temple had been unable to go on during the following three years. 2020’s lineup had much promise. Initially, they were to have two headlining performances by the biggest band on the planet; Metallica. Unfortunately, 2020 happened and live music as we knew it ceased to exist for far too long. 2021 didn’t start out much better and the festival was cancelled for a second straight year due to there not being enough time to prepare for a festival of this magnitude so shortly after the pandemic was beginning to turn for the better. Why the festival didn’t return in 2022 is still up for debate, but it didn’t; and that left many to wonder if the original of these modern day Danny Wimmer Presents festivals would ever return.
Things began to trend in the right direction when a cryptic video was released this past fall from Historic Crew Stadium’s Main Stage and shortly after that came the official announcement that the festival would return in 2023. However, this will be the first time that the event doesn’t fall during Armed Forces Day weekend and will instead expand to four days and be held during the Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day weekend and rock & roll music in Columbus, OH (thank you QFM 96) have a long history and this event should be one for the ages. Particularly, now that the lineup has been announced, this year’s event will be the place to be over the holiday weekend. Let’s break down the lineup:
Thursday May 25 features one of the most requested headlining acts every year with TOOL. They were at the festival once before, in 2018, which would wind up being the last year that it was called Rock on the Range. The alt-metal band will once again be directly supported by the same band that opened for them last time; Godsmack. The Boston hard rockers have played this event several times, including as the first day headliner in 2010. They’ve always put on a great show, and with this tour supporting what the band is calling it’s last album, I’d expect nothing less this time around either. The rest of Thursday will also be highlighted by Columbus’ own Beartooth with the highest billing they’ve had here, Welsh metalcore giants Bullet For My Valentine, Los Angeles’ Bad Omens, and 80’s crossover thrash/punk pioneers Suicidal Tendencies.
Friday May 26th brings back another festival favorite and one of the most requested acts each year with heavy metal titans and headlining act, Avenged Sevenfold. Avenged has previously played the festival four times including headlining performances in 2011, 2014, and 2018 although this will be their first time performing here since the event switched names. Their direct support will be 90’s rock outfit Queens of the Stone Age. They’ll be making their Crew Stadium debut; and at a festival that has a history of some iconic surprise appearances and special guests, I have to imagine there could be a special guest appearing during their performance. I believe that Friday, overall, will also be the strongest day of the festival. The undercard features some really great live bands including: hard rocking three piece Chevelle, thought provoking Badflower, the current queen of rock music Dorothy and her outstanding live band (read my 2022 review of her here), and modern Southern rock heavyweights Black Stone Cherry.
Saturday May 27th keeps the party going with one of the most iconic bands of all time coming to make their Crew Stadium debut. This band will probably be making their final appearance in Columbus as the Saturday headliner, as they are on their extended final tour. Of course, the band I’m talking about is the one and only, often imitated but never duplicated, “hottest band in the world!”; KISS! The best iterations of this festival have been the ones that have included some of the true icons of rock and heavy metal (ZZ Top, Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Metallica, Judas Priest, Saxon, Cheap Trick and Megadeth have all graced this festival) and this is just another legendary band for them to be able to add to that list. KISS will absolutely be the show of the weekend! Would there be anybody else that would be a finer direct support for them than Rob Zombie? I don’t think so. Zombie is another band that has graced this event multiple times, including headlining performances in 2012 and 2016. This pairing of shock-rock legends will be a great way to cap off an evening that will include earlier performances by the rising Vegas outfit Falling In Reverse, TOOL’s Maynard Keenan’s third band Puscifer, the always popular Trivium from Orlando, Cincinnati’s Black Veil Brides, classic rock revivalists Rival Sons, and Swedish metal act Avatar.
Sunday May 28th will see the Sonic Temple Festival come to a close with the same band that headlined its inaugural event under the Sonic Temple name. That band is the Foo Fighters. In what will surely be an emotional performance, as the band will now be trying to carry on without their long time drummer Taylor Hawkins, who sadly passed away last year. You know, though, that any time that Dave Grohl takes the stage that you are going to get a great performance. Both Rock on the Range and Sonic Temple have had their moments with emotional performances and this one will be no different. They’ll be supported by the alt metal quintet; Deftones. Other bands that are sure to highlight the day are Sublime with Rome, Taylor Momsen’s The Pretty Reckless, and Cleveland’s own Filter.
Tickets for Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival are already on sale and can be purchased here! You can also listen to “Ohio’s Best Rock” QFM 96 and “YOUR Rock Station” 99.7 The Blitz for ticket giveaways and promotions as well as news and updates for the festival. Who are you most excited to see perform at Sonic Temple in 2023?
Rock Lives Here 