Rob Zombie / Photo by Travis Nelson
Now in its fourth year, Rock on the Range 2010 fit 38 bands with hard rock and metal leanings into the two-day fest, packing the yellow and gray-tinted expanse of Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, with thousands of fans. Headlined by Godsmack and Limp Bizkit, the concert contained all the details that define the festival atmosphere: a wave of empty plastic Budweiser bottles, belligerent local sports fans, bad tattoos, crass t-shirts, people looking for weed in the men’s bathroom, a smattering of bare breasts, and bizarre characters (like the guy wearing only boots, a robe, and Spongebob Squarepants underwear). Music-wise, here’s our take on what made this noisy weekend worth the visit.
See our photo gallery of the Fest here >>
PHOTOS:
Halestorm
Helmet
Deftones
Photos by Travis Nelson
BEST GRATUITOUSLY PROFANE AC/DC COVER: PUDDLE OF MUDD
When Wes Scantlin hits a stage, expect curse words to flow without pause. The Puddle of Mudd frontman introduced himself by saying, "What's up, you crazy motherfuckers?" Through Puddle’s enthusiastic set, Scantlin would ask the same query in modified format ("What's up, all you crazy motherfuckers out there?" being one of the variations) and frequently request to see everyone’s middle fingers. Sandwiched between Puddle standards like "Blurry," "Schizophrenic Psycho," and "She Hates Me" (plus the new "Stoned" or, as Scantlin calls it, "I Wanna Get Fuckin' Stoned") was a pretty decent take on "TNT," AC/DC's revved-up classic. In keeping with his salty tongue, he changed "So don't you mess around" to "So don't you fuck around" and channeled Jesse of TV's Breaking Bad by pointlessly tacking "bitch" onto "Out for all that I can get." Eventually, the song descended into muddled racket, but the end came cherry-topped with Westlin offering an extra "Fuck you!" for good measure.
BEST ZOMBIE PARTY: ROB ZOMBIE
"And our motherfucking zombie party begins!" announced Rob Zombie after his first handful of songs, addressing the giant crowd that gathered around the main stage for Rock on the Range’s penultimate act. His show was all about ambiance, utilizing a set-up that incorporated prop skeletons, majestic bursts of fire, swirling psychedelic patterns, flashing pentagrams, horror movie clips (including his own work from House of 1000 Corpses), and figures goofing around in giant Predator-style outfits. Roaring like an overlord, the leather-clad and devilishly charismatic Zombie bellowed all his finest material: "Thunder Kiss ’65," "Superbeast," "Scum of the Earth," "More Human than Human," and the excellently tongue-in-cheek "Mars Needs Women." Zombie’s ambitiously colorful set was the highlight of the entire festival.
BEST UNEXPECTED DISPLAY OF THEATRICS: HALESTORM
Big fests like Rock on the Range offer the ideal opportunity to boast a beefed-up live show — a notion that Halestorm made good on in surprising fashion. Before singer-guitarist Lzzy Hale’s body appeared, her voice — a gothy mixture of Joan Jett and Whitney Houston — filled the Kicker Stage with American Idol-style vocal acrobatics to start "It’s Not You." Once she and her band appeared, the spectacle got enormous: the drummer played one portion with oversized sticks that could have doubled as police batons, Hale lifted a glass of wine in memory of Dio (drinking it dramatically at the turning point of a song), and the entire four-piece performed an instrumental using modified trash cans as drums. If any band deserves a bigger stage (and an even bigger production) for an outing at ROTR next year, it’s these alt-rockers.
BEST AGING FRONTMAN: HELMET
Compared to the ballyhoo delivered by other groups at Rock on the Range (garish make-up, pyrotechnics, crazy costumes, Papa Roach pointing out its helicopter circling above the crowd), Helmet’s set at the small Jägermeister Stage was workmanlike. Wearing the standard rocker clothing of t-shirts and jeans with few accessories, they were focused on playing out toasty alt-metal riffs as powerfully as possible instead of amusing their audience. Among other tracks, the New York group steamrolled right through "See You Dead," "Birth Defect," and "Unsung." Granted, none of their songs particularly stood apart from one another, but Helmet’s presence added some class to the bill. Looking particularly venerable was head honcho Page Hamilton, who took a minute to introduce "In the Meantime" from 1992’s Meantime, asking the crowd in front of him, "I’m not sure you guys were even born then, were you?" before affably adding, "I just turned 50, thank you very much." Half a century old or not, Hamilton is still great at what he does.
BEST UNDERSTATED VOCAL PERFORMANCE: DEFTONES
Deftones have always waded deep into atmospheric gloom, and their Rock on the Range showing was no exception. Leading the charge was Chino Moreno, whose voice only slammed and slashed when it absolutely had to (like while violently shrieking "Guns! Razors! Knives" during "Rocket Skates"). Largely working with material from Diamond Eyes, their latest, the act made sure that when the oceanic guitars and keyboards crested, they did so with a concussive clap. Moreno spent little time interacting with his listeners, but when he did, he usually had something noteworthy to add, like raising a red cup to Chi Cheng, the Deftones’ still comatose bassist, before going into "My Own Summer (Shove It)."
