Rockstar Energy UPROAR Festival
September 3, 2014
Corpus Christi, TX
The day began earlier than usual as the doors opened at 1:00pm. Tropical storm Dolly made landfall in Mexico, making it nearly impossible to see on the way to the venue as a result to Dolly’s sideways rain. Dolly passed over & like magic, the clouds broke open spilling the bright; warm golden rays upon the ground drying up Dolly’s liquid sunshine… A small group of people were gathered by the gates near the box office of the venue. Each individual standing in line were anxious, eager & ready for the phenomenal night of rock to begin… The sun that previously played in our favor; cracking the sky & ending the downpour of Dolly, showed us another side, an uglier side as the humidity from Dolly’s downpour began to let its self-known… As the lines began filling up & the doors opened, the press outlets were led into the venue prior to the fans. sound check was underway at both the Pavilion stage & the Main stage. People from all walks of life came streaming in 4×4 filling up the pavilion area as they waited patiently for the first band to take the stage…
Formed in 2009, locally based band Resz, (winners of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink, UPROAR Festival battle of the bands) opened up the evening with a very formidable performance, starting their night off with a powerful original Denetwork… Denetwork is an authoritative & persuasive, potent & robust hard rocker with grungy backed influence. Denetwork, based around a dream guitarist Rick Pimentel had (while recovering from being ran over) about our social media age. A definite fan favorite and sure to be a hit single from these local based winners who have already garnered radio play on the local radio station(s) with demos alone! Resz continued rocking the crowd as if they were 20 year veterans of the industry. Playing their originals from their upcoming debut album Transverse Orientation, dropping this fall. Blowing the crowd away with Leave me for Dead; Till it Hurts & ending their phenomenal night with surefire fan favorite, Crosshairs. Frontman Adrian Guerra, climbed off the stage for some crowd interaction; walking through the photo pit, touching the hands of the front row fans as he passed by while making his way into the crowd itself and finding his way back up on stage to finish off the song. This photojournalists fingers are crossed that this band indeed wins the next round of the Rockstar Energy Drink, UPROAR Festival’s battle of the bands solidifying their spot for the whole tour next year!
Hailing from our Northern Neighbors (Brantford Ont, Canada) & winners of the 2013-2014 Rockstar Energy Drink, UPROAR Festival battle of the bands, Sons of Revelry, took over the stage wowing the crowd where Resz left off, with their original song La la la. & Sons of Revelry’s uniquely amazing 60’s sound mixed with 90’s post grunge/alternative… Lead vocalist Toby Black, originally from Scotland; moved to North America in his teenage years to follow his dreams of playing ice hockey. Now Black, the owner of a successful million dollar marketing company is following his dreams of Rock-n-Roll stardom. Toby Black, introduced the band briefly & continued their preeminent, superlative set that could very much go head to head with that of the top billing acts in attendance on September 3rd with Born; Love n Novocain; Time (personal favorite & consummating their effusive & rhapsodic performance with Burning down. Sons of Revelry, departed the stage withdrawing their gear, leaving the crowd as any good band should; desperately wanting more. This is indeed a band that will go way beyond being winners of Rockstar Energy Drinks battle of the bands. Sons of Revelry is a band I look forward to hearing more of in the nearest future! If you get a chance to check them out, we promise you will not be disappointed their set & stage performance.
Within Reason, took to the stage directly after, knocking the crowd dead with a magnificently impressive set. Soon after the crowd was then revived by the always phenomenally outstanding; Escape the Fate. Formed in 2005, Las Vegas natives Escape the Fate, found their selves at Concrete Street Amphitheater in Corpus Christi, TX giving Soundcheck411 an interview on their bus an hour and a half before they hit the stage. Be sure to check that out if you haven’t already! (Link at the end of review) Escape the Fate, begun their set with more energy than the Energizer Bunny. Cranking out a cornucopia of their hits that included You’re Insane; Issues, & dedicating Gorgeous Nightmare to the ladies they continues their earhole-onslaught with Fire It Up; Ungrateful; One for the Money & killing it by ending their electrifyingly exciting set with This War is Ours (The Guillotine II)!
It wasn’t long before Buckcherry came out on stage with their number one hit about debauchery & drug-filled nights. Lit Up got the crowd stimulated, (see what I did there?) delighting their audial & visual senses. As the band worked the stage in the hot & humid South Texas heat, they also kicked out some major tunes with their plethora of hits from the past, plus a few from their newest album FUCK. Including two sensational covers, in rapid succession, Buckcherry came at the Corpus Christi fans with Somebody Fucked with Me; Everything; Sorry & covering their version of Icona Pop’s hit single “I love it” with Say Fuck It! then continuing on with an AC/DC cover, Big Balls. And it didn’t end there either people. After Big Balls, came Gluttony, I Don’t Give a Fuck ending their night with another number one hit single Crazy Bitch.
While Buckcherry’s Roadies packed away the gear the crowd took off towards the Main Stage to finish off this phenomenal night of music. It was 5:30pm (central standard) and the sun was beating down on the Concrete Street Amphitheater patrons. The lines for concession rapidly filled up as everyone was making their way in front of the huge concrete stage…
Before we knew it Pop Evil, were on the massive stage pleasing the masses with a 6 song set-list, blowing the crowds lids off with Last Man Standing, their 1st single off their 2nd studio album War of Angels. Stimulating the crowd even further off their 3rd album Onyx, Pop Evil played Beautiful; followed by Sick Sense; Torn to Pieces; Deal with the Devil & ending their amazing set with Trenches. With no time to spare Pop Evil’s gear was taken off the stage with haste as Skillet’s gear was simultaneously being placed in its spot… Formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996 by husband & wife team John & Korey Cooper, the Christian Rock band Skillet hit the Concrete Street Amphitheater Main Stage with a deluge of hits and a stage performance that left the crowd in utter astonishment. As founding member Korey Cooper & lead guitarists stood on hydraulic platforms being lifted into the air while cranking out hits for the Texas-sized fans! Skillet took it to the fans hearts, minds & souls as they played such hits like Whispers in the Dark; Sick of it; Hero & Not Gonna Die while the amazing drummer Jen Ledger sang backing vocals to frontman John Cooper. After brief correspondence to the audience, thanking them for being at the festival; Skillet, continued their night with Awake and Alive; Comatose; Monster & ending their amazing set with Rebirthing.
While Skillet was on stage; the unforgiving South Texas Sun, set on the horizon giving the fans & musicians some much needed rest from the heat & humidity. The breeze blew in from the ocean just a few kilometers away, cooling everyone in attendance off slowly but surely. Unless you happen to be on stage performing for a crowd of 6000 people…
South African, post grunge/alternative band & co headliners Seether, took to the stage ready to perform for the crowd a set-list of absolutely nothing but Billboard, chart topping hit singles. Beginning their night with Gasoline, the band’s 3rd single off their 2002 debut album Disclaimer. And continuing their barrage of hit singles Rise Above This; Words As Weapons & the 1st single off their debut album they played Fine Again, driving the fans wild with the opening riffs, ingeniously written lyrics & unmistakable bass & drum lines… Off their second studio album Disclaimer II, they played their hit single Broken. Keeping a steady torrent of ear-candy, assault, Seether, kept the hits coming right along with Country Song; Fake It & ending their onslaught of hit singles with their US Mainstream Billboard chart topping hit Remedy. Leaving the crowd screaming for more, the phenomenal rock group left the stage in a cloud of smoke and haze billowing off the stage from the dry ice & fog machine(s) set up…
Formed in 1995, Massachusetts based, Alternative Metal band Godsmack came out on stage with a heavy agenda to rock the socks off of their Corpus Christi, TX fans. And that’s exactly what they did. Beginning their set with a bang, as a loud explosion erupts via pyro technics while the opening riffs to the 5th track of their brand new album 1000hp; Generation Day, came flying from Sully Erna’s fast flying fingers. Directly after, the band played Cryin’ like a Bitch, and a powerful pyro technics show during their monster hit What’s Next, the bands 4th track bands 6th studio album. Followed by Locked and Loaded & Keep Away, the bands 2nd single of their debut & self-titled album Godsmack. Keep Away peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Mainstream Rock tracks in 1999. The track was also inducted into the 100 Greatest Rock Songs labeled under Guitar Legends.
Godsmack, continues the night killing the crowd performing 11 more hits and one encore from their surplus of original studio albums, Including The Enemy; Something Differently; Strait Out of Line. Throwing pyro technics in periodically to the audience’s surprise. Continuing on with their number one hits Awake; Speak & Voodoo before ending their set with Batalla de los Tambores; Whatever and their title track 1000hp. Bringing this amazing, once in a lifetime night to an end with I Stand Alone.
Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls… Music Gormandizers of all ages & generation, I implore you to rush out and get your tickets to Rockstar Energy Drink’s UPROAR Festival. Do not miss out on this phenomenal day of hard rocking excitement & fun.
Review by: Jared Wingate
Interview with Escape the Fate here: https://onceno.com/0ther/soundcheck411/interview-with-craig-mabbitt-and-tj-bell-of-escape-the-fate/
Godsmack
Seether
Skillet
Buckcherry
Escape the Fate
Pop Evil
Within Reason
Sons of Revelry
Resz
