The Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival rolled in to Columbus on Tuesday night. The two staged hard rock festival was originally set to be hosted at the LC Pavilion but due to ticket demand was split between the LC and Nationwide Arena.
The second stage music kicked off at the LC shortly after 3pm and featured the bands XFactor, Jackie, New Medicine, Hail the Villain and Airbourne.
As the final power chords faded out at the LC, the masses of rock fans made the short walk over to Nationwide arena where the main stage was hosted. Pennsylvania band Halestorm kicked off act two of the day’s show.
Stone Sour put on a solid set, neither brilliant nor bad. The sizable crowd inside the Arena, already doused in sweat and on a sugar high from the Rockstar drinks, moshed and sung along but it always felt like they were really waiting for the next band – California’s Avenged Sevenfold.
Playing in a huge arena can make any band look small without a good stage to play on. Avenged Sevenfold likely know this, and this is probably why they play against a backdrop of bursts of flames, fireworks, huge explosions and a man who jumped from the top of the stage rigging wearing a noose. It was an impressive sight to see and the fans certainly looked to be enjoying the show, almost too much – the band had to stop shortly after the first song to repair the barricades in front of the stage
Last band on the bill were Disturbed, who turned out to be a bit of a let down after the theatrics of Avenged Sevenfold. The band gave it their best, vocalist David Draiman belted out the bands songs with conviction but the crowd had already started to thin out by the time the band hit the stage
The Rockstar tour continues on until October. Catch it if you can, but given the success of the first one in Columbus, it’s quite likely it will be back next year.