1:23 p.m.
The final day of Rock on the Range 2014 has kicked-off, and finally, sunshine and warm weather has graced Columbus with their presence. Righteous Vendetta and Sleepwave opened up the auxilliary stages at noon, while Trivium just took the MONSTER Energy Stage. Sunday brings Wolfmother, Alter Bridge, Jim Breuer in the Old Milwaukee Comedy Tent and Kid Rock headlining the MONSTER Energy Stage.
3:10 p.m.
I just spent the last hour or so helping my dear friend, Rock on the Range veteran and all-star production runner DJ Szuhay organize Kid Rock's dressing room for tonight's show. I'm not at liberty to go into the details of tour riders, but it's pretty crazy how meticulously down the number of different colored Gatorade bottles need to be in a certain cooler the backstage requirements can get. The guys and gals that do all the little things to ensure a show goes on as planned deserve a ton of respect in my book.
Like yesterday's customer service adventure, thanks to DJ for supplying me with another behind-the-scenes experience here at ROTR 2014.
4:26 p.m.
Wolfmother: the best performance of this year's Rock on the Range so far. The Australian trio's heavy, physchodelic, guitar-driven rock is a departure from most of the acts here on Rock on the Range and one of only complete the sets I've watched all weekend. I caught part of the set from from the front of the stage, before watching from backstage and then meeting up with my Buzz partner Frankie Hejduk to watch the very first song we covered on our podcast, "White Unicorn," from the Crew Stadium VIP Terrace.
Also, frontman/guitarist Andrew Stockdale is a beast. It's refreshing to see a guitarist who runs all his own effects at his feet instead of relying on his guitar tech.
5:30 p.m.
Atlanta-based metal band Mastadon just finished its set on the MONSTER Energy Stage, promoting the upcoming release Once More 'Round the Sun. Up next, I'll be checking out Alter Bridge starting at 6:15 p.m. followed by Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience and comedian Jim Breuer.
6:46 p.m.
Alter Bridge is 30 minutes into their set on the MONSTER Energy Stage. Formed with three-out-of-the-four founding members of Creed with vocalist Myles Kennedy, the band's musical stylings can't be compared with its past project. Alter Bridge takes a much heavier, thrashier approach than Creed albums did. Mark Tremonti is a solid guitarist and songwriter, drawing off the influences of Metallica and Zeppelin, while Kennedy has the pipes and stage presence required of a quality hard rock frontman.
8:33 p.m.
Aftert catching Jason Bonham thunder his way through songs his father and Led Zeppelin made famous like "Immigrant Song," "Black Dog" and "The Ocean," I made my first trip to the Old Milwaukee Comedy Tent to see Jim Breuer. I was lucky enough to get there in time to see him channel his legendary 'Goat Boy' character from his stint on Saturday Night Live.
Five Finger Death Punch currently has the field moshing harder than it has all weekend, playing a cover of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." Kid Rock is next to close out the weekend.
9:47 p.m.
Kid Rock is bringing it hard and heavy in the early going, blazing through classics like "Devil Without A Cause," "American Bad A**" and "Wasting Time." The latter was more jazz/country-infused than the Fleetwood Mac-sampling original recording, breathing new life into the live staple. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic because my college roommates and I frequently blasted "Wasting Time" at parties. With lyrics like "Roll in a Fleetwood, that's how I mack," how can you resist? Good times.
Rock followed with a mash-up of his hit "Forever" and Rush's "Tom Sawyer" before the mega-hit "All Summer Long" that got the entire sold-out crowd singing along.
10:15 p.m.
I may have lied earlier when I wrote that my college roommates and I would blast "Wasting Time" all the time at parties. Correction: We rocked the whole Devil Without A Cause album. We were probably out of place because the album came out 10 years before we graduated high school, but who cares? We're old souls.
Rock just killed "Cowboy" and I couldn't help but rap along with every word. Now taking the DJ stand as "DJ Bobby Shazam" following "So Hott," Rock is scratching a few of his own hits with AC/DC and Run DMC mixed in.
Rock grabs a guitar and starts playing fellow Detroit legend Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever." Then he hops behind the drum kit. Versatility.
10:50 p.m.
An encore of "Picture" is cut-off right when Sheryl Crow's part is set to begin with a video of Bevis and Butt-Head saying, "Huh... I thought this was supposed to rock?" The lights go black and Rock breaks into "MY NAME IS KKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID...." to begin the rap-rock classic "Bawitaba" and put a bow on Rock on the Range 2014.
