Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Music Festival with Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Hellyeah, more...
Superpages.com Center
September 10, 2010
Better than: expected, but not as good as watching the Rangers sweep the Yankees
Hot, humid air filled seemingly every crevice of Superpages.com Center as the behemoth known as the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival took up the better part of Friday afternoon and evening. Bands battled the heat throughout the day as a fairly sizable throng of all-ages metalheads vied for prime mosh pit space.
But the fans' efforts to get up front were well worth it: Arlington's own Hellyeah! completed the early line-up on the second "Jagermeister" stage and fan reaction was decidedly positive.
At about 6:30 or so, the action at the main stage finally started up.
Pennsylvania's Halestorm did a nice set of metal that featured the brother/sister combo of Arejay and Elizabeth "Lizzy" Hale--and it was nice to see a female taking part in the mostly male proceedings. Elizabeth Hale is a fairly potent metal diva.
Next up was Stone Sour from Des Moines, Iowa. Lead singer Corey Taylor had the annoying habit of adding "fucking" to just about every between song chitchat (ex: "Hello Dallas, fucking Texas"), but semantics aside, Stone Sour rocked pretty mercilessly throughout the band's hour-long set. Combing a nice slice of grunge to the typical metal roar proved to be a good thing indeed.
At about 8:30, Avenged Sevenfold hit the stage and, judging by the roar of the malodorous audience, the California band was the one many had come to hear. M. Shadows and crew did not disappoint, playing many of the cuts from the recently released effort Nightmare, Avenged Sevenfold put on a show that recalled old school metal acts such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
It was a great display, but, after Avenged Sevenfold's nuanced and energetic set, Disturbed's
headlining performance was rather anticlimactic. They're is a talented
quartet that has been around the proverbial metal block and David
Draiman and Co. played a great set. But there was indeed a noticeable exodus
after Avenged Sevenfold's set ended.
No matter: The Disturbed fans remaining could be overheard remarking that they appreciated more room down front.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: I hear a lot of criticism pointed towards the nu-metal of
Avenged Sevenfold and I don't understand where all the hate is coming
from. Sure, the band has catchy choruses and doesn't dwell into metal's
psuedo-santanic mish-mash, but the band's songs are riff-heavy
expressions of honest angst. Imagine that--a metal band that doesn't
need a pretense.
By The Way: Quite the interesting mix of old and young and male and female in
attendance at this fest. I'd put the ratio at about 60-40 male--and that's way better
than most metal shows. Even my 13-year-old son commented, "There are a
lot of hot chicks here."
Random Note: Before Disturbed hit the stage, I asked one fan why he
liked the band so much. His reply: "They get me psyched before I lift
weights." Perhaps the band should seek out the sponsorship of Andro, rather than Rockstar.
