2012 marks the third year for the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, and as the two prior, it’s a must see for all. This year’s line up is packed with talent, from bands like Candlelight Red and P.O.D. on the side stages, to the big boys on the main stage such as Staind, Godsmack, and Shinedown. A classic display of old and new, and being the last big tour of the summer, this may be the only thing that’ll carry you through winter until it all starts over in the spring.
Second stages tend to be where the fan/artist intimacy resides, as it gives the fans a chance to get as close as their heart’s desire and go nuts with the Gods on stage. 2012’s side stages were off the charts in Pittsburgh, PA and will continue to be throughout the rest of the tour as long as the fans show up ready to party and give the bands energy to feed off of. The Ernie Ball and Jager stages didn’t have an act that was disappointing…every band walked out on stage like they owned the place and threw down a performance to back up that attitude. Two of the most impressive acts were Candlelight Red on the Jager stage and P.O.D. on the Ernie ball stage, with CLR being fairly new to the game…they may have won “most impressive.” They stepped out with a fairly small group of people in the pit, but after their second or third song they had drew an enormous crowd…real fist pumping, “heart beating out of the chest” mayhem. Old school nu-metalers P.O.D, a band everyone knows, had the task of headlining the side stages. They straight up set the tone for everyone on the main stage with ease and passion that has fueled them for years and marked them as one of the top three performances of the whole day. If an act has to be labeled as someone who needs to “step it up,” then the award goes to Deuce. The performance they had put on was decent, but for someone who the media and radio stations hype up so much, it didn’t meet expectations.
Main stage acts included Staind (3 consecutive albums debuted at #1) and Godsmack, but let’s not forget Adelitas Way. They are the first band to come out and “break in” the main stage at every city on this tour. The entire band is crowd friendly and makes sure the fans have fun and enjoy themselves as much as they do. As previously mentioned… Staind, always a stellar and consistent performance, (even though Aaron Lewis sings about being a country boy from time to time) is still relevant to hard rock. Godsmack also threw down, with Sully Erna wheeling out (recorded drums on Godsmack’s first album) a complete second drum set, rattling off drum solos alongside drummer Shannon Larkin. When they stepped off stage it left the entire venue with mouths wide open and set the bar awfully high for headliner Shinedown. Their performance was sadly the low point of the day…the band just didn’t show up with a great set list and had a lack luster show that had some fans leaving before it was even half way over. It doesn’t look good when you’re the “main attraction” and you can’t keep everyone’s attention. But maybe someone should tell front man Brent Smith that the year is 2012 and he should be banging his head since he’s a rocker, not attempting to shake his hips like Elvis. Hats off to Rockstar Energy Drink for putting together another great line up this year. All that’s left is to sit back and wonder what next year will behold.
-Logan Rendulic, © TRT 2012
The Rock Tribune 