After about 6 miles of walking from Day 1 of the Blue Ridge Rock Festival, I needed a good night’s sleep, which for me is usually 5 hours. I was amped for today since I was getting to see a number of the Rising Talent artists I had interviewed in the months prior. I got some breakfast at the Mariott Fairfield Inn and Suites I stayed at in South Boston. I highly recommend it if you don’t mind the 30-minute drive one way. Great rooms, comfy beds, and solid complimentary breakfast with a very friendly staff. After breakfast, it was upstairs for a quick shower, change, and out the door. Knowing what I knew about the buses on Thursday, I figured getting there earlier would give me a better chance to make it on-site on time. I prefer not to walk to the grounds with all my gear knowing how much walking I’d be doing throughout the day.
I was back at the Blue parking lot at 10 AM. When I pulled in expecting to park up front, the attendee said that was for ADA and sent me to the far reaches of the Blue lot. I should have GPS the spot because I didn’t know if I’d find it at night with no lights in the lot. I hiked back to where the buses were picking up and saw 7 buses sitting there waiting….with no drivers and a long line of people. So I stood in line and waited, chatting with the people around me. The line was getting longer and people were so frustrated someone literally went to check if the keys were in any of the buses to drive it themselves. Around 10:40 AM a bus showed up and couldn’t fit everyone on, including me, so we waited some more. Someone monitoring the buses showed up, but he said he couldn’t drive it because he had to be in the lot at all times. It was about 11:20 AM when the next bus arrived that I was able to get on.
The bus headed back onto 29 and U-turned back towards Carson Lane. Unlike Thursday, there was barely any traffic on the road and we made it to the festival grounds pretty quickly. It even got us all the way down to the end of the loop. So I was confused why it was taking so long for these buses to get back unless they were covering all the parking lots and off-site camping. I decided to head straight to VIP to see if I could get in early with my media pass, but that wasn’t necessary as they had already started letting everyone in. After a quick bag check, it was off the media tent to get ready for the day.
Something I forgot to mention in the Day 1 Review is we had some hiccups in the media area. We originally had no power, which was fixed on Thursday. The ice machine we had wasn’t plugged into anything, which got fixed also on Thursday. We had no internet, which really helps us out being able to work on photos on laptops or pull images off our cameras to our phones. The Blue Ridge Rock Festival staff got media their own internet set up (THANK YOU!), which was awesome. But, we didn’t have enough chairs. We literally had 5 chairs for 40 people. There’s more to this story that I’ll talk about in the Day 3 review. We made do with sitting on tables or the ground so it wasn’t bad. I got my gear together, checked in with my fellow photographers, and headed out to cover the first band on my list.
Stitched Up Heart was first on my list playing at the Monster Energy Stage. I had interviewed their vocalist, Mixi (Alecia Demner), over the phone when they were releasing their 2020 studio album Darkness. I even saw them perform an acoustic set when they came to Orlando for Sevendust’s Christmas Acoustic show in 2020. But, I had never seen them perform a normal rock show, so I was excited for this one. And DAMN they did not disappoint! Their energy was electrifying, their movements and music were exciting, and they had the crowd in a frenzy. With songs “The Warrior”, “Catch Me When I Fall”, and “Monster” you were all in for a great time during that set. One photo of Mixi I posted on Instagram ended up being re-shared by her, so yeah, this set they did was truly something special.
I was then hopping over to The Clinic Stage to see Dying Oath. This was one of the Rising Talent bands I interviewed early on and you can find that interview HERE. Mindy Jackson, one of their vocalists, and stayed in touch after the interview and she is someone I consider a friend. So there was no way I was going to miss out on their performance. And it was so worth it. First, the crowd that had gathered for Dying Oath was massive. It was awesome to see how many people came out to see them. Second, the performance was unreal! Between Mindy‘s guttural and powerful vocals, Jakob‘s clean and powerful singing, and the music between Josh, the two Ryans, and Gage it was a hell of a show. I did get confused because I ended up shooting the whole set, which we normally get only 3 songs. Until Mindy explained their 20 minute set was only 3 songs! But those 3 songs, “End of Days”, “Insomniac”, and “Ascension” was by far some of the best heavy metal I have heard in a long time. There’s a video out there of one of the circle mosh pits that started forming a wall of headbangers during Dying Oath‘s set. That is the type of metal you want at your show. Fantastic performance from them!
I ended up running into Fate DeStroyed, another Rising Talent I interviewed, at Dying Oath‘s set. I chatted with them quick, got the festival selfie with the band, and ran back to media for a quick refresher. Even though I’ve been living in Florida for over 20 years, that Virginia sun was doing a number on me (go figure!). Since we had internet, I took a quick shot of Mindy from my camera, sent it to my phone, and threw that up on the Blue Ridge Rock Festival Fan Zone to show the intensity she brings to the stage. That shot is in the slideshow above. I made sure to rehydrate, apply more sunscreen (I already had the mask tan going after Thursday), and then ran back out for what would turn out to be a very special set.
Over at the Liquid Death Stage was the band Misty Eyed. When I put out the call for Rising Talent‘s willing to do interviews, Misty Eyed was the first to respond and they were the first interview as well I did. You can find that interview HERE. As I was waiting, I heard someone call out “Hey Photo Pit guy!” and saw two women at the rails waving me over. One of them was Megan (vocalist)’s Mom and the other was Jeremy‘s (drummer) fiancee. Both had seen my interview with the band and wanted to thank me for it. And then I was let in on a little secret. John (lead guitarist) and Megan are dating and after the set was finished, he was going to propose to her. Well, definitely didn’t expect that to happen and the band had asked me to shoot the whole set (security was good with it) so this was going to awesome to witness. And their performance was solid! Misty Eyed‘s bring an electric performance to the stage and wonderful rock sounds to our ears. Their most well-known single, “Run” is a great song, their new single “It’s Goin Down” is a lot of fun, and they even did an excellent cover of Disturbed’s “Stricken”, which caught me off guard. It was a good fit for Megan‘s vocals. And when they wrapped up, Megan was waving to the crowd as John popped down on one knee behind her with the ring in hand. She turned around and her hands immediately went to her face and she started to cry. It was priceless…and she did say yes. Never expected to be photographing a rock band and video capture an engagement at the same time.
I want to take a second to talk about one of the most important parts of any festival: connections. For months before this festival I spoke to hundreds of different people in the Blue Ridge Rock Festival Fan Zone and made some close friends out of it too. And one of the things I always look forward to at a festival is getting to meet new people, make new friends, and see old friends I only get to see at the festivals. I forgot to mention in my prior article for Thursday’s review, I ran into Awesome Ray Ray one of the artists I interviewed and we were both elated to meet in person. I met a fellow photographer named Danny Mazzeo who shoots for The Paradigm . We chatted over Facebook and on the phone and we finally got to meet in person. And he’s been so supportive of my site and my photos. I got to reunite with my Florida photography crew once again who I hadn’t seen in about 18 months. And now I was getting the chance to meet up with some of the bands I had interviewed over the past two months. Beyond the music, THIS is what I truly love about music festivals. The connections we continue and the new connections we make with people.
I met Misty Eyed backstage to congratulate them on their set and Megan and John on their engagement. I then headed over to their merch booth to chat with them for a bit. While I was down in the Rising Talent merch area, I ran into the guys from SevenStones who was another band I interviewed. You can find that interview HERE. When we had that interview I just sensed this was a good group of people and getting to meet them face to face confirmed my hunch was spot on. I, unfortunately, missed their set on Friday at the URW Stage, but they said the crowd was great and they felt they played a great set. I wouldn’t be shocked by either because these guys are hard rockers. Of course, I had to do the festival selfie with them and then headed off as Misty Eyed finally hit their booth. And it was hopping too. I waited until the line died down to chat with them about their set and get the band selfie with them too. Another great group of people and I was personally pleased to see a great turnout for them. I didn’t expect to see right next door was Dying Oath where Mindy and I finally got to meet face to face. She was super appreciative of the interview I did with them and she saw the photo I posted just before. We got a selfie with her and a few of the band members (the rest had run off to see other bands). As I was ready to leave, right next door to them was Onier, vocalist for Nameless Anonymous, yet another band I interviewed! You can see that interview HERE. He had some lineup changes since we had interviewed so he introduced me to new band members. We chatted for a bit, got a selfie, and then I made my way back to media for another quick refresher before back out to photo again. I know I missed a few bands during this time, but I rather have finally met all the people I did then never to have met them at all.
I’m glad I got back to media as some of the other photographers informed me The Offspring were only going to approve 10 of us to shoot their set. You had to be fully vaccinated (check), had proof of vaccination to send (check), and get that over to the festival publicists by 5 PM. I got that email off to them and ran off to the Liquid Death Stage to see a band I’ve wanted to see live, Saul. While waiting for them, I finally met up with Dianne who I met via the Blue Ridge Rock Festival Fan Zone who is a HUGE fan of the band. We chatted for a bit and, of course, grabbed a selfie for memories, right as they were getting to the stage. Saul hit us hard and heavy throughout the entire set. Blake‘s vocals are just one of a kind with his clarity and power, while his brother Zach jammed hard on the guitar headbanging the whole time with some truly awesome riffs. Their songs “Trial By Fire”, “Looking To Fight”, and their well-known single “King of Misery” were all great to hear. I see big things coming for them.
But, from here things were getting crazier. It was over to the Monster Energy Stage for my other favorite thrash metal band Anthrax!!! The first time I got to photograph them was when they toured with Killswitch Engage and I would never turn down photographing them ever again. You want music and energy that is going to get a crowd going nuts? That’s Anthrax‘s mission with every performance. And the crowd at that stage was tremendous and the moment the band walked out that roar was incredible from the crowd. I got chills on my arms now just recalling it as I type this out. As expected their energy is always off the chain. Joey running around the stage singing, Charlie beating out the drums faster than the way my heart was racing, Jon ripping out riffs just as fast, Scott hitting jumps and also riffing away at the guitar, and then there’s Frank. He is a machine on the stage, a ball of fire, a crowd generator, and just crazy. During his set, he split his finger open on one of his bass strings. So what did he do? He showed it to the photographers in front of him and kept playing like nothing happened. This man is awesome. The fans were already crazy, moshing and jumping as they played. But when they got into “Madhouse” and “Caught in a Mosh” it was game on for the crowd surfers and mosh pits. Anthrax never disappoints with their performances and they were such a blessing to have at the festival. When we were leaving the pit, I saw Franccesca, vocalist of Fate DeStroyed, sitting on top of a van watching Anthrax perform. I had to snap a few shots of her before running off to the next set.
And then we get to the URW Stage for Fever 333. I can’t say enough good stuff about this band and the crazy stuff they normally do during their set is unreal. As usual, Jason started off on stage with a black bag over his head like a war prisoner and I was digging the new uniforms they were wearing. And the moment he starts singing with the bag on his head, the crowd is going insane. Stephen is ripping that guitar like there’s no tomorrow and Aric is going nuts behind the drums. Intensity is the word of the day with Fever 333. At one point, Jason hits the ground and is singing off his back while thrashing around on the stage. The only disappointment is normally the do something absolutely insane while the photographers were still in the pit and Stephen decided to climb the metal lighting rig and play his guitar from 20 or so feet in the air after we left. INSANE. Absolutely love them though especially with their songs “BITE BACK”, “Made an America”, and “One of Us”.
It was then quickly over to The Clinic Stage to see Fate DeStroyed. They were one of the Rising Talent artists I interviewed and you can see that interview HERE. I knew right away the fans would love their performance and that held true. This band has a true stage presence and awesome metal music. They rock hard and play harder. Franccesca catches your attention with those vocals that go from screaming to clean with such ease and that fiery blue hair is hard to miss. Though they had a short set they made it all worthwhile. Their song “Art of Betrayal” is fantastic and she told me the last two songs they performed, “False Alarm” and “Where We Lie” aren’t released yet, so the fans got to hear new material from Fate DeStroyed. The band will be playing at Rebel Rock in Orlando, FL (I’ll be covering that festival as well) and then hitting the road with Vampires Everywhere! So go check them out if they come to your town!
My next up was the other major reason I came to this festival. The band I had been wanting to photograph since I heard the single “Bow Down”. I’m talking about I Prevail. The one opportunity I had in 2019 to see them, I ended up being out of town for a convention with my family. I figured I’d catch them on another tour date or at a festival in 2020 and then the pandemic hit. So when I heard Blue Ridge Rock Festival was the only show I Prevail was doing in 2021, I was coming to this festival hell or highwater and would have begged and pleaded somehow to photograph them. And the wait was absolutely worth it. When Eric got on the stage all smiles and belted out “Get on your knees and BOW DOWN!” I nearly cried. I was filled with joy, with excitement, and was singing back every lyric as I photographed. It’s hard not to do it. Such an amazing performance that day. And while security ended up kicking us out after 2 songs, claiming the band wanted us out, it was 2 songs worthwhile they played some great songs between “Bow Down”, “Gasoline”, “Low”, and “Come and Get It”.
I ended up getting approved for photographing The Offspring so it was off to the StayLit Stage. They had some rules in place where no close up shots were allowed nor getting close to the stage plus the management had to approve any photos before we posted them and no more than 15. The approved 2 of mine, both of the drummer as you can see below. Their performance that night was good. It was definitely a change of pace compared to all the other bands I had just recently seen that afternoon and they sounded really good. Vocals were great, music was clear, and those at the stage were having a really good time. They performed a 19 song setlist that included “Come Out and Play”, “Original Prankster”, a piano version of “Gone Away”, “Why Don’t You Get a Job”, and “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”.
It was then over to the Liquid Death Stage for another favorite of mine Motionless In White. This is a band that never fails to entertain their fans with spectacular and animated performances and some outstanding makeup looks. They brought that and even pyro to the stage that night. Covered in red and orange lights, Motionless In White made it a memorable performance for Blue Ridge Rock Festival. But, I wasn’t keen on their vocals that night. I felt that Chris was screaming more than singing and he has a wonderful voice. Their music sounded awesome and they played some great songs including “Reincarnate”, “Voices”, “Timebomb”, and loving the cover of The Killer’s “Somebody Told Me”.
And then we were back to the Monster Energy Stage for our headliner of Friday night. The musician and director, the one and only, Rob Zombie. I admit, I’m very hit or miss on Rob Zombies live performances. I’ve seen him multiple times and sometimes he’s absolutely amazing and other times he’s just a mess and rambles on about things instead of performing. This night, he seemed be 100% on point and he was rocking and grooving. The singing was great, his stage set up was awesome, and he was dancing around like I’ve never seen him dance EVER before. I love when Rob Zombie lets loose on the stage and he was absoutely giving us a performance that night. John5 was playing like a madman as always, Piggy D. was smiling most of the night looking quite happy in front of the crowd, and Ginger Fish was banging away behind the drums. This was the Rob Zombie I want to see every time. The jumps, the kicks, and the music was all fantastic. He performed an 18 song set that included awesome tunes like “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”, “Living Dead Girl”, “House of 1000 Corpses”, and some White Zombie tunes like “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65”. He closed the show with “Dragula”. Great setlist and awesome close to Friday night.
Once again, though, fans had to trudge their way back up to the parking lots. This time, the buses were meeting people at the corner of Carson Lane and Route 29 and driving people back to the appropriate lots. And as I expected, I had a hard time finding my car in the dark that night, but did and had to wait out traffic before that 30 minute ride back to South Boston. I was exhausted, but the music for that day was just incredible, and the people connections were even better. And the best day of the festival was still yet to come.
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