30 years. Three decades. Sometimes, we take time for granted before we realize it’s passed quickly. That’s how I felt hearing April 22nd, 2023 was 101.1 WJRR’s Earthday Birthday 30th anniversary. I’ve been following this station for a while and watched it grow. I watched radio personalities come, watched them go, and even watched some return to their home. And when they kicked off this festival 30 years ago, it was small, and over the years I watched the festival grow into the massive beast it is today. I’ve been a fan of Earthday Birthday since number 10 and was very fortunate to be able to cover it for my website a few times. But, this year was special and I was thrilled to be there once again to witness it.
I arrived at the Central Florida Fairgrounds at 10:30 AM ET to a huge amount of cars already in the parking lot. When I finally found a spot, I made my way to the front to pick up my media credentials seeing the massive line of people already on site ready to rock. It was so awesome to see so many people there early willing to catch every band from beginning to end. After getting my credentials, I made my way through security and the ticket gate and onto the festival grounds.
The layout changed this year having a stage built to act as the main stage instead of using the permanent stage at the fairgrounds. There were tons of vendors this year selling art, crafts, t-shirts, and much more. But, the one thing I found odd was how far out the food vendors were this year. In prior years, they were closer. Earthday Birthday did have a wide variety of food available. The VIP area was massive and had a good amount of seats and shade.
And the shade is exactly what attendees needed that day. While April is known for being warm, it was brutally hot that day. Before the first band went on you could already see people looking uncomfortable with the heat. Sadly, the Central Florida Fairgrounds lack shaded areas to stay cool while listening to the bands, unless you were in VIP. But, Earthday Birthday uses one of the buildings as an AC room for people to escape the heat and cool down. I had to make my way in there by mid-afternoon and it was very refreshing. The heat was a tough factor with the vendors who were burning through water bottles and sometimes running out. The vendors did a good job staying on top of their inventory getting re-stocked as fast as they could. And there were vendors selling ice cream and Icees for those who were looking for other means to stay cool.
While all this was a part of Earthday Birthday, the main piece everyone was focused on was the music that day. And it was a very solid lineup for this year. Kicking off the festival was The Other LA from Louisana playing over at the Turn It Up Stage. The band is hot off their new single “Wild Animals”. I, unfortunately, missed their performance, as I mixed up the two stages. From the attendees I spoke with who did see them, they played a great set.
Over at the Byrd Stage was the cover band Products of Rage. The band out of South Florida covers the famous band Rage Against the Machine and other rock sounds of the 1990s to 2000s. I like the idea of Earthday Birthday having a cover band on the lineup, though I feel they should have opened instead of The Other LA. But, Products of Rage did rock that crowd and really had the Rage Against the Machine sound going strong. I was definitely entertained by them and they were a great choice to add to the lineup.
This year Earthday Birthday decided not to use a third stage, which I thought was a great idea. Over the years they primarily stuck with two stages so fans could simply walk back and forth between the two and have no overlap on any of the band sets. When you start adding more than two stages to a festival, you immediately start having overlaps and then making choices on who you want to see. So this year, fans simply made their way between the Byrd Stage and Turn It Up Stage and could catch all the acts that day.
Next up was Dropout Kings. The nu-metal band from Phoenix, AZ started in 2016 and released a full-length album titled AudioDope and an EP titled GlitchGang. I heard good things about Dropout Kings and they definitely blew my expectations away. High energy, a mix of rap and metal, and complete crowd engagement was over the top. One of the vocalists, Adam Ramey, literally jumped into the crowd and was singing at the barricade to a fan during one of the opening songs. Eddie Wellz the other vocalist was constantly moving around, gesturing, and having fun. The crowd really went wild when they performed their single “GlitchGang”. I really enjoyed their performance.
Palm Beach, Florida’s own Fame on Fire was next to perform. They originally started off as a cover band in 2013 and started releasing their own original music in 2017 with the EP Transitions. Since then they’ve released 2 studio albums Levels (2020) and Welcome to the Chaos (2022). Their rock music keeps the crowd moving and jumping and vocalist Bryan Kuznitz has an absolutely amazing voice. This band works hard to get the fans going and I love seeing that in a band. Two of the songs they performed that day “Welcome to the Chaos” and “Plastic Heart” peaked on Billboard’s US Mainstream Rock charts at #16 and #29. I’m a fan of Fame on Fire and look forward to seeing more from them.
And we then moved over to another Florida band out of Middleburg, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. It’s hard to believe this band started 20 years ago in 2003 with 5 studio albums under their belt. Their last release was The Awakening in 2018. The Earthday Birthday crowd was ecstatic when they took the stage and they sounded fantastic. Ronnie Winter was very appreciative of the crowd coming to see them perform and his vocals were on point. Performing songs “False Pretense” and “Face Down” had the crowd moving. But, they really got a kick out of the band performing the cover of blink-182’s “All the Small Things”. Great performance from them that day.
Unfortunately, the festival had New Year’s Day drop off the lineup. As a replacement, we had Alice’s Jam Garden. The band lists themselves as covering anything from the grunge era like Alice in Chains to White Zombie plus original music. The band is fronted by Nick Hildyard who does vocals for the Classic Albums Live concerts. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed by their performance. I felt it lacked the energy that the festival had been building up from the start of the day. But, I did think it was cool for Nick’s daughter, Ashe, to take the stage to sing Radiohead’s “Creep” who received a nice ovation from the crowd.
One thing I need to call out was the same thing the DJs from WJRR called out all day. The fans. For 30 years the fans stuck with 101.1 WJRR and with Earthday Birthday. And because of them, we watched this festival get to host artists like Rob Zombie, Staind, Godsmack, Shinedown, Bush, Theory of a Deadman, Seether, Three Days Grace, and so many more. And to see these fans bringing their friends, spouses, and children to experience this festival just really shows how much they love this festival.
Next on the Turn It Up Stage was a band I’ve been waiting to photograph and see live called Dorothy. Named after their vocalist, Dorothy Martin, the band formed in 2014 out of Los Angeles, CA. They’ve released 2 EPs and 3 studio albums. Their most recent album is Gifts from the Holy Ghost (2022). And when Dorothy hit the stage, the Earthday Birthday crowd went wild. Dorothy started off guns blazing with their awesome rock vibe. Guitarist Sam Koltun was a star on the stage with his smooth and flashy guitar playing. Dorothy herself was a superstar with her powerful and clear rock vocals. The crowd was rocking away with them as they performed songs “Down to the Bottom”, “Hurricane”, and “Gifts from the Holy Ghost”. They put on an amazing performance and they were absolutely worth the wait seeing them perform.
The metal supergroup Bad Wolves was ready to go to rock out the Earthday Birthday crowd. They started out in 2017 and found immediate success with the cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”. The band had their original lead singer depart after their second studio album and be replaced with Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz. The band has released 3 studio albums with their most recent Dear Monsters being released in 2021. The crowd roared the moment they stepped on stage and they rocked hard for them. They sounded great and really had the crowd moving with their performance of “Killing Me Slowly”. And of course, they had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands when they performed “Zombie”. It was a solid set for the band that day.
And then this is where the crowd was packed in waiting in anticipation for the rock band out of Atlanta, GA known as Sevendust. They started back in 1994 with a self-titled album coming out in 1997. From there it was full speed ahead with 12 more studio albums and a 13th titled Truth Killer releasing on July 28, 2023. Sevendust and Earthday Birthday have a long history together as this band may have played it more than any other band over these 30 years. And Orlando and Sevendust have a special connection as the band constantly visits even when they’re not touring. Sevendust isn’t just another band performing in Orlando, they are family to this city. When they got onto the stage and got rolling, that crowd was all in from song 1. Unfortunately, they had to stop their set during song 2 due to an injury in the crowd. After medics were able to safely attend to the injured attendee and get them out of the crowd, Sevendust went back to work. Performing songs “Denial” and “Praise” and more the crowd was moving hard and having fun as was the band. The wrapped up their set with “Face to Face” which is always the perfect closing song. I can’t praise this band enough for their music, energy, and for their fan-friendly attitude.
Playing Earthday Birthday for the very first time was Beartooth out of Columbus, OH. They started out in 2012 and became well-recognized for their heavy music and high-energy live performances. The band has 4 studio albums with their last one Below released in 2021. You could tell the crowd and media was super excited to see them perform that day. When vocalist Caleb Shomo stepped onto the stage the Earthday Birthday crowd went nuts. And then Caleb let loose on the stage along with the rest of the band. Beartooth is always constant energy and motion throughout their entire set. There is no such thing as slowing down with this band. And the Earthday Birthday fans loved it. Beartooth was making a great first impression on this crowd. Beartooth performed “Devastation”, “Disease”, “Riptide” and others and closing with “The Past Is Dead”. Awesome performance that day and hope to see Beartooth back again.
As we were waiting for the next band to close out the Turn It Up Stage, a fellow media member showed me a Facebook story from 101.1 WJRR that Falling In Reverse canceled their appearance due to an undisclosed illness. It was a shame to see that news, but when the WJRR DJ’s came onto the Turn It Up Stage to announce the next band, no one made a mention in the change of schedule. I would have thought some announcement would have been made as a lot of people were probably not looking at social media on Saturday.
That band closing out the Turn It Up Stage was none other than The Pretty Reckless. The band started out of New York City in 2009 formed by actress Taylor Momsen. They released their first album Light Me Up in 2010 and released 3 more studio albums. Their recent release is Death by Rock and Roll (2021). The Pretty Reckless was the first national artist I was approved for photographing and reviewing for a website back in 2016. I always wanted another chance to photograph them so I was thrilled to see they were performing this year at Earthday Birthday. But, the crowd appeared more excited than me. When the band stepped out on the stage the roar of that crowd was deafening. Taylor was all confidence and stardom on stage showing her rockstar skills. Between her vocals, her movements, and her commanding presence over the crowd, she has that “it factor”. Guitarist Ben Phillips is so smooth on the guitar and always plays it cool on stage. Sadly, they too had to pause there set due to an injury in the crowd. But, the medics once again responded quickly and got the fan out safely so the band could continue on. They played a great setlist that included “Death by Rock and Roll”, “Only Love Can Save Me Now”, “Going to Hell”, and closing with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in a Free World”. It was such an amazing performance and the Earthday Birthday crowd wholeheartedly agreed.
Closing out Earthday Birthday was the rock band Breaking Benjamin. Forming back in 1999 out of Wilkes-Barre, PA, Breaking Benjamin immediately became a radio fan favorite with the release of their single “Polyamorous” from their debut album Saturate (2002). The band saw continued success with their second album We Are Not Alone (2004) with the singles “So Cold”, “Sooner or Later”, and “Rain”. The album would be certified Platinum. They continued releasing hit after hit with their albums Phobia (2006), Dear Agony (2009), Dark Before Dawn (2015), and their latest release Ember (2018). One of the kings of active radio rock, Breaking Benjamin was certainly ready to close out the show with a bang. The band wasted no time getting the crowd rocking with “Blow Me Away” and ironically following it with “Follow”. Vocalist Benjamin Burnley turned over vocal responsibilities to guitarist Keith Wallen for “Sooner or Later” and then to bassist Aaron Bruch for “Simple Design”. The setlist was a Breaking Benjamin playlist dream with so many hits including “So Cold”, “Red Cold River”, “I Will Not Bow”, and closing the show with “The Diary of Jane”. A phenomenal performance by the band to put a cap on Earthday Birthday 2023.
And we can’t forget the radio personalities from WJRR who thanked the crowd endlessly throughout the day. Without them we wouldn’t have the rock station as it is today.
Overall, Earthday Birthday 2023 was an awesome day filled with a killer lineup of bands. After 30 years these attendees keep coming back to support this amazing day and I hope it continues on for another 30 years.
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