The morning of April 23, 2022, I checked the weather hoping for a good day. The weather was showing mid-80s and slightly overcast, which was perfect. That day I was heading down to the Central Florida Fairgrounds to cover Earthday Birthday 28. Earthday Birthday is a one-day music festival hosted by our Orlando rock station 101.1 WJRR. The festival has had notable artists perform there such as Shinedown, Mudvayne, Rob Zombie, Theory of a Deadman, Nonpoint, and so many more. This year’s lineup was nothing short of spectacular with Godsmack and Three Days Grace headlining the event. WJRR provided me with a photo pass to review the show this year and I was absolutely stoked. The first event I covered was Earthday Birthday 25 for another website and I was unable to make it to the following years. So it was exciting to get to cover the event again plus see to share the photo pit with my other media friends.
It’s a quick drive from my home to the Central Florida Fairgrounds, which has been the home of Earthday Birthday for a number of years. Last year’s Earthday Birthday had to move to a prior location due to a conflict with another event. But, now they were back where they belonged at the Fairgrounds. In the past from years I’ve gone as an attendee, arriving early guaranteed you a good parking spot because many people didn’t come early. This year that was the opposite. When I arrived at 11 AM ET a ton of people were already there, waiting in line, or inside the event! It was great to see as the opening bands would have a large crowd. The attendee let me park in staff parking and I made my way to pick up my photo pass. I had already run into my friends Kara and Steve. We caught up as we waited in line to get through security. Once we were in it was game on!
The layout of Earthday Birthday was different than in past years. Usually, the festival ran with two stages and a physical building they used for an acoustic set. This year they ran with three stages and the physical building for the acoustic. I thought it was great since they’d added more bands than they’ve had in the past on the additional stage. The VIP Lounge was off to the right-hand side of the physical stage and ran a good length to the stage. They added standing tables for those who wanted to stand and watch the shows and there was a tent with long-running tables for others to sit and eat in the shade. There were also three bars there as well and VIP purchasers got both lunch and dinner. For the cost, VIP was a huge plus this year.
The rest of the layout for Earthday Birthday was pretty good. Tons of vendors lined the areas to get to the stages. Vendors were selling t-shirts, art, crafts, jewelry, there was a tattoo tent, and so much more. There were probably more vendors here this year than I had seen in prior years. There were also food trucks on the far side of the field from the vendors that had a variety of foods. I kept wanting to go over and get a Kona ice and never made it there.
And then there were the bathrooms. Let’s be real for a moment. If you’re going to a festival the first thing you want to know is the location of the bathrooms. This is where Earthday Birthday beats out most festivals I’ve attended. The Central Florida Fairgrounds has physical bathroom buildings. Let me say it again, the Central Florida Fairgrounds has physical bathroom buildings. There are two bathroom buildings on the Fairgrounds; one was used for VIP and the other was for anyone. They also had port-a-potties on-site for use. Honestly, the physical bathrooms are such a perk, and this year they kept them very clean! At the end of the night, they looked to be in good shape.
By 12 PM ET, it was time to get started! Standing in the photo pit of the main stage I also had my media friends Mark, Belinda, Chris, Karen, Lisa, Vicki, Joel, and so many more. And while I have shared a photo pit for a few concerts I reviewed this year, there is nothing like sharing that photo pit with a large group of friends all capturing the same moments and enjoying great music. I just knew in my heart this was going to be a truly fun day. Soon enough, DJs Pat Lynch and Taco Bob, who have been a working duo for what feels like forever at WJRR stepped out onto the Byrd Stage to get us started. They thanked the sponsors and thanked all of the attendees for choosing to come to Earthday Birthday because without them there would be no festival. The introduced local vocalist and pianist Nick Hildyard who performs with Classic Albums Live performed the National Anthem and damn that guy can sing! Great performance. And then our first artist of the day, Primal Crue stepped onto the stage. They are a Motley Crue tribute band and dress like them too to perform all Crue songs. I have to say, they were really good! I was very impressed with how well they played those songs and got the crowd into it too.
I headed over to the Turn It Up Stage to catch an artist I’ve been hearing a lot about named Lilith Czar. She recently released her debut album Created From Filth and Dust via Sumerian Records and the critics loved it. She took the stage at 12:30 PM ET and 10 seconds into her song part of the music dropped out. So they started again and the same thing happened. Third time’s a charm right? Nope! So the sound engineers decided to run a new cable. As we waited, Lilith spoke to the crowd and someone asked if she would sign his shirt. She happily obliged. She then asked for Dad jokes and my friend Mark put one out there that caused us all to groan. Finally, her speakers were fixed and they started up successfully! And she rocked that stage. Between her powerful vocals, stage presence, and a great band, she made the most of her set. Before performing her single “King” she reminded the women at Earthday Birthday not to strive to be a Queen, but to be a King.
It was back to the Byrd Stage for Orlando’s own metal band SoulSwitch at 1 PM ET. They were introduced by WJRR DJ Supa Dave who was also filling in to play bass with them as their bassist was sick. SoulSwitch is one of our cornerstone bands that has played Earthday Birthday many times. And every year they are there, they rock the stage. Paul’s vocals are just so good and powerful while Jimmy is a beast on the guitar. Colby is also an excellent guitarist and Don is a great drummer. On top of being a very talented band, they’re also very personable and take time to talk with their fans after their shows. If you’ve never seen them live, they’ll be performing at the Haven on Saturday, May 7th. I decided to then head over to the Acoustic Stage to see my friend Randi and her band Blaine The Mono. I’ve seen them perform at a fully plugged-in show and they were one of the first bands I ever photographed. They’re solid rock with awesome guitar and bass riffs, amazing drums, and Randi’s vocals are off the chain. So to see them stripped down in an acoustic set was a wonderful experience. Blaine The Mono rocked it and definitely made new fans that day.
I headed over to the new third stage labeled Even The Odd. The stage had artists that were a little heavier than most of the other performers and was headlined by Farewell to Fear. But, I was there to check out the Canadian goth-metal band Living Dead Girl. They’ve been on the rise since the release of their debut album Exorcism in 2021. They were on tour with our friends in Fate DeStroyed at the time they were performing at Earthday Birthday. While the stage they were playing on was small, their performance was very big. Vocalist Molly Rennick commanded the stage and the audience during the performance. They played their single “Alive” which reached #1 as the most added song on Mainstream Rock Indicator. This is a band that will be making big waves on the music scene and look forward to seeing what comes next for them.
It was then a hop next door to the Turn It Up Stage at 2:15 PM ET to see one of the most rising stars today in Jelly Roll. The rapper has gained tons of popularity over the year for his great songwriting and his collaborations with other hip-hop and rap artists. Last year, Jelly Roll was invited up to sing “Simple Man” with Shinedown at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival. Jelly Roll was running a few minutes late, but the moment he stepped on stage, that huge crowd behind us roared in approval. And when Jelly Roll starts to perform, everyone had their eyes on him. He’s very charismatic on the stage and you can see how much people love him and his music. It was a nice change of pace for Earthday Birthday artists. During his set, a woman collapsed in the crowd and Jelly Roll stopped his show to notify security. He didn’t re-start until he was sure she was OK. It was pure class.
Due to Jelly Roll starting late, all of the photographers were making a spring to the Byrd Stage to catch Ayron Jones who was supposed to start at 2:55 PM ET. Fortunately, they held the performance until Jelly Roll finished to give time for fans to make their way from that stage back to the Byrd Stage. When he did take the stage, we were in for such an unexpected treat. Many are comparing Ayron to Lenny Kravitz with his guitar playing style, songwriting, and vocals. And critics are spot on! Ayron has wonderful guitar skills and a beautiful voice to provide that clear singing but can drive it up for those powerful screams. The unexpected treat was his band supporting him. His rhythm guitarist, bassist, and drummer were animated, grooving, and played so well with Ayron. That group is the perfect package. I expect big things from Ayron Jones and truly hope he succeeds.
Back to the Turn It Up Stage at 3:50 PM for one of my personal favorite bands, Ice Nine Kills! Earthday Birthday became a tour stop for the Trinity of Terror Tour that included Ice Nine Kills, Motionless In White, and Black Veil Brides and fans were thrilled to have them all. Ice Nine Kills broke out with their album The Silver Screen, which is songs all written around horror films (literally) and their live performances for dressing up as characters like Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and one of the victims from It, red balloon and all. But, their follow-up album The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwod got more rave reviews and gave tribute to movies Child’s Play, Resident Evil, and many more. Their live performance is just beautiful to watch with their alacrity and intensity through their songs. Vocalist Spencer Charnas has no issue “murdering” two people during their performance and coming up with a severed head from one of his victims and then casually tossing it away. And performing songs such as “Welcome to Horrorwood”, “Hip to be Scared”, “Rainy Day”, and “The American Nightmare”, fans were eating out of the palm of their hands. Great performance from them that day.
Over at the Byrd Stage at 4:35 PM ET we were treated to one of our own who truly made it big. Ocala band Wage War came to perform at Earthday Birthday. The band received rave reviews when their third album Pressure was released. And the live shows to support it were absolutely amazing. Briton Bond’s guttural and growling vocals mixed with Cody Quistad’s clean vocals make them the perfect singing duo. And the remaining members in Seth Blake (guitar), Chris Gaylord (bass), and Stephen Kluesener (drums) make Wage War what it is today. The moment they took that stage, the Earthday Birthday crowd cheered and applauded the hometown band. And from the first note onwards, it was heavy all the way. Headbanging, crowd surfing, Briton screaming into the mic, you really couldn’t have asked for more. Playing favorite singles “Low”, “Teeth”, and “Circle Drain” truly had the crowd moving for them. I absolutely love Wage War and the Earthday Birthday crowd did too.
Back at the Turn It Up Stage at 5:25 we had Motionless In White. The metal band with Chris “Motionless” Cerulli (vocals), Ryan Sitkowski (lead guitar), Ricky “Horror” Olsen (rhythm guitar), Vinny Mauro (drums), and Justin Morrow (bass, formerly of Ice Nine Kills) recently announced a new album Scoring the End of the World coming out on June 10th via Roadrunner Records. The band’s popularity from their music and their live performances is well justified. Besides killer tracks they perform, they are energetic and play heavy through their shows. Chris especially has all eyes locked on him during his performance. Why they weren’t playing the main stage made no sense to me at all. During their performance, Chris decided to get intimate with the crowd and jumped into the photo pit and ran down the middle space to shake hands with fans before getting back up on the stage. Some of the songs they played included “Cyberhex” (off the upcoming album), “Reincarnate”, “Voices” and their cover of “Somebody Told Me”. Excellent performance by them that night.
At 6:10 PM ET back at the Byrd Stage was the headliner for the Trinity of Terror Tour, Black Veil Brides. The rock band from California consists of Andy Biersack (vocals), Jinx (rhythm guitar), Jake Pitts (lead guitar), Christian “CC” Coma (drums), and Lonny Eagleton (bass). They recently released their sixth studio album, The Phantom Tomorrow, in 2021. The Earthday Birthday crowd was totally pumped up for them and when they stepped out on stage the crowd went absolutely wild. One of the things I love about Black Veil Brides is their energy and their interaction with the crowd. They completely engage them to join in on their fun. Their rock music is vibrant and fun and gets you moving on the floor. Some of the songs they played included “Crimson Skies” and “Scarlet Cross” from the new album, “Shadows Die”, “Fallen Angel”, and I loved they went back old school to their very first album We Stitch These Wounds with “Knives and Pens”. It was a fantastic performance from the band.
My last trip to the Turn It Up Stage was for the rock band Thrice. Another rock band from California consists of Dustin Kensrue (vocals/rhythm guitar), Teppei Teranishi (lead guitar), Eddie Breckenridge (bass), and Riley Breckenridge (drums). The band has played Earthday Birthday before and the crowd was definitely ready to hear them perform. They even had members of Ice Nine Kills watching them perform from side-stage. They are a very accomplished band with eleven studio albums and their most recent being Horizons/East from 2021. Some of their songs they played that day included “Hurricane”, “Black Honey”, “Scavengers”, and “Helter Skelter” (Beatles cover).
I decided to stop to watch the Atomic Revolution Wrestling (ARW) perform a match before the next band hit the stage. It was very entertaining with some high-impact moves, good storyline, and the unexpected twists you get from wrestling.
Before moving on to discuss the final two bands of the show, I wanted to discuss the most important thing about Earthday Birthday 28, the people. I’ve lived in the Orlando area for over 25 years and I’ve met some fantastic friends in this city. One of the common denominators I found I have with them is our love of music. Music brings people together. So at every Earthday Birthday I’ve attended I always see a lot of familiar faces, which makes it feel like home. But, every year I always meet some new people and make new friends. And at Earthday Birthday 28 I saw so many faces I haven’t seen in two years and got to meet some new people I’ve only known through social media. Every WJRR DJ that took a stage said the same thing time after time, if it wasn’t for the fans, there wouldn’t be an Earthday Birthday. Also, the staff at Earthday Birthday were so good this year. From security to bartenders to Orlando PD to custodians, everyone was cordial and happy to be there. This event was such a great gathering of people.
Our last two bands would be playing on the Byrd Stage. First up at 8 PM ET was the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The band is no stranger to WJRR listeners or Earthday Birthday. The band consists of Matt Walst (vocals), Barry Stock (guitar), Brad Walst (bass), and Neil Sanderson (drums). The rock band has sold over 6 million albums and had 16 #1 hit singles on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart. Successful is the slightest understatement for this group. The band was ready to rock out the moment they hit the stage. Matt’s face was intense and serious and the crowd just cheered in appreciation. They started off with “So Called Life” from their upcoming album Explosions which will be available on May 6th. They followed with “Animal I Have Become” from their 2006 album One-X. This really got the crowd going. They followed that with “Home” from their 2003 self-titled debut album. It was a phenomenal performance that included songs “Pain”, “The Mountain” (one of my favorites), “Neurotic” (from the new album), “I Hate Everything About You”, and “Riot”.
Finally, at 9:30 PM ET, Massachussettes rock band Godsmack took the stage. The band consists of Sully Erna (vocals/rhythm guitar), Tony Rombola (lead guitar), Robbie Merrill (bass), and Shannon Larkin (drums). Godmsack released three albums consecutively that hit #1 on the Billboard 200, twenty-five Top Ten rock radio hits, and seventeen of those that made it into the Top Five. Their most recent album was When Legends Rise released in 2018. The band had covered up the stage with a white sheet that had a recording play on it from Mix Master Mike introducing Godsmack with a mix melody of music. That curtain dropped revealing a black curtain behind it with the Godsmack logo. And it was only brief moment when that curtain dropped and Godsmack began playing “I Stand Alone” from their 2003 album Faceless. It also appeared in the movie The Scorpion King. With that heavy bass and drum, Sully delivers that growling vocal throughout the song that runs chills down your spine. They continued on with the title track from the 2018 album When Legends Rise. A more uplifting song with excellent guitar work from Tony. But then Godsmack turned it up a notch with one of my favorite songs “100hp” the title track off the 2014 album. And they fired off the pyro during the song and it looked amazing. Godsmack was on point with their music, getting the crowd engaged, and all around having fun. Such a perfect performance from the band that night. Their setlist also included their well-known songs like “Voodoo”, “Whatever”, “Straight Out of Line”, “Awake” and they encored with “Under Your Scars”.
Earthday Birthday 28 was such a fantastic time. A day filled with great music with great friends. If you missed out on Earthday Birthday 28, do yourself a favor and go to the next one. You will absolutely love it.
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