After a one-year absence, WJRR’s Earthday Birthday 2026 returned to the Central Florida Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 21, 2026. It was a beautiful, warm day, with the sun shining bright without a cloud in the sky. And the crowd was there early, waiting for the gates to open to partake in two stages filled with music, food, drinks, and the community of rock fans that WJRR has built over the 35 years this festival has run.
We started off the day on the smaller VulJRR Stage with Twin Rova from Orlando, FL. The alternative rock trio wasted no time getting the crowd moving with their hard-hitting music. The crowd got really into their music that we already had a circle put moving early in the day. Keep an eye on this band. They are entertaining, fun, and have the ability to capture the crowd. Following them over on the Farah Stage was the Welsh band from Cardiff, UK, James and the Cold Gun. Back in 2023, the band signed on with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard’s record label, Loosegoose Records. And I see what he saw in them. The rock band leaves it all on the stage and knows how to make it entertaining. They have this punk flair to them that definitely enraptures the crowd. The band is on tour with Mammoth and is returning to Florida in May to perform with Mammoth and Bush in Tampa.
The day would continue to alternate between the stages with fantastic and fun performers. Kurt Deimer from Cincinnati, OH was up next at the VulJRR stage. Kurt is an actor, film producer, songwriter, and musician. And he is one hell of a musician. He commands the stage with ease, is a great singer, and loves to rock out. You could see he was having fun on stage. Kurt was also promoting his upcoming film, Scared to Death, and made appearances throughout the day as WJRR gave away tickets to see his film. Back over to the Farah Stage was another local band from the Central Florida area. Nevertel is from Tampa, FL, and I was looking forward to hearing them live. Their mixture of hip-hop and rock had the crowd bouncing and moshing along. Their energy was incredible and their vocal transition between Jeremy Michael and Raul Lopez was fantastic. They are another band I highly recommend listening to on your favorite streaming service and seeing them live.
By this point, the Earthday Birthday crowd was in full swing with thousands of people gracing the fairgrounds. Everyone looked like they were having fun, even though the sun was brutal with very little cloud cover. Back at the VulJRR stage we were blessed with the performance of The Pretty Wild out of Las Vegas, NV. Jyl and Jules Wild are two sisters who originally started on the music scene doing pop covers. But, their own style is heavy on metal, screaming vocals, and heavy breakdowns. They’ve been labeled as “baddiecore” and fully embrace it. I’ve heard a few of their singles and can say their live performances are bad ass. Their songs of “PARADOX” and “OMENS” show what this band delivers. Don’t miss your opportunity to see them, as they were a ton of fun. Flipping back to the Farrah stage was a band I’ve never heard before called Des Rocs out of New York City. Danny Rocco started the solo project that brings hard rock and a lot of performance flair to the stage. He is an incredible guitarist and entertainer with solid vocals. He reminded me of Eddie Van Halen with an Elvis Presley performance style. It may sound odd, but see for yourself. You won’t regret it. Des Rocs was awesome and the crowd loved every minute.
Do you miss the grunge sound of bands like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, and Soundgarden? If so, let me recommend Return to Dust from Los Angeles, CA. The quartet had a great showing on the VulJRR Stage late in the day. Their vocals and music were great and their showmanship was even better. They had the crowd engaged and gave them a hell of a rock show. I will definitely be adding them into my playlists.
So, at every festival I’ve attended in my lifetime, there is always that one band that steals the show. The band you never expect and the band you’ll always remember. That band for me was The Funeral Portrait out of Atlanta, GA. The rock quintet dominated the rock airwaves with their 2024 album Greetings From Suffocate City and had three #1 Billboard Mainstream singles. Their success has been incredible, and after seeing them live, I understand why. First, Lee Jennings is a showman and a hell of a vocalist. I’ve never seen a lead singer on stage with such ferocity, emotion, and energy. And his vocal range is phenomenal. And the music is truly incredible. Cody Weissinger (lead guitar), Robert Weston (bass), Homer Umbanhower (drums), and Gareth Calk (rhythm guitar) are all incredible musicians and are all in with this band. You could tell on stage how well they all get along and work together. Outside of performing their #1 hits of “Dark Thoughts”, “Suffocate City”, and my all time favorite “Holy Water”, the band kicked off the show doing their cover of Tears for Fears single “Mad World”. And let me say, it was absolutely incredible. The band is on tour in Europe and will be back in the U.S. to tour in November.
I decided to skip on Jacob’s Castle and catch some wrestling action with Pro Action Wrestling. While I couldn’t stay for the whole show, it was fun to watch this group in action. They had some interesting characters and put on a good performance for the fans who did come to watch.
I did head back to the Farrah Stage to catch the one Earthday Birthday alumni in Sleep Theory. The rock band from Memphis, TN consists of Cullen Moore (vocals), Daniel Pruitt (guitarist/unclean vocals), Paolo Vergara (bass), and Ben Pruitt (drums). Outside of being known for their awesome rock music, the band engages with the fans frequently. They were out and about on the fairgrounds watching performances before they went on. And their performance was incredible performing their well-known singles “Stuck in My Head”, “Numb”, “Static” and many more. They had a great set that day and the fans loved they returned to perform at Earthday Birthday.
The final set of the day at the VulJRR stage was a big one. Their first time performing at Earthday Birthday was Mammoth out of Los Angeles, CA. The rock band consisting of Wolfgang Van Halen (vocals, guitar), Frank Sidoris (guitar), Jonathan Jourdan (guitar), Ronnie Ficcaro (bass), and Garrett Whitlock (drums) blew away the crowd with their performance. The band has some truly, beautifully crafted songs and along with Wolfgang’s vocals it puts it all together for fun performances. Mammoth performed their #1 Billboard Mainstream singles “The End” and “The Spell” along with other hits including “Another Celebration at the End of the World” and “Epiphany”. It was a great way to close out the VulJRR stage.
And now it was time for Earthday Birthday’s two heavy hitters of the night on the Farrah Stage. Up first was the metalcore band from Southfield, MI in I Prevail. The band consists of Eric Vanlerberghe (vocals), Steve Menoian (lead guitar), Dylan Bowman (rhythm guitar), Gabe Helguera (drums) and Jon Eberhard (bass). The band had this massive setup on stage with multiple platforms and pyro and had no hesitation lighting it up that night. Their music was hard hitting, frantic, and exactly what I Prevail fans wanted to hear. The band performed the hits fans expected including “Hurricane”, “Bow Down”, and “Gasoline”. They also performed songs off their recent 2025 album Violent Nature including “Rain”, “Violent Nature”, and “Into Hell”. I Prevail surprised the fans performing Metallica’s “Sad But True” and I have to admit, it was pretty awesome. The crowd surfers were heavy, the pyro was hot, and the mosh pits were brutal. I Prevail were pleased with the crowd’s energy and the crowd was pleased with their performance.
Finally, we finished off the night with band from Norwood, Ontario, Canada in Three Days Grace. The band that released their first album in 2003 is still going strong 23 years later. With 8 albums, 20 #1 singles, and 3 of those albums going Platinum, there is no doubt Three Days Grace is a major success story. They are also a multiple time Earthday Birthday alumni! But, the biggest change in the band since their last appearance at Earthday Birthday is the return of original vocalist Adam Gontier! The new lineup is Adam Gontier (vocals), Matt Walst (vocals), Barry Stock (guitar), Barry Walst (bass), and Neil Sanderson (drums). Three Days Grace on this set decided to mix it up and delivered a 23 song setlist that brought us through all 8 albums. In the opening they performed their newest song “Apologies” and then followed it up with their oldest song “I Hate Everything About You”. The opening set also included songs “Dominate”, “The Mountain” (one of my personal favorites), “Home”, and many more.
They then shifted the set and setup the stage with a fake campfire in someone’s backyard. A friend of the band explained via video how in Norwood there wasn’t much to do. Their group of friends would sit around a campfire and play music trying to make sense of their teenage thoughts through music. The band performed an acoustic set in front of the campfire that included “Lost in You” and “Lifetime”. And then they performed one of the rare songs they do live “Chalk Outline” with an intermix of My Darkest Day’s “Pornstar Dancing” and the classic “My Sharona”.
Adam and Matt blended so well together as dual vocalists. They were fluid through transitions of lyrics and both of them led various songs throughout the night. Three Days Grace was already spectacular and with Adam back they’re even better. The final set included songs “I Am Machine”, “Never Too Late”, “Painkiller” and closing out the show with “Riot”. Three Days Grace delivered such a perfect setlist taking us through the years of the band.
I read a lot of negativity around Earthday Birthday when the lineup was announced. People saying how it outright sucked, it was lame, a loser lineup. I found this was an amazing lineup for what Earthday Birthday delivered. A bunch of new bands I’ve never seen before, a few bands I’ve heard of, and even better mostly new bands performing for the first time ever. I hope Earthday Birthday continues to deliver this quality of music every year. Great job WJRR, keep it going!
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