Photos By Brooke Striewski and Josh Kelly

Since 2021, Rewind It Magazine have made it to Welcome to Rockville four out of five recent years since the massive annual music festival moved to Daytona Beach from Jacksonville, FL. But unlike previous years, there was an impossible-to-ignore black cloud looming over the proceedings this year, as less than three short months prior I had found myself recovering from surgery in the hospital after a nasty bout of Oyesteomylitis (a potentially deadly bone infection, and in my case chronic) had rippled its way through my ankle once more after decades of remission.

There was much doubt then, and even more doubt the day of when the moment had finally arrived (my wife and Rewind It photographer/partner-in-crime Brooke had actually won tickets to the event from local radio station WMMO as far back as December). But I was determined, and did not want to let my still-teenaged son Jacob (who is perpetually playing catch up with his old man when it comes to seeing bands) down.

Thursday, May 15 (Day 1):

We strolled in (in my case literally – I was on a rolling walker for this one) to the Daytona International Speedway that first day on Thursday, May 15, with a feeling of triumph, having finally made it across the finish line (normally by this time of year we’ve fit in a handful of shows by now). But after all that uncertainty leading up, there lied the first band of 2025 either us had seen on stage right before our eyes – Blue October (okay so we might have actually caught a glimpse of The Acacia Strain along the way too, but still).

Now, I can’t tell you I’ve ever been much of a Blue October fan over the years at all. But in that moment, hearing tracks like “Hate Me” and “I Hope You’re Happy” live meant the world to me just then, though it was about to get much better very quickly.

Reunited 2000’s act Crossfade were up next after being introduced by I believe a Sirius XM radio host whose name escapes me (?), and even a NASCAR driver (and if memory serves me correctly, that would be Daniel Sauerz). For this one we stayed for the entire set, which included “Starless,” “So Far Away,” “Lay Me Down,” “Dead Memories,” “The Deep End,” “Colors,” “Already Gone,” “Death Trend Setta,” and their 2004 hit, “Cold.”

Crossfade performing on the first day of Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL on 5/15/25 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

Next up were ’80s thrash masters Exodus, who we nearly missed by the time we made the trek over to the Inferno stage to see them. Although I caught the band once before back in 2014, I was curious to see the return of former vocalist Rob Dukes this time around, even if it was only for a handful of songs (“Toxic Waltz” and “Strike of the Beast”), one of which also included Municipal Waste front man Tony Foresta.

A few minutes worth of Theory of a Deadman’s set in the interim reminded me of just how boring they really are live (I had actually seen them along time ago too at another festival around 2012-ish, and was not impressed then, either), though Orlando natives Trivium (whose original singer/bassist Brad Lewter I had actually gone to elementary school with in Weikva) helped kick things up a notch.

“The End of Everything,” “Rain,” “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr,” and “Like Light to the Flies” were all fun enough to hear again and/or for the first time (it’s been since 2008 since I last saw them), but in order to catch GWAR for the first time in nearly two decades (seen them several times between 1999-2006) and with Michael Bishop now in place of the late Dave Brockie (R.I.P.) for the first time was too intriguing as well.

Hearing songs like “Slap U Around,” “Gor-Gor,” and “Sick of You” live again may have brought back some nostalgic memories no doubt, but the overall juvenile appreciation has long since past since those Beavis and Butt-Head days so long ago, and I think I’ll leave my memories of the band in the past where they ultimately belong for me.

The Pretty Reckless came into late in the game, replacing 3 Doors Down on the bill after frontman Brad Arnold’s recent cancer diagnosis (wishing him all of the best). I’ve checked out the band before, and other than the singer Taylor Momsen’s previous acting credits (which included 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas alongside Jim Carey), I really hadn’t found much interest in them. Live was a different story though, as Momsen swayed her way through tracks like “Witches Burn,” “Makes Me Wanna Die,” “Going to Hell,” “Heaven Knows,” and “Take Me Down.”

From then on, it was all about the ladies for some time after, with Lzzy Hale (fresh off a brief stint fronting Skid Row) and Halestorm belting out some of their well-known numbers like “Familiar Taste of Poison” and “Freak Like Me,” before we were able to catch Arch Enemy completely annihilating another stage nearby (and with front woman Alissa White-Gluz looking damn good in the process).

I could hear Three Days Grace from a distance and even seen them on some of the giant screens throughout while we waited for Asking Alexandria to play on another stage. Having already seen Asking Alexandria open for All That Remains way back in 2010, I was expecting more of the same insanity, though some of that seemed to be replaced now by a more mainstream direction rather than metalcore (could have something to do with the absence of original guitarist Ben Bruce). All in all songs like “Alone in a Room” and “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)” still held up live.

Rapper/Actor Ice-T and Body Count have at the very least held a vague interest for me ever since appearing on the Judgement Night soundtrack alongside Slayer with the punk/thrash inspired “Disorder” all the way back in 1993. While the band did rip through the aforementioned track with style (as well as a cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood,” among other things), I found myself losing interest quickly after being preached to (one of the biggest turn-offs for me from musicians these days).

And finally, if you’ve seen Rob Zombie once, you’ve seen him enough. I can’t even remember exactly how many times its been, but I do know not much has changed since that first time I saw him back in 2006. He’ll usually open with something like “Demon Speeding” (which he did), throw in some hits like “Feel So Numb” and “More Human Than Human” (which he also did), and end it with the one-two punch of “Thunder Kiss ’65” and “Dragula” (yep, again). The only noticeable difference this time was the inclusion of “Creature of the Wheel” from 1995’s Astro-Creep: 2000 album, though I could think of at least half a dozen better songs from that album (either “Electric Head” track or “Blur the Technicolor” would’ve done nicely instead).

By the time Zombie was done, so were we, despite that evening’s headliner Shinedown still yet to perform (how they landed the “headliner” spot to begin with, I’ll never understand), though we could clearly hear them starting on our way out of the venue.

Friday, May 16 (Day 2):

By the time we got to day number two, we getting into more of a routine (mainly finding spots to stay out of the heat/sun), though were able to arrive just a tad earlier than the day prior (and run into long time friend of the fam and latest Rewind It contributor, Josh Kelly).

It was no doubt all about the ’90s this day, with the first band we caught of the day being Lit. Before their set, a video montage reminding fans of their MTV Spring Break played over the screens before the band started with “Kicked Off the Plane.” Admittedly I did not know much of their songs until they reached the pseudo-ballad “Miserable,” and by then it was time to catch fellow ’90s act Everclear.

Everclear are one of those bands I’ve always held a small interest for since their heyday, a large part perhaps having to do with being on the soundtracks to such films I loved like Detroit Rock City (1999) and Rock Star (2001). They wasted no time with their set, instantly giving fans exactly what they came for with the anthemtic “So Much For the Afterglow” before tearing through “Everything to Everyone,” “Heroin Girl,” “Father of Mine,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” “Wonderful,” and finally, the 1995 classic, “Santa Monica.”

Another reunited early 2000’s metalcore act, It Dies Today, who I had once caught what now feels like a lifetime ago at the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, were the next on the agenda. Hearing the likes of “Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads,” “Sacred Heart (Sacre Couer),” and “A Threnody of Modern Romance” was a welcomed blast from the past for sure.

And speaking of blasts from the past, Bowling For Soup were one of the earliest groups I can remember my kid ever liking, having performed the theme song to the animated show Phineas and Ferb (which I probably heard more times than I’d like to admit thanks to it). While I’m almost positive I could hear the band playing said theme in the distance prior to arriving, I can confirm “Punk Rock 101,” “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” and “1985” were all performed towards the end of their set.

Post-grunge rockers Candlebox took it back to the ’90s, with songs like “Don’t You,” “Change,” “Elegante,” “Arrow,” and “Cover Me”bringing yet more memories from those teen years.

Having just seen Bush somewhat recently in late 2023, I wasn’t too worried about catching them again, and by then it was time for some much-needed rest out of the sun. I was still close enough to the stage to hear such classics and newer tracks alike, such as “Everything Zen,” “Machinehead,” “Flowers on a Grave,” “The Chemicals Between Us,” “60 Ways to Forget People,” “Swallowed,” “More Than Machines,” “Glycerine,” and “Comedown.”

When it came time for Sublime, there was a vague interest there, even though I never really got too hooked on the band’s music, even at their peak. But I was surprised to see what a show man the late Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob was in his place, as the band made their way through “April 29, 1992 (Miami),” “The Ballad of Johnny Butt,” “Wrong Way,” “Date Rape,” “Doin’ Time,” “STP,” “Garden Grove,” “Badfish,” “Burritos,” “Ensenda,” “What I Got,” “Same in the End,” and “Santeria.”

Ukrainian metal act Jinjer were next up on the agenda, and I’ve got to say, of all the female-fronted bands we were able to witness at Rockville, their frontwoman (Tatiana Shmayluk) was by far one of the most unique – not to mention one of the sexiest – of them all. The group blasted through numbers like “Retrospection,” “Green Serpent,” and “Someone’s Daughter” (among others) with ease.

Ironically, the last time I saw Killswitch Engage, it was on that very same Vans Warped Tour with It Dies Today back in 2007. At that time Howard Jones was still handling lead vocal duties (quite admirably too I might add), but I was looking forward to seeing the band with original lead singer Jesse Leach back at the helm this time though.

And apparently I was not the only one; it seemed like nearly everyone inside of the Speedway came from far and wide to pack the surrounding areas of that stage to hear the band do “Rose of Sharyn,” “In Due Time,” “This Fire,” “Broken Glass,” “Hate by Design,” “Forever Aligned,” “The Signal Fire,” “I Believe,” “My Curse,” “The End of Heartache” (in which the band briefly stopped midway due to an injured fan), “My Last Serenade,” and their cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver.”

Another band I caught many years earlier at a Warped Tour (I believe 2002) though wouldn’t really call myself a “fan” of, Good Charlotte, were next up. I was surprised by how much energy the band brought even after having just watched Killswitch, with tracks like “The Anthem,” “Girls & Boys,” “Keep Your Hands Off My Girl,” “Predictable,” “Hold On,” “Wondering,” “Life Changes,” and “The Young and the Hopeless” all leading the charge.

But it was what came next that created one of the most truly unique moments at Rockville this year; Wheatus singer Brendan B. Brown suddenly emerged to duet with G.C. frontman Joel Madden on the 2000 hit “Teenage Dirtbag.” It was just one of those small yet special and rare moments that only seems to happen once in a blue moon, and there was no way the band could top it afterwards, even with a few more tracks in the form of “Little Things,” “The River,” “Dance Floor Anthem,” “I Just Wanna Live,” and “Lifestyles of the Rich & the Famous” still up their sleeves.

And now we get to…Green Day. I remember when the band first started becoming a household name after the release of their third album, Dookie, in 1994. One of my trendy older sister’s, trying to describe the band to someone and sound cool in the process, labeled them as a “Jesse band” (and that’s a direct quote). Having already been into more “authentic” punk bands at the time such as the Misfits and the Ramones, I took it as somewhat of an insult rather than a compliment, and my opinion of the band has only gotten worse with each subsequent release from them since.

Honestly, their concert was one of the most pointless and low quality I can recall in recent memory. They started things off with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (a much better song from far more talented musicians) blaring on the house speakers before some guy in a bunny suit hoped around moronically to the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” for no apparent reason that I could see.

It didn’t get any better once they emerged with their commie rhetoritc that is “American Idiot,” with Billie Joe Armstrong throwing in predictable jabs towards a certain faction of Americans (so edgy) in his annoying voice as always. I didn’t get the appeal as more tracks like “Holiday” and “Know Your Enemy” (at which point the band did at least let a young fan onstage to have the time of her life) and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” continued to ring out.

Green Day performs on night number two of Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL on Friday, 5/16/25 (Photo by Josh Kelly).

“One Eyed Bastard” was a bore, and by the time they reached a couple of tracks from said Dookie album (“Longview” and “Welcome to Paradise”) we had had enough for the night and started heading for the door, and with zero regrets about it, either.

Saturday, May 17 (Day 3):

By day number three I was already spent, so we not only took our time arriving, but I had already pre-decided I was not going to worry about most of the earlier bands (I had already seen most of them in some shape or form already anyhow, so it was not much of a loss really).

The first act we caught of the day was Christian rockers P.O.D., who were just wrapping things up with their early-2000’s mega hits “Youth of a Nation” and “Alive.” After which, there was an oh-so-brief glimpse of Taking Back Sunday before it was time for me to retreat yet again until Municipal Waste hit the stage.

Late last year I had actually briefly met M.W. frontman Tony Foresta at a Fear show (and if you recall earlier in this article, he had actually guested on stage with Exodus just two days prior), but I had still yet to see Tony and co. tear things up with their maniciacl crossover mix.

“Slime and Punishment” was appropriately the track the band was already mid-song playing by the time we scooted up to the party. “The Thrashin’ of the Christ,” “Poison the Preacher,” “You’re Cut Off,” “High Speed Steel,” “Grave Dive,” “Wave of Death,” “Demoralizer,” and “Born to Party” (complete with a guy in a hazmat suit) all found their way into their set list.

Occasional Rewind It contributor Seth Johnson and his wife Erin had met up with us by this point, and just in time for Florida death metal legends Obituary. My introduction to the genre actually came via two cassette tapes (that’s right) found at a pawn shop “back in the day;” Cannibal Corpse’s Eaten Back to Life, and Obituary’s Slowly We Rot. So it was a thrill to finally cross the band off the list as well (C.C. I had actually seen before way back in 2006). The band ripped through their set that consisted of “Snortin’ Whisky,” “Redneck Stomp,” “A Lesson in Vengeance,” “Body Bag,” “The Wrong Time,” and “Slowly We Rot.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Bilmuri (lead by former Attack Attack! frontman Johnny Franck) while waiting for Acid Bath to play, but their saxophone player Gabi Rose added a slight ’80s touch to the proceedings (not to mention some very…interesting attire) on tracks like “Emptyhanded” and “The End” (I’m not going to even attempt to try to spell most of their long-winded songs).

Acid Bath are one of those sludge metal bands that hold just enough appeal to hold my interest (similar to Down), and their reuniting for the first time since the late ’90s was definitely one of the most-talked about moments of Rockville this year. “The Beautiful Downgrade,” “Tranquilized,” “Bleed Me An Ocean,” “Venus Blue,” “Dead Girl,” “Pagan Love Song,” and “Dr. Seuss is Dead” were all worth the the wait to hear live.

Pierce The Veil may be one of those newer groups more up my son’s alley, but I’ll admit I actually did enjoy what we watched of their set. Tracks like “I’m Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket,” “Circles,” “Karma Police” (Radiohead cover), “May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight,” “Hell Above,” “Caraphernelia,” “Emergency Contact,” “Hold on to May,” and “King For a Day” (with Sleeping with Sirens singer Kellin Quinn) were all admirable to say the least.

And lastly, the latest incarnation of Linkin Park with Dead Sara vocalist Emily Armstrong in place of the late Chester Bennington closed out the night. As far as nu metal goes, I’d rather listen to them over the likes of say, well, Mudvayne (stay tuned), and I actually liked some of the earlier Michael Bay Transformers films that they provided songs for, so one of the stipulations I had beforehand was to hear them do at least one of those songs live.

After some brief intros, the band launched into some familiar numbers such as “Somewhere I Belong,” “Lying From You,” “Crawling,” “Two Faced,” and my stopping point, “New Divide” (from 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen). I won’t sit here and tell you Armstrong is flawless in Benniington’s place, but she seems to be trying her best at the shoes she’s been given to fill.

Linkin Park’s Emily Armstrong serenading the crowd at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL on Saturday, May 17 (Photo by Josh Kelly).

Sunday, May 18 (Day 4):

By day number four on Sunday, I was definitely ready for it all to be over, while at the same time grateful to finally have my beloved wife and number one photographer Brooke by my side for it. It was especially notable for us to finally see Marilyn Manson together, having both attended the same 2008 show of his together without even knowing it (prior to our eventual dating/marriage).

As we walked in for the day, we caught glimpses of Gatecreeper, Attack Attack! and Fit For An Autopsy, but it wasn’t until Orlando’s own Sevendust that we really paid solid attention to a group, with tracks like “Pieces,” “Denial,” “Praise,” “Black,” “Enemy,” and “Face to Face” exploding across the Speedway.

Sevendust performing at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL on Sunday, May 18 (Photo by Brooke Striewski).

Blessthefall is one band I photographed live in Orlando for a local band back in 2010 (along with Chiodos, who were also on the bill today), and I was looking forward to seeing how the band has matured since then. And they sounded spot on on tracks like “Wake the Dead,” “Cutthroat,” “Hollow Bodies,” “2.0,” “What’s Left of Me,” “You Wear a Crown But You’re No King,” and “Hey Baby, Here’s That Song You Wanted.”

Memphis May Fire and The Black Dahlia Murder were a couple of more interim acts before Hawthorne Heights, who surprisingly I don’t recall seeing before now. And hearing songs like “Saying Sorry,” “Hard to Believe,” and “Niki FM” were actually all quite effective live.

While waiting for Marilyn Manson to take stage, we were given no choice but to endure the end of Mudvayne’s set, who were in the process of ending the same set they had the last two times we saw them at Rockville, with tracks like “Not Falling” and “Happy?”

Marilyn Manson have definitely changed a lot since that last time Brooke and I had seen them all the way back in 2008, and no doubt have endured quite a bit as well (Manson briefly addressed this, calling those who tried to cancel him “vial”). But within seconds of hitting stage, I don’t think there was a single person in attendance doubting his ability to still put on an epic rock show (Manson’s young new guitarist Reba Meyers of Code Orange added to the energy, and was extremely easy on the eyes at that).

The band plowed through the likes of “Nod If You Understand,” “Disposable Teens,” “Get Your Gunn,” “Tourniquet,” “Sacrilegious,” “This Is the New Shit,” “mOBSCENE,” “Long Hard Road out of Hell,” “The Dope Show,” “As Sick as the Secrets Within,” “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” and finally, “The Beautiful People.”

Reba Meyers performs on stage with Marilyn Manson at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL on Sunday, May 18 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

The night could’ve ended right then and there and I would’ve been perfectly fine with it, but there were still some acts left, including Bad Omens. I had never really listened to them before, and although their music did not sound bad per se, it was definitely puzzling why they were actually in a headlining spot.

And last but not least, Korn finally took stage to close out Welcome to Rockville. Now, I haven’t actually owned a Korn album since their self-titled debut was given to me by a friends older sister, on cassette (that’s right). So I can’t say they’ve been my favorite band out there (again, the whole nu metal scene is more up my kid’s alley than it is mine).

But I’ll admit, the band showed no mercy as they tore through numbers like “Blind,” “Twist,” “Falling Away From Me,” and “Got the Life.” By the time they reached “Clown” though, we were completely spent, and decided to just listen what we could on the way out (“Did My Time” and “Shoots and Ladders” included), effectively putting an end to the 2025 Welcome to Rockville festival for good.

Foo Fighters, Motley Crue, Slipknot and More at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, FL 5/9-5/12/24 Words By Jesse Striewski/Photos By Jacob Striewski

There’s a certain amount of pros versus cons that have to be weighed when factoring in an extensive, four-day music festival such as Welcome to Rockville. On the one hand, you’re getting in a LOT of your favorite bands in a very short span of time. But on the other hand, you’re also getting much shorter set lists, and dealing with WAY more obnoxious, drunken fools than you would on any other given normal day of the week (such a blast I’ll tell ya).

It’s a definite take-the-good-with-the-bad type of situation to say the least. But for better or worse, I bit the bullet, taking my son Jacob once again to catch up on many of the bands I’ve already seen over the years, but he had yet to have the chance to catch live himself (my wife Brooke wisely decided to sit most of it out, only attending the first night at the Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, May 9). Said first day was one for the books indeed, and I will try to recall as much of the massive festival as I possibly can here, from start to finish.

DAY 1:

The very first band we caught while walking up on the very first day was Saliva, and we could hear the sounds of their generic 2000 hit “Click Click Boom” (thankfully) ending just as we entered the gates. Luckily ’90s rockers Stabbing Westward were up directly afterwards, although something seemed slightly “off” since the last time I saw them back in 2019 (namely some lineup changes that now included the lack of a bass player). After catching a few tracks in the form of “Falls Apart,” “The Thing I Hate,” and “I Don’t Believe,” it was already on to the next band, which at that point was Flyleaf w/ Lacy Sturm.

I can’t say I’ve ever really sat down and listened to Flyleaf a single day of my life, but there was no denying frontwoman Sturm had a certain presence (not to mention cuteness) to her. After a few minutes of the chaos that is Shadows Fall (a little closer up my ally with songs like “King of Nothing” and “Still I Rise”), Christian rockers Skillet blasted through several of their admirable well-known anthems like “Feel Invincible,” “Rise,” “Surviving the Game,” “Awake and Alive,” and “Hero,” it was time to catch one of the biggest draws of the entire festival for me…Max Cavalera and Soulfly.

I had seen his former band Sepultura a couple of times previously (most recently at last year’s Welcome to Rockville), but never with frontman Cavalera at the helm. So it was a blast finally hearing such epic tracks as “Bleed,” “Refuse/Resist,” “Jumpdafuckup,” and “Eye for an Eye” with Cavalera’s distinct voice over them (along with his son Zyon behind him on the drumkit to boot).

Max Cavalera and Soulfly on stage on Thursday, May 9 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

Next up was an even bigger favorite for me; Anthrax. I’ve seen them a handful of times prior as well (seems like each time with a different lineup), but this time bassist/former Rewind It interviewee Frank Bello was unable to attend, so the band enlisted none other than original bassist Dan Liker (also of S.O.D. and Nuclear Assault, among many others) to fill in for him on this tour for the first time in four decades.

I instantly felt like I was watching metal history as the opening notes of “Among the Living” kicked in and the guys absolutely slayed the stage! “Caught in a Mosh,” “Madhouse,” “Metal Thrashing Mad” (finally something off the first album live!), “Antisocial,” “A.I.R.,” “Got the Time,” and “Indians” all felt new again (no disrespect to Bello of course).

Metal legends Anthrax performing with original bassist Dan Liker for the first time in four decades on 5/9/24 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

A few more acts more in line with my son’s tastes than my own in the form of August Burns Red, Mudvayne, and Biohazard all followed before the mighty Judas Priest, who it had been nearly twenty years since the last time I saw them all the way back at Ozzfest in 2004 (not counting catching spinoff act KK’s Priest earlier this year). There just felt like there was something missing this time though unfortunately without both KK Downing and Glen Tipton handling guitar duties.

New tracks and classics alike in the form of “Panic Attack,” “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” “Rapid Fire,” “Breaking the Law,” “Lighting Strike,” “Love Bites,” “Sinner,” and even “Turbo Lover” (a nice welcomed addition that I don’t recall them playing back in ’04) were all heard before we were heading to the next act…Insane Clown Posse (which proved to be a mammoth mistake).

The sound during ICP’s set was beyond comprehension, and it was hard to even distinguish whether it was intentionally done, or just a major foul up (either way it was terrible). Needless to say it didn’t take us long to move on to the next one again.

And that next one this time was Disturbed. Those who know me know that I’ve never claimed to be a big nu metal fan by any means, but there are some bands in the genre I can tolerate more than others, with Disturbed no doubt being one of them. Opening with “Hey You,” the band must’ve been suffering from similar technical difficulties as ICP (though not quite as bad) as chants of “Fix the Sound!” could be clearly heard throughout the Speedway. But that didn’t stop the band from going through numbers like “Stupify,” Ten Thousand Fists,” “Prayer,” “Bad Man,” a cover of Genesis’ “Land of Confusion,” and “The Game.” But their cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” seemed like the perfect time to head on to the next act.

Enter Kerry King of Slayer, a man I’ve seen and even photographed on stage on more than one occasion over the years. After the two sub-par sets we had just witnessed, it was a total breath of fresh air of metal for sure. Hearing the 1986 classic “Raining Blood” live again, and new tracks like “From Hell I Rise” (all being sung by Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda and with former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel in tow as well, which were added bonuses for sure) was completely worthwhile.

Legendary Slayer guitarist Kerry King and his current “supergroup” that also includes Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda and ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel on Thursday, 5/9/24 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

It was while transferring from one stage to the next again that I could see Disturbed were not only still on, but had invited a female guest singer on stage with them. I would later come to find out that guest was none other than Ann Wilson of Heart Fame (the two parties share vocal duties on the track “Don’t Tell Me”); it was a moment I wish we had been fully aware was happening, though I’m still glad we witnessed what little of it that we actually did.

And finally, Motley Crue. There was a time when I genuinely loved Motley Crue, but unfortunately they have not aged all that gracefully. With this latest appearance, I’ve now seen them a total of four times since 2005, and it feels as though they are merely climbing further and further downhill (taking original guitarist Mick Mars out of the equation in favor of John 5 was not necessarily the right move for them, either).

After kicking things off with a rather embarrassing “Breaking News” segment, the band opened their set decently enough with a somewhat strong version of their 1991 single “Primal Scream.” But from then on, it was merely more of the same old situation (if you’ve seen Motley Crue once, you’ve seen them more than enough times) that included “Too Fast For Love,” “Wild Side,” “Shout at the Devil,” “Live Wire,” and “On with the Show.” By the time the guys got to “new” track “Dogs of War,” it felt like more than a signal to finally call it a night.

Motley Crue closing out the first night of Welcome to Rockville on Thursday, 5/9/24 (Photo By Jesse Striewski).

Day 2:

The second day day of the festival was admittedly the least interesting one to me. The first act Jacob and I would catch on this day was ’90s female rockers Kittie, who I can’t say I was ever really a fan of, though there was a small amount of curiosity to hear how tracks like “Brackish” would sound firsthand.

After that, there was a bit of downtime before the next band of interest, Russian deathcore act Slaughter to Prevail, was on. I had only really given their music a spin once or twice in the past (unlike my kid, a noted fan), but there was no denying the amount of energy they threw down. After them, it was on to the sounds of ’90s punks The Offspring (my third time seeing them live since 2009).

I’ve always held a small spot in my heart for The Offspring, although their views boarder on idiocy to me, and the unceremonious dismissals of both founding bassist Greg K and former drummer Pete Parada (the latter of which apparently getting the boot over not wanting to get vaccinated – again, sheer idiocy) were downright lame in my book. Still, there’s no denying the catchy-ness of songs like “Come Out and Play,” “All I Want,” “Want You Bad,” “Staring at the Sun,” “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” “Blitzkrieg Bop” (one of at least three bands to cover the overplayed Ramones anthem at Rockville this year), “Bad Habbit,” “Gotta Get Away,” “Why Don’t You Get a Job?,” “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You,” “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright.”

The Offspring performing at Welcome to Rockville on Friday, 5/10/24 (Photo By Jesse Striewski).

Next up were Falling in Reverse, and although former Escape the Fate frontman Ronnie Radke still maintains the same energy he did back when I first saw the band at Earthday Birthday in 2011, something just feels “missing” now. Whether it’s the numerous lineup changes since then, or the quality of the music itself that has since been released, it’s not as thrilling of an act as it might have once been. Still, there was no denying the crowd was eating up tracks like “Zombified,” “I’m Not a Vampire,” “Losing My Mind,” “Fuck You and All Your Friends,” “The Drug in Me Is You,” “Just Like You,” “Popular Monster,” “Voices in My Head,” “Ronald,” and “Watch the World Burn.”

It had been quite awhile since I last saw Faith No More frontman Mike Patton live on stage with the short-lived Tomahawk back in 2002, and I was really looking forward to hearing the legendary singer on stage again with an act as eclectic as Mr. Bungle. Although the band is not for everyone’s tastes, is was still a trip watching Patton belt out the likes of “Hell Awaits,” “True,” and “You Lose” (among many others) alongside former FNM bandmate Trey Spruance, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, and original Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.

Next up was singer/rapper Jelly Roll, who back when we first attended Rockville the first time in 2021 was one of the lower tier acts there (though I don’t recall actually seeing him at that time), but has since blown up to full headliner status. A cover of Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” was the first song I could hear emanating through the speakers while walking up. If for nothing more than sheer curiosity, we stuck it out long enough to hear tracks/hits like “Smoking Section,” “Same Asshole,” “The Hate Goes On,” “Bottle of Mary Jane,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Son of a Sinner,” and “Need a Favor” before going over to the last stage of the night for (I can’t believe I’m even saying it) Limp Bizkit.

Let me first start by saying I was never, not once a Limp Bizkit fan, ever (in fact, you might say I was even a “hater” back when they first emerged on the scene). But for whatever reason my kid is a fan, so I endured their set, all the way from the opening of “Break Stuff” to a cover of Riff Raff’s “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz” (can’t say I know that one!) with rapper Riff Raff himself. Even Jelly Roll made another appearance to help the band out on their cover of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes.” I still can’t say I’m a fan, but after seeing them live, I can see how some might find Fred Durst and company entertaining now.

Day 3:

Saturday the 11th was definitely another day for the books. We arrived just in time to catch the very last song of Mammoth WVH’s (former Van Halen bassist and the son of the late Eddie Van Halen’s project) final song. But it was okay considering he would make another appearance later on in the day (stay tuned).

Stone Temple Pilots are one of those ’90s bands that have alluded me for many years now (though I was lucky enough to catch late singer Scott Weiland live on stage with Velvet Revolver in both 2005 and 2007). Even without Weiland there, his presence could still be felt as songs like “Wicked Garden,” “Big Bang Baby,” “Vaseline,” “Crackerman,” “Big Empty,” “Plush,” “Interstate Love Song,” “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” and “Sex Type Thing” all echoed through the air that afternoon.

Primus were up next, and significantly more entertaining than the first time I saw them open for Tool back in 2016 (I knew it was a good sign as I walked up to the sounds of “Sgt. Baker” – my personal favorite by them – being played). More gems like “Here Come the Bastards,” “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver,” and “American Life” could be heard before it was time to move on to the next stage already.

Les Claypool and Primus rock Rockville on Saturday, 5/11/24 (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

Helmet are another one of those bands I can’t say I ever really got that into either, and the one and only time I saw them prior (back at the 2006 Warped Tour), they didn’t really leave much of an impression. The only noticeable difference I can recall between the two shows was that they actually played the track “Milquetoast” (from 1994’s The Crow soundtrack) this time around.

Same goes for the next act, A Day to Remember. While I’ve seen them a couple of times previously as well, nothing has really left that big of an impression on me. One could of course hear such “hits” of theirs that day, including “The Downfall of us All” and “All I Want,” for better or worse. Still, it was no worse than catching a glimpse of L7’s set, which had to be the most unappealing act of the entire festival, and I don’t recall seeing a single smiling face between the group or the crowd.

The next band Greta Van Fleet seemed like a talented enough bunch with their throwback sound to ’70s rock, though can’t say I’ve ever given their music much mind, either. But as if L7 weren’t unappealing enough, Queens of the Stone Age had to be the most boring act of them all (and I actually don’t mind some of the material frontman Josh Homme has been a part of as a member of Kyuss). Tracks like “Little Sister” and “Go with the Flow” had me wanting to go somewhere else indeed.

Finally, the mighty Foo Fighters took the stage, and I had finally felt like I had come full circle seeing a member of Nirvana live in the form of frontman Dave Grohl (not to mention touring guitarist Pat Smear, also known for his time with ’70s punks the Germs, among others). Aiding them behind the drumkit now in place of the late Taylor Hawkins was also Josh Freese of The Vandals, Nine Inch Nails, and Guns N’ Roses (just to name a few).

I had not actually planned to stay the entirety of their two-hour set that night, but circumstances out of my control kept me there until the very last note of the very last song, which in hindsight I’m actually glad I did despite my exhaustion. The band started off with a strong start in the form of “All My Life,” “No Son of Mine,” “Rescued,” “The Pretender,” “Times Like These,” “La Dee Day,” “Breakout,” “Medicine at Midnight,” and “Walk.”

The most interesting moments of the evening however came when some guitar and keyboard solos lead to the band goofing around and just having a good time. First via the Beastie Boys’ “Sabatage,” then some individual moments; Pat Smear returning to his punk rock roots via “Blitzkreig Bop” (again with that song!) and Josh Freese pounding out some Nine Inch Nails beats via “March of the Pigs.” But the best moment of them all came when Grohl tricked his audience into believing he was playing Van Halen’s “Eruption,” only for it to be revealed it was actually Wolfgang Van Halen behind the scenes throwing down his father’s old riffs (a little bit of “Hot For Teacher” was then played for good measure, too).

Wolfgang Van Halen makes a surprise appearance mid-way through the Foo Fighters’ set on 5/11/24 to play some classic Van Halen riffs (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

After finishing the shenanigans, the band got back to business with “My Hero,” “The Sky is a Neighborhood,” “Learn to Fly,” “Arlandria,” “These Days,” “Shame Shame,” “All My Life,” “Nothing at All,” “The Glass,” “Monkey Wrench,” “Aurora,” “Best of You,” “The Teacher,” and “Everlong” (and it was at that moment, watching my son skip off hand and hand with his girlfriend to be up close, that I knew every minute of this festival was worth it).

Day 4:

By the fourth and final day (coincidentally, Mother’s Day), I was ready for a long reprieve to say the least. But we soldiered on as true warriors of rock (because what else can we do?), and made it in time for former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach’s set. The first time I had ever seen Bach all the way back in 2006, my son was only about six months old at the time. So to finally have him share in on these songs like “18 & Life” some eighteen years later, was an especially cool moment for me as a father (ironically Bach’s son is now behind the drums in his father’s band much like Soulfly, too).

Opening “Bachville” (as he so dubbed it himself) with his latest track “What Have I Got to Lose?,” he quickly belted out the classics with “Slave to the Grind” (which found Bach and company briefly segwaying into Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” too), “Here I Am,” “18 & Life,” “Monkey Business,” “I Remember You,” and “Youth Gone Wild.”

A couple more on my son’s list of bands to see, Wage War and Enter Shikari, were up next before we made it over to see one of the very first bands I ever saw at a music festival (at the 1997 Ozzfest), Fear Factory. A lot has unfortunately changed within their personal too since then though, but it was still a blast from the past to hear the likes of “Demanufacture” again. The next act (Atreyu) was another one I’ve seen several times in the past (most recently in 2010), but due to numerous inner changes their music just doesn’t hit the same anymore as it once did (songs like “Right Side of the Bed” and “Ex’s and Oh’s” just don’t have the same effect without ex-singer Alex Varkatzas screaming on them).

Sum 41 rock Daytona for possibly their last time ever on 5/12/24 as part of their final tour (Photo by Jesse Striewski).

About one or two songs each (about all that was needed) for Breaking Benjamin and Black Veil Brides followed before catching Sum 41 for their “final” tour. Another band I caught once upon a time at my first Vans Warped Tour back in 2001 (then once more in 2009, ironically with The Offspring), it may have been somewhat tolerable hearing tracks like “Motivation” and “The Hell Song” live one more time had it not been for the hordes of people clamoring to catch one last glimpse of them.

And then there’s Evanescence, a band I once saw at the height of their prime back in 2004, and another band that has gone through their own share of changes since then. But one thing is for certain, the voice of lead singer Amy Lee has not changed one bit, and is as strong as ever on tracks like “Going Under,” “Better Without You,” “Call Me When You’re Sober,” “Imaginary,” “Use My Voice,” and “Bring Me to Life” (their closer, which sounded odd this time without the “rapping” segment actually done right this time).

Amy Lee and Evanescence perform on the final night of Rockville on Sunday, 5/12/24 (Photo By Jacob Striewski).

By the time Slipknot hit the stage (this time wearing “throwback” masks from the late ’90s), I was ready to call it a night/weekend/all of the above. “(515),” “People = Shit,” “Eyeless,” “Disasterpiece,” “Custer,” and “Psychosocial” were more than enough to hear before doing just that, finally. I can’t say for certain whether or not this might be my last major music festival like this (this old man is definitely starting to feel his age for sure), but should it be, I’d say it was a high enough note to go out on.