A few months ago we posted about Rock ‘N Derby, a three-day concert and demolition derby camping event, that will take place from May 20th to May 22nd at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds in Schagticoke, NY. Recently the festival announced additional artists to the lineup including Hollywood Undead and State Champs among others!
Those interested in attending the festival can click here for a breakdown on ticket information, camping prices and all other additional information! The updated lineup by date can be found below!
We spoke with Austin natives, Fire From The Gods, about their experience at South By So What?!, The Alumni Tour, and the best advice they’ve been given! Below is our interview with vocalist, AJ Channer!
You guys are actually
from Austin, TX, so South By So What?! is almost like a hometown show for you
guys. Was there any pressure in putting together a better performance because
of this? The show totally felt like a hometown
show. There were so many bands on the bill that we have played with on the
past. We each had to step it up when we played in front of our friends as well
the folks from Texas that know the music but haven’t seen fire live!
For those that aren’t aware, Fire From The Gods was chosen to join The Alumni
Tour from over 1000 unsigned bands. Can you tell us a little about the tour and
what your reaction was to learning that you guys had been chosen as the tours
headliner? It was a huge honour. We played the
first leg of the Alumni tour earlier this year so we were pumped to play the
2nd leg as well. We have been involved in the headbang program for about a year
now and there are some incredible local artist involved in the headbang set up.
So it was huge for us to get the slot.
What act were you most excited to catch at South By So What?! and did they meet
your expectations? Oh man there were a lot of bands I
wanted to see all weekend but I was most stoked for Norma Jean and Beartooth. Perfect blend of heavy with
hardcore roots.
You guys are all about diversity and not fitting into any cookie-cutter mold,
which definitely plays a role into how successful you guys have been thus far.
Everyone has a different way of defining how and when they make it, whether it’s
a radio single or playing sold-out shows. How do you measure your success? We are pumped on everything right now
as well as all the buzz surrounding the band.
We are still just scratching surface with a lot more to go. Diversity is
a huge part of fire from the gods but we will see in a few years where the
sound is and how that impacts our success.
The list of performers you have played alongside is extremely impressive and
includes acts such as Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Of Mice and Men, The Devil
Wears Prada, Five Finger Death Punch, etc. What is the best advice that one of
those bands has given you? Great question. Chris met Corey
Taylor at Knotfest and he told Chris to just smile and wave. Most of the dudes
you meet in bigger bands always say the same thing stay humble and stay busy.
HELLYEAH, Volbeat and Five Finger Death Punch The Baltimore Arena – Baltimore, MD Thursday, September 25th 2014
Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat’s arena tour made it’s way to Baltimore Thursday for a night full of hard rock and metal. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch Nothing More’s set so my night started with the legendary HELLYEAH. Big cheers greeted the band as they arrived on stage, especially for former Pantera drummer, Vinnie Paul.
HELLYEAH wasted no time in getting the crowd energized. The screaming vocals from singer, Chad Gray, were a perfect match to the heavy sounds coming from the rest of the band. It was no surprise that there were mosh pits going on throughout most of their set. Their finale song was their self-titled track “Hellyeah”. Most of the crowd sang along with every word which ended their set on a high note. For more photos of HELLYEAH, check out our photo album over on our Facebook, here!
An uproar of noise erupted when Volbeat walked onto the stage with fans holding metal horns in the air. Vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen, was humbled by the reception and smiled as he went right into playing “Doc Holiday”. With more crowd-surfing than at any other point in the night, the adrenaline level was through the roof.
At one point Poulsen dove offstage and crowd-surfed to deliver a 9 year old boy a t-shirt while the rest of Volbeat played him on. He then invited all of the kids in the audience to join the band on stage. There ended up being around 20 little rockers on stage, heads banging and fists pumping. Poulsen even put his guitar over the shoulder of a little boy, standing behind him and assisting in playing the notes.
After the kids came off stage Poulsen asked the audience if they’d like to hear some of the new material they’ve been working on. The crowd cheered in excitement. Volbeat played only a snippet of a new song which left the audience eager for more. I didn’t realize the amount of radio hits Volbeat has put together. Their live show brings it all to life with a full and passionate delivery.
The lights dimmed and the arena built up with anticipation for Five Finger Death Punch to come on stage. Drummer, Jeremy Spencer, entered first, decked out in a full skeleton bodysuit that lit up with an array of colors. The rest of the band followed behind him shortly after and broke right into “Under and Over It” which set the tone for what would be a “loud and heavy” closing act.
Like Volbeat, FFDP also invited the kids from the audience to come on stage for part of their most well known songs, “Burn MF”. Considering the lyrics of the song, I found it kind of funny yet wrong all at the same time, but their parents must have known what they were getting into when they came to the show.
The kids and the band cleared the stage, leaving drummer Jeremy Spencer alone behind his enormous kit. Spencer wailed on the drums for a thrashing four-minute solo. The crowd was enthralled with his performance as many fans recored it on their phones. During the encore FFDP played an acapella version of "Far From Home,” which was followed by “The Way of the Fist.” The set ended with their hit “The Bleeding,” to close out the night.
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