Fort Rock Takes Over Fort Myers

By on April 25, 2013

Jacoby Shaddix, Papa Roach (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

Veteran rockers and upcoming new bands came to the inaugural Fort Rock Festival in Fort Myers on Sunday April 14. This was 2013’s largest hard rock festival in Southwest Florida, brought to us by 99X, AEG Live & Monster Energy, and from the looks of the attendance and crowd reaction, it was a huge success.  Fourteen bands performed and co-headlining the show was Three Doors Down and The Offspring. While Three Doors Down and The Offspring put on solid performances, the two bands that stole the show were Stone Sour and Otherwise.

Stone Sour is fronted by Corey Taylor of Slipknot fame. Stone Sour is the group that Taylor started prior to Slipknot, which has released 5 studio albums, and is are currently touring in support of the two-part concept release, “House of Gold & Bones.”   If you haven’t seen Stone Sour or Corey Taylor when he is fronting Slipknot, get up to Jacksonville this weekend to the Welcome to Rockville Festival.   There will be over forty bands performing, including several of the bands that played at the Fort Rock Fest.

Corey Taylor, Stone Sour (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

From the opening notes of “Gone Sovereign” to the finale “ 30/30 150,” the crowd was in a frenzy and engaged  throughout every note especially during the Alice in Chains cover” Nutshell” combined with Stone Sour’s hit “Bother.”  Taylor’s performance showed why he is at the top of his craft and has been sought after by many artists for collaborations on their studio tracks.

The surprise performance of the day was by Las Vegas’ own Otherwise. Otherwise’s early success began after Sirius/XM’s DJ, Jose Mangin, saw them perform and was so impressed by the band that he immediately added their rock anthem, “Soldiers,” into regular rotation on Sirius/XM’s Radio’s Octane channel.   “Soldiers” became the first track by an unsigned artist to ever occupy the No. 1 spot on the Sirius/XM Radio’s Octane channel.  Otherwise was finally signed by Century Media Records in December of 2012.

Otherwise performs with non-stop energy and engages the crowd like they are a part of this band of brothers. Otherwise is fronted by Adrian Patrick and we will have more on this band next week as we will sit down with them for an interview at the Welcome to Rockville Festival.

Other bands in attendance on the Monster Energy main stage were Papa Roach, Volbeat, Danko Jones, & Pop Evil.

“A Warrior’s Call” Anders Kjolhold, Volbeat (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

(Expanded photo slideshow by Travis Failey below)

Papa Roach are seasoned veteran performers and main stream hit-makers. They broke out with their debut release in 1999 with the singles “Last Resort” and “Broken Home” and recently with “Still Swinging” & “Where do the Angles Go?”  I was never a huge fan of this band until now. I’m a sucker for live performances and Papa Roach’s performance made me go out and but some of the releases.

Volbeat is new on the U.S. Rock seen from Copenhagen and have come on like gang busters. They have been all over rock radio and have a new veteran guitar player in former Anthrax axe-man Rob Caggiano.

Maria Brink, In This Moment (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

(Expanded photo slideshow by Travis Failey below)

Opening with the hit “A Warriors Call,” Volbeat proved that they are where they are because they are a talented group that can write anthems.  I do not doubt that this band from Demark, Volbeat,  will be on the main stage for years to come.

Danko Jones is a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John ‘JC’ Calabrese (bass guitar) and Atom Willard (drums). These guys have been going strong since 1996 and are going out on tour with Volbeat and Spoken and their song “Just a Beautiful Day” has been getting frequent spins on Sirius/XM Radio’s Octane channel.

Chris Howirth, In This Moment (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

Pop Evil was formed in Michigan around 2001 and they have been releasing hits since 2008. Tracks “Hero”, “Last Man Standing,” and “Monster You Made” have provided this band with the opportunity to open for music legends, Whitesnake and Judas Priest and more recent headliners, Five Finger Death Punch and Killswitch Engage.

Even though Pop Evil has had their share of label issues, their most recent single “Trenches” should provide them with the stability they have been striving for years.  Give this band a listen, they are talented.

The Jagermeister Stage was headlined by Escape The Fate, In this Moment and David Draiman’s new project, Device.  Other than a few technical issues, Device sounded good. We caught up with him on this tour. The interview in its entirety can be found at https://www.rocketsports-ent.com/david-draiman-recharges-with-device/.

David Draiman with the new gig, Device (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

In This Moment is fronted by an enigmatic female vocalist that sings as well as she performs.  Maria Brink and Chris Howorth founded the band in L.A. in 2005, and have put out four albums up to this point.  Their most recent release, Blood, has taken this band to stardom in this genre and they are now playing all the major rock music festivals this summer.  Their live performance is memorable. The pictures below speak for themselves.

It was a hot Florida day, but the support staff did a great job, along with the team from Monster Energy, to make sure people were hydrated.

The Fort Rock Festival at Jet Blue in Fort Myers was a huge success, not only because of the musicians and performances that were given, but the fans came out in droves to support the music and the bands that they love.

(photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

(photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

Jim Root, Stone Sour (Travis Failey /RSEN)

Rob Caggiano & Anders Kjolhold, Volbeat (Travis Failey /RSEN)

Tobin Esperance, Papa Roach (Travis Failey / RSEN)

Tony Palermo, Papa Roach (photo Travis Failey / RSEN)

Full Slide Show by Travis Failey
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