This year, Montebello Rockfest celebrated it’s 13th birthday with some of the biggest names in music. Joining the 3-day celebration, were acts such as Five Finger Death Punch, Prophets of Rage and Weezer. Like Rockfest tradition, the small town of Montebello was transformed into party central. Cars lined the streets for miles, while tents and makeshift campsites were set up wherever space could be found. Along the main road in front of the festival gates, vendors set up shop for the entire weekend selling food, shirts, and basically everything else imaginable.
The party officially kicked off on Thursday the 14th in the mid afternoon. Fans were treated to a wide variety of musical acts throughout the day, like in previous years. The festival is called Rockfest, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t party with a little rap and hip hop. DJ Yella, of NWA, was one of those out of the ordinary artists and had no trouble getting everyone on their feet waving their hands in the air. Joining the lineup on Thursday, was festival founder Alex Martel’s own band, Deadly Apples. Deadly Apples, alongside other bands such as We Came As Romans and A Day To Remember helped bring back the “rock” in Rockfest. The first night came to a close with Five Finger Death Punch who took the stage when the clock struck midnight. While it was a long day for many, Canada knows how to party well into the night and gave the guys in FFDP all the energy they could have hoped for.
As the weather warmed up on Friday, so did the bands. The combination of a hot summer day, beer and metal doesn’t get much better. Bands like Every Time I Die, drew massive crowds in the early afternoon. Celtic rock was also in full effect on Saturday, with two of the biggest bands in the genre taking the Budweiser Stage, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys. On the opposite side of the spectrum, some of the heaviest bands on the bill took the stage Friday afternoon. Groups such as Suicide Silence, Cannibal Corpse and Dimmu Borgir all got the circle pits going and the crowd surfers coming over the barricade. Day 2 ended with a trio of heavy hitting rock bands, Godsmack, Stone Temple Pilots and Prophets of Rage. Godsmack have been on the road supporting their latest release, When Legends Rise, brought all the bells and whistles on stage. Sully and the rest of the gang packed the stage with all the pyro and fireworks imaginable. Stone Temple Pilots, who took the Budweiser Prohibition Stage as soon as Godsmack ended, came out with something to prove to Montebello. Touring for the first time with new singer Jeff Gutt, the band was there to show fans that they still have what it takes. It didn’t take long to realize that Gutt is the real deal and STP has found the right piece to keep the band firing on all cylinders. With temperatures cooling down, Prophets of Rage took the stage to keep the crowd moving. The group, consisting of all members of Rage Against The Machine minus vocalist Zack de la Rocha, DJ Lord and Chuck D of Public Enemy and rapper B-Real from Cypress Hill, gave Montebello a mix of everything from their respective catalogs. The show, which was politically fueled, came to the surprise of no one. Tom Morello, lead guitarist of the group, took time throughout the show to share his known thoughts on the U.S. President and used this to fuel the crowd.
The 3rd and final day of Montebello Rockfest saw a huge mix of bands once again. The stages seemed to never keep the same genre for long. The Used and All Time Low were some of the first bands to hit the Budweiser Stage in the afternoon but things quickly shifted with Municipal Waste taking the Prohibition Stage shortly after. After the circle pits and thrash head-banging, the crowd was shifted back over to Jimmy Eat World, at the main stage. Some of the crowd was set at the stage of their choice to get up front for the bands they truly wanted to see, but there was still a sea of people flocking from stage to stage. After Jimmy Eat World ended, things were pedal to the metal, literally. This is where Atreyu, Lamb of God and Motionless In White went back to back to back. Atreyu was absolutely phenomenal while performing on stage, baking under the hot sun. Lamb of God, who flew up from Florida that morning on a private jet, was the one of the most hyped bands of the weekend. There’s a reason why Rockfest reached out and did everything they could to get Randy Blythe back on that stage. When LOG stepped on stage, it was all systems go. The circle pits were mammoth, crowd surfers weren’t stopping and Randy Blythe absorbed all that energy. Before ending the show with “Laid To Rest” and “Redneck,” Randy got the crowd hyped for Steel Panther, who were scheduled for later in the evening. He let every guy know that their girlfriends would leave pregnant and dedicated “Laid To Rest” to the guys in Steel Panther. This gave everyone at Rockfest a good laugh. Next, Motionless In White took the stage with “Necessary Evil,” a track which featured Jonathan Davis of Korn, but unfortunately, there were no special guests for this performance. The rest of set consisted heavily of tracks off their last album, Graveyard Shift, which sounds ridiculous live. For those who haven’t seen Motionless take the stage at a massive festival vs a small club show, you’re missing out.
Montebello Rockfest ended with the hysterical combo of Steel Panther and Tenacious D alongside Weezer, capping off the weekend. Steel Panther, who seemed to have a lot of dedicated fans camping on the rail, loved the crowd in Montebello. Michael Starr and Satchel made sure all the lights were on so they could check out the chicks in the crowd. The jokes continued on the other stage afterwards with Tenacious D. Jack Black and Kyle Gass were back at Montebello Rockfest once again. The two of them kicked the show off with “Kielbasa,” “Kickapoo,” and “Low Hangin’ Fruit.” Throughout the set, they took time to talk to the fans in Canada and shared a laugh when they both caught site of someone wearing a shirt that read, “Jesus Sucks, Satan Swallows.” To carry on with the sex theme, Tenacious D ended the night with their classic “Fuck Her Gently.” Year 13 of Rockfest was concluded with headliner Weezer, who dished out hit after hit. Right out of the gate it was “Buddy Holly,” “Beverly Hills,” and “Hash Pipe.” Thrown into the set was Weezer’s newest cover, “Africa” by Toto. Unfortunately after Weezer finished, the post Rockfest blues kicked in. Thousands of fans slowly walked down the road, dragging their feet heading back to their tents and cars.
