The Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival made its debut at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, OH over the weekend. The festival which has taken the place of Rock on The Range featured some of the top touring acts spread over three days. In comparison to Epicenter or Welcome to Rockville, Sonic Temple’s layout is featured around the Columbus Crew’s soccer stadium with the main stage being located in the stadium and two smaller stages located outside of the stadium. In my opinion, this makes for a much better setup for the fan vs the setups of the other festivals in terms of being able to get to and see more band performances.
Many fans had questions in regards to how this newly named festival would compare to what they had grown accustomed to with Rock on The Range. Seeing many posts about the festival on Facebook afterwards I think fans were in agreement that the layout and some tweaks to the festival grounds made it much easier to get from stage to stage, as well as to the many areas set up for food and merchandise. In terms of the art portion of the festival, large murals and paintings were spread across the festival grounds but what fans came to town for was the music portion of the festival which featured names like System of A Down, Ghost, Disturbed, Papa Roach, and Foo Fighters as just some of the acts set to perform.
With any festival, there are plenty of things fans can take in while taking a break from the music. Sonic Temple offered fans something a little different then most festivals with the artwork of Brian, Ewing, Lauren YS, Pale Horse, Ricky Watts, and Sean Dietrich spread throughout the festival grounds. Other offerings to the fans were the F.Y.E Fan Experience where fans could purchase vinyls and CDs from the bands performing over the weekend as well as opportunities to have the artists sign the items. The Jack Daniels Experience and the Big Bourbon Bar which served fans plenty of mixed cocktail options. The Music Experience which showcased some of the newest music gear as well as also offered artist signings over the weekend. Monster Energy was also on site giving out free Monster Energy drinks and offering fans a raised viewing deck of the Echo Stage. Another highlight of the festival was the Zippo Acoustic Sessions that featured some of the bands who performed over the weekend.
Day one of the sold out three day festival saw acts like, Badflower, Avatar, Badwolves, Parkway Drive, Black Label Society, Tom Morello who closed out the Wave Stage, Halestorm, Meshuggah who closed out the Echo Stage, Ghost, and System of a Down who wrapped up the days events on the Monster Energy Main Stage. Over in the Sirius XM Comedy Tent fans could take in a special spoken word event by Tom Morello and Henry Rollins.
Day two was another packed day with things getting started on the side stages around 12:30. Fever 333 brought their always energy filled set to the main stage with vocalist Jason Butler wasting no time taking to the crowd as he went up into the stadium seats to interact with fan and again later in the set crowd surfing while sitting in a large road case. There was no shortage of energy over on the side stages as bands like While She Sleeps, Movements, The Black Dahlia Murder, Don Broco, and Architects took to the stage early in the day. Back over on the main stage, Gojira took to the stage with a set filled with plenty of pyro. Randy Blythe of Lamb of God joined the guys on stage for “Backbone.” A freak accident involving guitarist Christian Andreu during “Stranded” caused a bit of a scare when the wind blew the flames from some of the pyro onto him. After a short exit from the stage, he was able to return to the stage and finish the set. In This Moment played a very short five-song set on the main stage while Killswitch Engage got the crowds moving over on the Echo Stage. Action Bronson was unable to make it to the festival and close out the Wave Stage due to an injury. The rest of the day wrapped up with The Cult wrapping up the Echo Stage for the day and sets by Lamb of God, Papa Roach, and Disturbed closing out the main stage. The Sirius XM Comedy Tent was closed out by comedic legend Andrew Dice Clay who also returned later in the day to the main stage for a quick set before Disturbed took to the stage.
Day three saw high winds which caused the closure of the Wave Stage for the day as well as the threat of thunderstorms for the afternoon. Amigo the Devil brought his style of what could be considered ‘murder folk’ to the main stage. Both Palaye Royale, YUNGBLUD, The Interupters both put on shows that fans shouldn’t have missed over on the Echo Stage. The Struts were able to get their set in on the main stage before the the high winds cause the floor of Mapfre Stadium to have to be evacuated. Over on the Echo Stage The Hives decided to still take to the stage and put on a great set with severe weather looking in the background. Before Chevelle were to take to the main stage the weather won out as severe storms passed over the festival grounds resulting in a roughly two-hour evacuation. Both Chevelle, and Bring Me The Horizon had to cancel their sets, but Joan Jett and The Blackhearts were able to close out the Echo Stage after the storms passed. With the evacuation comedian, Pauly Shore was unable to perform for the day but did make it out to the main stage to introduce the festival headliners, Foo Fighters who dedicated the song “My Hero” to Pauley’s father who had passed away the day before. The guys went on to play a seventeen song set featuring hits like, “All My Life,” “Learn to Fly,’ “The Pretender,” “Monkey Wrench,” and ended with “Everlong.”
