More than 426,000 fans came out for the 2015 World’s Loudest Month festivals across the U.S. between April 25 and May 30, breaking last year’s attendance record and solidifying the significance of rock and metal music in America.
Created by AEG Live, Danny Wimmer Presents and RockHouse Presents, The World’s Loudest Month features the biggest names in rock music performing in eight distinct U.S. concert atmospheres in April and May.
In addition to the established festivals taking place in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri, the World’s Loudest Month creators introduced Northern Invasion in 2015, a one day, multi-stage camping festival just outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.
“Every year we try to raise the bar for the rock fans around the country with the World’s Loudest Month festivals, and every year those dedicated fans rise to the challenge,” comments Joe Litvag of AEG Live. “We find it incredibly gratifying that while many may say that rock isn’t cool or hip, hundreds of thousands of loyal rock enthusiasts and hundreds of rock performers would disagree. The numbers are growing each year and speak for themselves, and we are so grateful to the fans, artists and sponsors who continue to support this underserved genre year after year. If ‘rock ‘n’ roll is dead’ as they say, you could’ve fooled me!”
“Over the past several years there has been an explosion of music festivals in the United States, making it clear that festivals have become a significant force in the American music culture,” says Danny Wimmer of Danny Wimmer Presents. “While this growth is exciting, it puts pressure on organizers to find ways to differentiate their events. By creating the WLM as an association of individual festivals, we have been able to globally celebrate the rock culture but also highlight the uniqueness of each event through the curation of local cuisine, craft breweries and distilleries. The music always comes first, but expanding the non-musical entertainment offering of each festival has also been a key focus. Whether it’s adding a custom food village, a comedy tent, a tequila world or new activation partners like the Jacksonville Jaguars, each festival continues to find its own personality. What is most exciting to me are the things we have on the drawing board for the future.”
Rockville
Here’s a summary of the 2015 World’s Loudest Month festival series:
Monster Energy Welcome To Rockville (April 25 & 26, Jacksonville, FL)
www.WelcomeToRockvilleFestival.com
After expanding into the adjacent EverBank Field grounds, Monster Energy Welcome To Rockville drew a record crowd of 50,000 for the fifth anniversary of Florida’s Biggest Rock Festival, held April 25 & 26 at Jacksonville, Florida’s scenic Metropolitan Park along the St. Johns River. The festival’s band lineup included Slipknot, Korn, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Ministry, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, Of Mice & Men, and many more. Monster Energy Welcome To Rockville featured performances from over 50 bands, Tequila World, a ferris wheel, art installations, a diverse food selection, wine tasting, a DJ, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Ultimate Rock-N-Jock Experience and other onsite activities, and even grape stomping.
Monster Energy Fort Rock (April 25, Fort Myers, FL)
For the third straight year, tickets were sold out at Monster Energy Fort Rock, Saturday, April 25 at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, FL. With 14,000 in attendance, South Florida’s Biggest Rock Festival featured performances from Slipknot, Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, In This Moment, The Pretty Reckless, and more.
Monster Energy Carolina Rebellion (May 2 & 3, Concord, NC)
80,000 fans were in attendance for the fifth annual Monster Energy Carolina Rebellion, May 2 & 3, 2015 at Rock City Campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway just outside Charlotte, NC. Tickets sold out in advance for the Mid-Atlantic’s Biggest Rock Festival, which featured performances from Slipknot, Korn (marking a highly-anticipated return to Carolina Rebellion after their on-stage reunion with guitarist Head in 2012), Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Rise Against, Sammy Hagar & The Circle (Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham & Vic Johnson), Breaking Benjamin, and many more top rock bands.
Motionless In White at Northern Invasion
Photo – Scott Uchida
Northern Invasion (May 9, Somerset, WI)
Tickets sold out three weeks in advance for the first-ever Northern Invasion–the newest addition to the World’s Loudest Month festival series–Saturday, May 9 at Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, WI, just outside the Twin Cities. The new rock and camping festival had 25,000 fans on-hand and featured an unbelievable first-year lineup headlined by global rock juggernauts Slipknot, with a roster of rock heavyweights including Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Three Days Grace, Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, In This Moment, Anthrax, Falling In Reverse, Motionless In White, Young Guns, Thousand Foot Krutch, We Are Harlot, Starset and Crobot.
Rock On The Range (May 15-17, Columbus, OH)
Rock On The Range–America’s premier hard rock festival–wrapped its ninth year with 120,000 in attendance for the three-day rock festival held May 15, 16 and 17 at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, OH. Festival attendees came from all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, as well as countries including the UK, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. Tickets for Rock On The Range were sold out in advance for the third year in a row, this year selling out one month before the festival. Those who were not able to attend America’s biggest rock festival in person were able to tune in to live music’s top cable channel, AXS TV–the official ROTR broadcast partner–to see various performances and band interviews throughout the festival weekend. Rock On The Range generated an estimated economic impact of approximately $25 million for the Columbus, OH region in 2015. The cumulative economic impact for ROTR since its inception in 2007 is approximately $140 million.
Rocklahoma (May 22-24, Pryor, OK)
60,000 fans were in attendance for the ninth Rocklahoma–America’s Biggest Memorial Day Weekend Party featuring the best current active rock artists and classic bands–at “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds. Presented by Bud Light, Rocklahoma featured not-to-be-missed performances from bands including Tesla, Godsmack, Slayer, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Halestorm, Queensrÿche, Anthrax, Ministry, and many more. The three-day camping festival featured music on three stages each day. In addition, the campground stage hosted performances during the Thursday night campground party and during the weekend. 2015 marked the first national ReverbNation Rocklahoma Battle Of The Bands contest.
Maria Brinks Wonderland on the main stage with Papa Roach
photo by Rob Fenn
River City Rockfest (May 24, San Antonio, TX)
2015 marked the biggest audience yet for River City Rockfest, with 27,500 in attendance for the festival’s third year. River City Rockfest featured performances from Linkin Park, Volbeat, Papa Roach, Halestorm, In This Moment, Anthrax, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, In Flames, We Are Harlot, Upon A Burning Body and Crobot.
Rockfest (May 30, Kansas City, MO)
Tickets were sold out with 50,000 in attendance for the 23rd year of Rockfest at Penn Valley Park in downtown Kansas City. This marked the eighth consecutive year with over 50,000 in attendance for America’s largest one-day music festival, which included performances by Rob Zombie, Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, Anthrax, Volbeat, Papa Roach and Kansas City’s own Tech N9ne.