ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)
ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL

There is a new festival on the East Coast, one that really had an eclectic lineup, and I did not want to miss it.  Fortunately, I was released from the hospital on the afternoon of the 10th and proceeded to find out how to get to Atlantic City.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until the next day, and I missed the first night of the festival.

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Friday night was Tribute night with bands like East Side Steven and The Asbury Jacks, a Bon Scott era, AC/DC tribute band.  From Ohio, is The Four Horsemen, a highly respected Metallica tribute band.  What was nice to see was the headlining spot being New York’s Ozzmosis, one of the best Ozzy Osbourne tribute bands around.  It was a shame that I missed it, but from what I was told by a few friends who were there, all three bands really kicked ass.

Saturday

Saturday was the day I was really looking forward to, what I was not looking forward to, was that due to the threat of storms throughout the weekend, it had been moved indoors.  At least The Showboat had the facilities inside to do this.  The main stage was being held in what was once the House of Blues, and the Beast stage in a large room next door.

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)

Pierced

The festivities started off with a New Jersey band, Pierced.  Bringing a really heavy vibe and sound, that they refer to as combat metal, especially considering today’s main stage show was mostly 80s rock bands.  With a Pantera/Metallica feel to their music they did get the crowd primed for what was to come.

PIERCED OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

On the Beast stage throughout the day were other bands and even Midget Wrestling!  Bands like Who On Earth (FACEBOOK), Kamenar (FACEBOOK) Black Dawn (FACEBOOK) Check them out!  They all sounded great when I was able to poke my head into the Beast Stage area!

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)

Doro

A quick little saunter over to the main stage and I was able to get in position for one of the bands I was really looking forward to this weekend, the Queen of Metal, Doro Pesch!!  Unleashing a condensed version of her usual headbanging headlining setlist, she had the crowd eating of her hands as Tommy Bolan ferociously fed us guitar with Johnny Dee pounding out the time and Bill Hudson (guitar) and Nick Douglas (Bass) bringing it all together.  Doro never disappoints with classics like “East meets West”, “I Rule the Ruins”, and of course “All We Are”. A few other tunes were in the mix also like “Earth Shaker Rock” “Raise Your Fist” and a couple more as she dominated the front of the stage reaching out towards her crowd.

DORO OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)Slaughter

Following her on the main stage was another band from the late 80s that I have been a fan of since I first heard them working with one of the more Eclectic? Eccentric? Ace Frehley replacements in Kiss.  I wonder how often he kicks himself in the ass when He hears Slaughter?  There are so few singers from then that have such a distinctive voice, Mark Slaughter along with Dana Strum (bass), Jeff Blando (guitar) and drummer Blas Elias hit the stage with an energy that rivalled Doro‘s.  With Mark taking center stage and Dana prowling the boards to his right and Jeff staked out on the left.  Another short 45-minute set, just enough of their greatest hits to tease us, opening with “Mad About You” and closing with their signature song, “Up All Night” They showed us why they are still a very in-demand touring band.

SLAUGHTER OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL (Blog Review and Photos)Great White

What can I say about the next band…? This is the first time I have seen this version of Great White (the Mark Kendall version) and with their new singer, Andrew Freeman of Last in Line.  I was really looking forward to this.  Once more a band hit the stage ready to kick ass, with Andrew taking control and prowling the stage, Mark Kendall (guitar) hanging out on his left and to his right Michael Lardie (Keyboards, Guitar) and Scott Snyder (bass) bring it all together in the background was Audie Desbrow on drums.  I know people what people are thinking, and to be honest, Andrew did a great job with these songs and the band sounded great.  The crowd sang along to all their great hits, “Desert Moon“, “House of Broken Love“, “Once Bitten“, “Twice Shy“, “Rock Me“, “Lady Red Light” and my favourite “Mista Bone“.  I hope to see them again.

GREAT WHITE OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Stephen Pearcy

My head was spinning “Round and Round” when Stephen Pearcy, the front man for Ratt came on stage next.  This was another high-energy set with Stephen pacing back and forth along the front of the stage and a crowd loving that dip back into the early 80s with songs like “Round and Round“, “Wanted Man“, “Lack of Communication“, joining him on stage were some familiar names, Scottie Coogan on drums, Erik Ferentinos on guitar, Johnny Monaco on guitar and Jerry Montano on bass.  The crowd loved them and every word to every song was sung along by the crowd.

GREAT WHITE OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

The tone started to change a bit with the next band.

Hinder

The stage opened up as the gear from Stephen Pearcy was taken off and the setup for Hinder started.  Personally, I like Hinder, but I was somewhat perplexed by grouping them with the acts that have been on the stage so far.  The lights went down and the crowd once again erupted as the guys took to the stage, JoeBlowerGarvey and Mark King on guitars, Mike Rodden on bass, Cody Hanson on drums, with Marshall Dutton holding the microphone.  With everyone dressed in white and Marshall sporting an orange tie, they hands down won the best-dressed band of the night!  Marshall was all over that stage!  Spinning, singing, reaching out towards the crowd, showing off for Atlantic City this evening.  The output of every band so far this weekend was spectacular.  They played almost non-stop, with almost no breaks for chatting with the crowd as they played songs like, “Up All Nite“, “Get Stoned“, “How Long” and so many more of their most popular songs.

HINDER OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Chevelle

The day was coming to end, and that meant it was time for Chevelle to come to the stage, Hailing from my home state of Illinois (no I don’t still live there lol) coming to the stage was drummer Sam Loeffler and he started warming up the crowd as his brother and guitarist and vocalist Pete Loeffler and bassist Kemble Walters beelined for their mic stands.  The set started off with “Family System” as they were covered in blue light, not moving far from their mic stands they exuded a presence that was almost ethereal as they whipped their heads and stalked around their sides of the stage.  Followed by “Strait-Jacket Fashion” and “Roswell’s Spell” the tone was set for the evening, with a full setlist of their most popular songs, like “The Red”, “Send The Pain Below”, “Mars Simula” and so much more.

CHEVELLE OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

It was the perfect end to day one, and time to recover.

Sunday

Sunday was a bit of a blustery day with rain on and off all morning and I was happy that this event had been moved indoors.  As I walked into the venue, I was told their were some changes to the set times and it was starting earlier…..

Corvid Corpus

The day started off with a group of young men calling themselves Corvid Corpus on the Beast Stage, consisting of Nick Vulpi on guitar and also vocals, Mason Brake on guitar, Ray Hurley on bass and also Hunter Langlois on drums.  Really full of energy and all over the stage these kids sounded good and put on a decent set.

CORVID CORPUS OFFICIAL FACEBOOK

Meanwhile back at the Main stage……

Sekond Skyn

Sekond Skyn took to the stage and started the day off on the main stage. A hard rock outfit out of Ocean County New Jersey, comprised of Jesse Shar on vocals, Mark Monjoy and Zack Miranowic on guitars with Brian Jennings on bass and Tommy Spano on drums. Setting the tone for the day and warming up a growing crowd for the next artist to hit the stage….. John 5.  It was a pleasure to watch Jesse on vocals as his emotions really showed thru and the intensity of the band was amazing as they worked the crowd.

SEKOND SKYN OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Every new festival has to go thru some growing pains, and with this one we had to endure some technical issues with the main stage and it took longer for John 5 to hit the stage…..

Whiskey Grin

So in the meantime, I headed back over to the Beast stage and caught some of Whiskey Grin.  I have seen these guys before and I really enjoyed their set.  A really good hard rock n roll band with a bit of blues-infused into it.  Guitarist Jim Mayberry along with bassist and lead vocalist John Tidwell and drummer Dreem rounding out this power trio.  Constantly playing around New Jersey and the Philly area, I do recommend catching!

WHISKEY GRIN OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

John 5

The crowd in the Main Stage area was growing larger with every minute with the anticipation of John 5 hitting the stage soon.  As bassist Ian Ross and drummer Alejandro Mercado took to the stage in darkness, John slowly came out in a mask and the amazing lava guitar, and the evening’s festivities really began! Ian skulked around his side of the stage while John melted the faces off of everyone in the crowd.  Alejandro kept the beat going as John 5 switched guitar to mandolin to banjo.  Cementing his talent in one hell of a medley.  Catching John 5 in concert is always a great show even in a shortened set like this.

JOHN 5 OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

After John 5‘s set on the main stage was Puddle of Mudd.  Unfortunately, due to lead singer, Wesley Scantlin, threatening to walk if he saw any photographers or security in the photo pit there are no photos of their set or a review of their set.  My condolences to the staff for having to put up with that and kudos for them taking us photographers aside to calmly explain that we couldn’t do our jobs.

Libricide

While John 5 was on stage and while dealing with the Puddle of Mudd situation, Kamenar and also Libricide performed on the Beast Stage. unfortunately, I did not make it to their sets, but I did hear they were great from a few friends of mine who did catch it.  For more from this New York band, Libricide, you can see their Facebook page.

LIBRICIDE OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Dangerous Toys

Dangerous Toys is another 80s band that hardly ever plays on the East Coast and were one of the bands most anticipated by me and a lot of other in the crowd this weekend. Consisting of lead singer Jason McMaster, Paul Lidel and Scott Dahlover on guitars, Mike Watson on bass and Mark Geary gluing it all together on drums.  As the crowd gathered around the stage, smiles, handshakes and hugs were all around as the band greeted long-time fans and friends to their set.  Songs such as “Teas’n Pleas’n“, “Hold Your Horses“, and “Sportin’ a Woody” peppered the crowd-pleasing set list.  Showing the youngsters previously on the stage just how it is done.

DANGEROUS TOYS OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Back on the Main Stage……

Treach of Naughty by Nature, yes a rapper at a rock festival.  With a short visit from Boozle from the Bamboozle fest!  Really interesting set for this fest and the crowd ate it up.

BAMBOOZLE FEST / NAUGHTY BY NATURE

L.A. Guns

Hoobastank came onstage after Treach, by this time, however, everything was running late and I was unable to get shots of one of the main reasons I was here this weekend, the legendary L.A. Guns, as set times became the same this late in the day.  At a stage with no photo pit and a crowd that wouldn’t let a photographer in to grab a few shots and get out.  They did sound great once the inimitable Phil Lewis’s microphone was working.  Running thru songs like “Speed“, “Electric Gypsy“, “Sex Action” and so many more of their songs, Tracii Guns lead the barrage on guitar, with Ace Von Johnson providing even more guitar, Johnny Martin on bass with Shawn Duncan on drums.  The crowd ate it up, singing along to song after song.  I can not wait for them to come back around!

L.A. GUNS OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Hoobastank

A band I have never seen live before and was excited to see what they bring to the table. Doug Robb on vocals and guitar, Dan Estrin on guitar, Jesse Charland on bass and keyboards and also Chris Hesse on drums started the night with their song “Crawling in the Dark” and continued the night with songs like “Running Away” and “Hello Again” a very energetic set with Doug all over the stage.  I was not disappointed and neither was the crowd.

HOOBASTANK OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Stone Temple Pilots

The weekend was finally coming to an end….. Stone Temple Pilots was about to take the stage.  Starting the night off with one of my favourites, “Wicked GardenJeff Gutt, vocalist, came onstage all cylinders running, Dean DeLeo on guitar, Robert DeLeo on bass and Eric Kretz on drums.  The band was tight as they went into “Vaseline” as Jeff worked the crowd kicking John 5 ballons all over.  The crowd once again was singing along to every song.  I think Jeff is a great singer and definitely filling in some pretty big shoes.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Orange Loop Rock Festival

Orange Loop Rock Festival, was an exciting event with an eclectic lineup of acts.  Even though there were a few bumps that made the weekend exciting.  It has the potential to be a terrific annual event and I hope it does become one.

I for one would go back again.

Hope to see y’all there!!

ORANGE LOOP ROCK FESTIVAL OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

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