Blue Ridge Rock Festival Diaries

With three out of four days of Blue Ridge Rock Festival done, so far on the whole it has been a hell of an experience. Yes, there has been some bumps and bruises along the way that have been well documented. As a credentialed member of the media, I do get to enjoy a different experience than the average fan. But at the end of the day, I am as big a fan as anyone else, if not more so as I donate and sacrifice much of my life and time to covering these events.

I travelled all the way from Florida with two fellow photographers, it helps hold the costs down, Just like everyone else, we got caught up in the mass of traffic that bombarded Danville Virginia. Three hours to go a quarter mile, ouch. We found out VERY quickly that parking was a very big issue. But we adapted and overcame and secured private parking close to the entrance. Yes, it cost more, but it was worth it as we had a short walk in. One thing that was instantly obvious, the grounds are HUGE! There is actually more than enough room for an event of this size. The published map was good, and we were able to sort everything out pretty quickly.  It’s a shame we got there late as the festival opened with some very good acts, but with traffic getting the best of us, it is what it is. After all, this is the first day of a new festival (yes, I know this is the fourth year, but it’s longer and in a new location, so it might as well be new) and there is going to be problems that no one expected to arise.

With three days of incredible music behind me, There are lots of memories that have been made. I mean that is what these things are all about, the music. Some of my personal highlights were Black Label Society, there is no better guitarist than Zakk Wylde and he didn’t disappoint. Halestorm Always puts on an incredibly entertaining show and Lzzy Hale is one of the best vocalists out there. Miss May I who I wasn’t familiar with were great, they brought a ton of energy to the stage and they will make it onto my Spotify list for sure. Day two was even better. It seemed as though the traffic situation was far far better. So now we were able to get a full day of rocking in. Starting a day off with Stitched Up Heart, Fozzy, and Sevendust is a pretty great way to kick any day off. Sadly, Nonpoint had to withdraw as they were involved in an accident. Hopefully they will be fine. A personal highlight was getting to photograph Anthrax; what a band they are!! The third day, it really looked like the festival was figuring things out and things seemed to be even smoother. But apparently Covid reared it’s ugly head and All That Remains had to withdraw. Of course, on this day they had The Metal Tour of The Year coming in. These were my MUST see bands, and I caught wind that they might pull out which made me nervous. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. But it was a bittersweet situation for me as my girlfriend who is if anything as big maybe even bigger fan of these bands wasn’t able to attend. Ya, all four brought their A++++ game and were absolutely incredible. But it would have been even better if she was with me. Lamb Of God had their full pyro show which was wild. Watching these guys give it their all while flames were shooting up, yes that is one of the two performances of the day. The other was Megadeath. There is a reason why they are metal royalty, and it was on full display tonight!  One of the downsides to being media though is you are held to the desires of others. On this night, Five Finger Death Punch the headline act for the night decided that there would be no photographers allowed.  Why? No one let us know. But ultimately that is their choice, and you have to respect it.

So, with three days in the book, it has been a lot of fun. Great bands, great music, the stages are well setup not just for the bands, but they work well for us photographers…it does make a difference. I’ve also had a chance to hang out with other photographers that I haven’t seen in a while and make new friends as well.  If day four is like the other three this will be a success for me and of course the real work will begin then as photos will need editing and a story has to written as well.