2018 Carolina Rebellion

The Carolina Rebellion has spent almost a decade bringing a captivating rock festival to the Charlotte, North Carolina area. This isn’t just any festival. The festival organizers put a lot of time and energy into creating three days of exhilarating fun that is almost no holds barred. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t 3 days of profligacy. This is just a lot of fun-loving people coming together to enjoy great entertainment in all of its varying forms. In past years the festival has brought some of the biggest names in rock music. Yet, one of the nice touches about this festival is it also brings some of the rising stars, who are just on their way up. It gives these lesser known acts a chance to show what they are really made of. Some of the best performances of the festival aren’t always on the Carolina or Rebellion Stages. There is something about the festival environment that has every artist putting their "best foot forward," so to speak. It raises the par to the point that every artist is striving to give their best performance. It could almost be considered a friendly competition amongst contemporaries. Although many of these bands are friends, they are also friendly rivals. They each want to be proclaimed the best performance of the festival and leave their mark, make new fans, and in some cases make history. This year’s 2018 Carolina Rebellion didn’t disappoint. Each day brought something new and exciting and the fans were hungry for every moment of it.

The festival kicked off on Friday, May 4 with amazing sets from bands such as Avatar, Red Sun Rising, He is Legend, Bullet for My Valentine, and Pop Evil. Each band wanted to give fans something to remember and while they were all incredible, there were moments that stood out in the day that just couldn’t be competed with. Stone Temple Pilots was a festival favorite, especially for those who remember the band from back in the day. Their new lead singer, Jeff Gutt, the replacement for Scott Weiland, who died of a drug overdose in 2015, breathed new life into the band with his energy and charisma. For those of us who grew up with STP, it was hard to distinguish the difference between the two lead singers, which says a lot about Gutt’s vocal performance. It was like literally stepping back in time.

While Stone Sour never puts on a disappointing performance. Corey Taylor showed the crowd that real rockers don’t quit, even when they are hurt, after he sustained an injury early on in the band’s set. Taylor hobbled around the stage performing as if nothing had happened, telling the audience that he hurt his leg, but not his vocal cords. There is nothing that wins over a crowd like a musician who is willing to put his own discomfort aside in order to continue to entertain his fans.

While everyone has their own idea of who was the best show of the day, it was hard to compete with what Shinedown brought to the festival. Dropping their 6th album, Attention Attention that very day, they blew the crowd away with an epic show that roused the tired, sun-worn audience out of their long day slump. After spending literally hours signing autographs at the FYE tent, the band put on a stellar performance that really was not matched by anyone else at the festival. Brent Smith, the group’s lead singer, is the quintessential showman who knows how to rouse the crowd. He engaged with the audience by literally walking into throngs of fans (much to the dismay of the security guards around him.) The show culminated with a fantastic fireworks display.

Saturday, May 5 was a day full of women who rock. Carolina Rebellion is always the best at remembering the ladies. They truly support women in the rock industry and you can always count on seeing some great performances by several ladies who know how to kick ass. Not to imply that the performances by bands like Palisades, From Ashes to New, Toothgrinder, and Black Veil Bride were anything to write off. However, the ladies dominated that afternoon, being kicked off by New Year’s Day, followed quickly by a theatrical performance by In This Moment, whose set has subtly evolved into a full-blown stage show over the past year complete with larger than life props and videos on the jumbo screens integrated into the performance. Maria Brink, the lead singer of In This Moment, knows how to grab the audience and own it. The Butcher Babies, who have fought their way to stardom over the last few years, showed just why they deserve to become headliners. These women know how to work the crowd. They called the crowd at Carolina Rebellion to break the crowd surfing record and the amazing fans answered that call with relish. Halestorm, always a crowd favorite, is a beloved Carolina Rebellion alumni. This band has played the festival many times and the crowd always welcomes them like family.

Although these ladies were all incredible, the show of the day was clearly Five Finger Death Punch. Saturday was the most crowded day of the entire festival and 90 percent of that crowd was present at FFDP’s set. Ivan Moody had the crowd in tears as he brought a young woman with cancer on stage with him. He sang while holding her in his arms. This moving tribute had an emotional crowd chanting “F-ck Cancer” over and over again.

Sunday, May 6 was a day of mixed artists, definitely the least crowded day by far. There were still stellar performances by artist like Cane Hill, Thrice, and Code Orange. The band that really blew the lid off the place was The Fever 333, who performed one of their songs from within a mosh pit, moshing it out with their fans with energy that few could match. Carolina Rebellion always has a way of bringing just the right artists, whose performance is perfect for the festival and brings something special that fans don’t even realize that they are looking for until it is presented to them. Billy Idol was that thing—the original rebel was a perfect addition to the Rebellion. He had the crowd dancing and singing to favorites like "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" in a perfect 80s nostalgia.

Incubus and Queens of the Stone Age, while keeping the crowd lively and dancing, couldn’t compete with Muse, who closed out the festival. This choice for a closing headliner was originally met with a great deal of skepticism from followers of the festival. However, in typical Carolina Rebellion style, they were the perfect show closers and Muse themselves shot down the naysayers with their commanding performance. The highly visual show had the crowd bouncing, dancing, and singing along to songs like "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Uprising." They closed out the festival with a bang by sending a horde of giant white balloons and streamers into the crowd. Concert-goers were getting tangled up in streamers as fans tried to grab a souvenir to take home.

There is something special that this festival has that others seem to lack: North Carolina’s special brand of southern hospitality. They are genuinely the warmest and most friendly people you will find anywhere. This festival is by far the best festival in the country, not just because of the musicians it draws but for countless reasons. First and foremost, it’s the people it brings in from all over. These are truly the most down to earth, kind, and generous people that one can hope to meet. The parking lots at the Charlotte Speedway (where the festival is held) were full of people tailgating prior to the gates opening. Tailgaters were sharing whatever they had, cigarettes, alcohol, food, sunscreen, you name it with perfect strangers that they just met hanging out at their vehicles. That hospitality didn’t end in the parking lot. The festival goers were respectful all the way around. People would strike up friendly conversations with just about anyone. There was just this feeling of comradery.

The Rebellion paired up with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to make the drive home from the festival safer with a unique incentive for designated drivers. They offered designated drivers a special wristband that gave them unlimited free sodas and water (all non-alcoholic drinks basically) all-day long. This was really a great idea. Unfortunately, they did not account for the number of people who would take them up on this and ran out of wristbands. It would have been a great idea but truthfully, people seemed to stay this side of sober all on their own. There wasn’t any raucous behavior that was obvious.

The food was something beyond description and nothing short of a foodie’s dream come true. Everything from pull pork grill cheese sandwiches to gyros and specialty burgers and chips. The appropriately named “Pig Out Village” was full of all sorts of food vendors selling just about anything one could imagine (smothered in cheese and bacon). The serving sizes were enormous, and more than a single person could, in most cases, finish, making sharing with your friends a necessity and leaving more opportunities to try all the other delectable dishes.

All I can say after having attended many festivals, the people of North Carolina know how to throw a festival. Carolina Rebellion was so well organized that even with crowds that exceeded 90,000 people, the porta-potties were cleaned and sanitized every few hours. This in itself is a feat and not something one will see anywhere else. I can remember back to my first Rebellion and think how revolting the porta-potties were going to be after three days, in the heat. Year after year, I am always pleasantly surprised that they tackled these bathrooms like champs and it isn’t a disgusting mess. The groundskeepers were constantly at work cleaning up after the massive crowds. There wasn’t a feeling of swimming in trash, which would normally be the case. In fact, the entire atmosphere was completely laid back and relaxed. The Rebellion also made sure that the festival goers stayed hydrated by providing a water truck where they could refill their water bottles for free. This was an incredibly generous gesture as it was insanely hot over this particular weekend and people were easily able to become dehydrated. There was a feeling at this festival that concert-goers weren’t just patrons, they were appreciated and well looked after, almost like family. Even the police who were directing traffic and patrolling the festival grounds were laidback and truly there just to serve and protect. They didn’t have that overpowering presence that usually makes festival goers uncomfortable. The overall feeling was just lots of people having a great time and keeping themselves in check. Carolina Rebellion goes above and beyond to provide the hands down the most relaxed, fun festival around and it continuously provides a fantastic lineup that is always full of top-notch entertainment year after year.