WJRR’s Earthday Birthday 30th Anniversary Was Hot (In More Ways Than One)

Blessed with gorgeous blue skies, but ultimately blazing sun, Earthday Birthday chalks up another victory for Rock and Roll

_{Words and Images by Belinda Reedy Hinton – The Metallicougar}

I’m no stranger to getting out in the blazing heat, freezing cold, and lest we forget, an event I’ve loving nicknamed Mudlahoma 2015. Weather typically doen’t bother me too much, but call it the lack of covering all day events since the pandemic derailed everyone, or being out of shape (I’m going with the former) this year’s Earthday Birthday was way more work than usual. It’s was hot. VERY Hot.

Drop Out Kings’ Adam Ramey, spent a good amount of their set time being part of the crowd. Jumping not once but twice from the stage. Posing for the throng of photographers and even performing directly to many happy fans of their Phoenix based act. Eddie Wellz, the rap heavy part of the group was left to keep the audience focused when they lost sight of Ramey. A task he was primed and ready for. For as cool as Ramey plays it, Wellz is animated. He exudes a huge spirit and commands his spot on the stage. All together a great artist to begin getting the larger than normal early crow primed and ready for the afternoon.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, another Florida band (originally from Middleburg ) , made sure to bond with the crowd showing his love for the Jacksonville Jaguars. On a personal note TRJA was the last band I saw before the initial COVID-19 Lock downs sent everything into a downward spiral for nearly two years on no live music. They had a place in my heart before, but now, more than ever I was excited to open a new chapter with them.

Dorothy then brought down the house and melted the crowd with stunning vocals and a blazing guitar that featured Sam Koulton. He’s a busy guy, always spot on and even the horrifyingly bad, full frontal, mid afternoon sun couldn’t stop him. The stage placement for this particular permanent stage has never made much sense to me. The early morning sun is blocked by a thick tree line, but the western exposure means artist get the worst of the heat. It’s a well build decent size, but WOW! It’s hot. Every show I’ve done there has been miserable in the sun. I don’t know what was going on with the sound on her end, Dorothy ditched her in ear monitors early on in the set. A sweet fan gave her “Blue Roses” an homage, she said, “to a song that didn’t hake the album”.

Bad Wolves, who have been involved a few “dust ups” on social media, but in a solid musical performance. Doc is always a good showman, and everyone else just felt like the supporting cast. There wasn’t the best of vibes there. Some from the lack luster reaction from the crowd. They cheered at the right spots, yelled, sang along, but it just didn’t feel authentic. Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz, is definitely capable of singing the songs but by mid way through the set, he seemed to be getting a little vocally tired. I can give him a pass, as later, illness becomes a factor in the remainder of the lineup. The bass was over saturated and at least one section of the front stack sounded like a speaker had blown midway through the song. There was a very good energy between Kyle Konkiel and newest member, Max Karon, so I’m hopeful to see bigger and better things.

Sevendust stole the day. their ability to mesmerize the crowd is something they never shy away from. I’ve seen them play at all hours of they day and night. It never changes high energy, crowd engagement quality performances. Incredible, just incredible. When a fan passed out cold in the middle of the set, LJ’s ability to shift gears from a frenzied to a quiet crowd to get him the help he needed was nothing short of amazing. Lj later thanked the crowd for “allowing this guy to be able to see his family and friends again. The young man was take to the hospital and messaged Earthday Birthday on their social media. He has been invited back as their guest to a future event. Pretty Cool. Perhaps a call back to how another festival ended in tragedy for several families. If you were close enough to the stage, you may have seen the emotional impact it had on him. Lj left the stage for a moment, presumably to collect his thoughts. When he returned it was ON again. Like flipping a switch, everyone was back in the moment. Even the original, Mosh Pit Jesus, Justin DeGraffenried, managed to get love in one of the special moments of this entire day.

Beartooth has been steadily getting better at wooing the crowd over that past few years, and despite the heavy bass, Caleb Shomo’s power vocals cut through clear and precise. He’s really come into his own lately and he has a larger than life stage presence. Musically, they were very tight. I’d like to see a little more animation from the rest of the band.

The Pretty Reckless hasn’t always been my favorite band to photograph. Mostly because, for awhile there all I ever got was a broody, face covered with hair redundancy from Taylor Momsen and I knew she was capable of so much more. Finally, she gave it to us. She looked fantastic. She had a this is me love it or leave it attitude mixed with sensuality, and worked that stage as if she had something to prove. The Pretty Reckless was killing their set when, once again, someone needed medical attention in the crowd. Fortunately, their result seemed to be a bit better than the previous medical event. The person didn’t require an ambulance ride. It took a minute to get the energy back up, but Taylor Momsen held the crowd in the palm of her petite hand. She looks healthy and happy. A stunner in what is not being called her Death By Rock And Roll tour outfit by fans looking to score the look. There are ads on social media claiming to know which pieces were made by what company, and where they find them.

After an abrupt cancellation of Falling in Reverse, due to lead singer Ronnie Radke’s laryngitis, Breaking Benjamin’s set time was moved up. Kudos to them for being ready to go. Breaking Benjamin put on a good show. The lighting, specifically on Benjamin Burnley was incredibly frustrating to all of us in the pit. With only getting about thirty second of the last song in anything less than backlit we did our best. Sound quality in the VIP section wasn’t the best. However from the front of house toward the middle, it went out well. He sounded great and the crowd loved it.

Like all music festivals, Earthday Birthday is not without it’s faults. The biggest of which is access to water stations to refill bottles. This is EARTHDAY centrist so shouldn’t that be encouraged anyway? There was some access to water and sodas to stay hydrated, but also, the bar by stage 2 was never opened so access to this was limited to walking halfway across the compound. Both of the show stopping medial events were in the second stage crowd. One of the biggest complaints on social media was the lack of communication in regards to the Falling In Reverse cancellation. It’ happened quickly and was posted right away on social media but not broadcast via the PA system. A message was placed on the main stage screens showing the final two bands as The Pretty Reckless and Breaking Benjamin, but many never saw it until they walked back from the second stage.

Otherwise, as always, Earthday Birthday is one of the fan friendlier, laid back festivals. Cost for the one day event by comparison is minimal, line up changes happen to everyone, and you can’t change illness issues. At any point you can find members of many of the bands just strolling about and watching other artists. This doesn’t happen anywhere else. Security issues are minimal and all in all, it’s a great day of music, love and fun.