Day 2 of Sonic Temple in Columbus, Ohio started off with a steady drizzle of rain, but the festival-goers were not phased. Geared up in rainboots and ponchos, crowds gathered and the festival went on like it wasn’t raining at all. Luckily, as the afternoon went on, the rain stopped and the bands finished under a cloud covered sky.
We started our day off at the Cathedral stage around 1pm to watch Scowl, a hardcore punk band from California. Lead singer Kat Moss looked especially punk with blue, black, and green hair, a white skirt, and a shirt that read “Jesus died for his own sins, not mine.” Scowl is currently touring with A Day To Remember until late July.
Originating in Florida, Nonpoint took over the Temple Stage. The five band members all wore red, with a backdrop of their name in all red capital letters. The group had the crowd jumping and screaming with metal songs like “Ruthless” and “Victim.” They are always one of our favorites to see and we always love to hear “What A Day,” our favorite Nonpoint hit.
Dirty Honey followed behind Nonpoint with some classic hard rock tunes. The band opened with the powerful “Can’t Find the Brakes” and continued on with favorites like “Rolling 7s” and “California Dreamin’.” The four band members all made sure to include an accent of gold in their outfits.
After Ash Costello had a surprise cameo with Disturbed on Day 1, New Years Day officially performed their own full set on the Sanctuary Stage. Costello absolutely rocked it out with her bandmates in a full black leather outfit. The vibes were great as crowd surfers and mosh pit showed up all around the audience.
Thrash metal veterans of over 40 years, Anthrax put on an intense show. Lead singer Joey Belladonna, wearing his band’s own tour t-shirt, served up all of his rage to the crowd with classics like “Metal Thrashing Mad” and “Caught in a Mosh.” Regardless of their age, all of the band members gave it their all with the spirit of the “Big Four.”
Bringing it back to the local music scene, the Black Veil Brides, originally from Cincinnati, drew in one of the largest crowds of the weekend as heartthrob Andy Biersack sang his heart out. The band all had a line of dripping red paint on their necks; a gruesome imitation of a slit-throat. Together, the group confidently delivered one of their original anthems, “Rebel Love Song” as well as their new single “Bleeders.”
South African rock band Seether gave the audience a plethora of different emotions with their mixture of hard rock and slow rock. Front man Shaun Morgan performed the ballad “Broken,” accompanied by Corey Lowery on acoustic guitar. The fans filling the Temple Arena sang along to “Fix It” and “Remedy” as they threw their hands in the air.
Soulfly, a heavy metal band formed in Arizona led by the former Sepultura frontman, Max Cavalera performed an awesome set on the Sanctuary Stage. The band members thrashed their long-locks around to their opener song “Back to the Primitive” and encouraged the audience to scream along to “Bleed.” The mosh pits were going insane and fans were clearly having a great time.
Sum 41 announced during their set on the Cathedral Stage that their latest album, Heaven :X: Hell, will be their last album together and their final time touring after almost 30 years together. Fans responded with resounding “boos” after the retirement announcement but were happy to see them perform.
Behind the band sat a giant blow-up skeleton with red eyes, looking over the crowd as Sum 41 sang a long-list of their hits such as “Over My Head (Better Off Dead)” and “Walking Disaster.” Flames shot out from the stage as frontman Deryck Whibley led fans in song with the same spunky spirit he has always had.
Over on the Citadel Stage, California experimental rock band Mr. Bungle played a total of 13 songs for fans who were thrilled to see the 80’s band back in business. Lead singer Michael Patton wore his hair in braided pigtails and a flaming black and red shirt. They performed a handful of covers, sprinkling in their own songs here and there. The covers included some greats like “Hell Awaits” by Slayer and “Territory” by Sepultura.
Falling In Reverse brought the heat to the Temple Stage with tons of pyrotechnics. The crowd went wild for hits like “Popular Monster” and “Watch the World Burn.” Once the band got to the end of their set, fans screamed for them to play their new song “Ronald.” During the song, the pyrotechnics were so strong that the band members were getting burned by the heat from the flames. Front man Ronnie Radke had to stop the song three separate times. After their performance, the band members were treated by EMS personnel for minor burns.
As the sun began to set, punk rock band Rise Against, hailing from Chicago, closed out the Cathedral Stage for Day 2. The masses of festival goers sang along to every word of the songs played under the laser lights flashing across the crowd. Fans were moshing all across the venue to the opener “Re-Education (Through Labor)” and “Make It Stop (September’s Children).” The band slowed things down with an acoustic version of “Swing Life Away.”
Fans all across the festival grounds raced over to see Avatar perform at the Sanctuary Stage, spilling into the nearby Citadel Stage area. The Swedish heavy metal bands front man, Johannes Eckerström, commanded over the audience in a sinister ringleader outfit paired with haunting clown makeup. Smoke, fire, sparks, and lasers lit the stage as the performers grabbed the attention of everyone watching with their theatrics and musicianship. This was by far the most dynamic Avatar performance we have ever seen and was a great day to close out Day 2 at Sonic Temple.
Day 2 of Sonic Temple was one for the books! Check out our next recap on Day 3 with headliners Pantera, Breaking Benjamin, and Staind.
Words by Emily Cigan @emily.cigan and Amy Harris @thetraveladdictig