Day 3 of Sonic Temple was another gorgeous day in Columbus, Ohio. Performances of the night included Linkin Park with new lead vocalist Emily Armstrong, Trivium, and I Prevail. With only one day left of the music and art festival, guests were full of anticipation for the days ahead.
Post-hardcore band Scary Kids Scaring Kids was formed in 2002, disbanded in 2010 after the death of lead singer Tyson Stevens, and regrouped in 2019. On the Sanctuary Stage, the remaining band members Chad Crawford and Pouyan Afkary performed songs that included “Degenerates,” “State of Disrepair,” and “My Darkest Hour.”
The Funeral Portrait invited guests to their emotion filled Devotion Ceremony on the Citadel Stage. The band’s members Lee Jennings (vocals), Cody Weissinger (guitar), Caleb Freihaut (guitar/auxiliary), Robert Weston (bass), and Homer Umbanhower (drums) gave the performance their all and was one of our favorites of the day. Sonic Temple was their largest festival appearance to date.
Certified platinum 90’s band Hoobastank rocked out on the Temple Stage to a huge crowd. Fans clapped along to “Born To Lead” as lead vocalist Doug Robb threw on a pair of sunglasses to deliver his incredibly clean vocals. The band closed their set with popular songs “The Reason” and “Crawling in the Dark.”
Of Mice & Men opened up a huge mosh pit at the Temple Stage. The band’s line-up consists of lead vocalist and bassist Aaron Pauley with crazy harsh vocals, drummer Valentino Arteaga, and guitarists Phil Manansala and Alan Ashby. They sang out songs “Would You Still Be There,” “Pulling Teeth,” and ended with “Second and Sebring.”
Florida-based band Trivium has been nothing but chart topping and award winning since their beginnings in 1999. The stage featured a huge blow up demon-like creature that can be found on the band’s 2005 Ascendancy album cover. The set was dominated by songs from Ascendancy including “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” and “Dying in Your Arms” and ending with their hit song “In Waves.”
Lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins strummed on his guitar as he sang as part of Jimmy Eat World. The band played hits from their breakthrough album Bleed America, getting the crowd wound up with songs like “Sweetness” and “Get It Faster.” The finale song “The Middle” had everyone singing along.
The Devil Wears Prada returned to their home state of Ohio as they delivered a phenomenal set on the Cathedral Stage. Songs from their album Color Decay (2022) like “Watchtower” and “Salt” made up a large portion of the set. Hit songs “For You” and “Ritual” had fans jamming out.
90’s band Crossfade made a grand return to performing with their first show since 2012. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Ed Sloan, bassist Mitch James, guitarist and keyboardist Les Hall, and drummer Ryan Bennett. The band opened with “Starless” and transitioned into songs “So Far Away” and “Dead Memories.” They even played “Death Trend Setta” which hasn’t been performed live since 2007.
I Prevail, a band that built themselves from the ground up, played their breakthrough cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Despite not having lead vocalist Brian Burkheiser due to a medical condition, guitarist Dylan Bowman and harsh vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe were able to carry on just fine. The band threw in a playful trio of rock songs: “My Own Summer (Shove It)” (Deftones), “Them Bones” (Alice In Chains), and “Chop Suey!” (System Of A Down).
Welsh heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine took to the Cathedral Stage just after 8 PM, sending their screaming vocals into the night. Some hit songs they included in their set were “Tears Don’t Fall,” “All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me),” and “Hand of Blood.” Band members Matthew Tuck, Michael Paget, Jason Bowld, and Jamie Mathias kept the energy level high with their intense stage presence.
Linkin Park headlined the night on the main Temple Stage with new lead vocalist Emily Armstrong. After the unfortunate and deeply felt passing of Chester Bennington, Armstrong has dedicated her art to filling his shoes. I have been a fan of Armstrong since her Dead Sara days and I, like so many other little girls who grew up listening to rock, are excited for this new part of her career. They made sure to play some of their most popular songs including “Crawling,” “Numb,” and “What I’ve Done.” Armstrong sounded fantastic and the band put on a wonderful show to a welcoming crowd at Crew Stadium for the singer’s biggest festival show to date.
Check back soon for our look back at the final day, Day 4, of Sonic Temple 2025.
Words by Emily Cigan @emily.cigan and Amy Harris @thetraveladdictig