Rock Fest 2022 draws largest crowd in the music festival's history
Jul. 20—CADOTT — Jelly Roll, a heavyset musician who fuses rock, rap and country, stood on the main stage at Rock Fest on Saturday evening and looked out at the thousands of fans who packed the hillside. Jelly Roll muttered an expletive and said this was easily the largest crowd he had ever performed in front of in his career.
Wade Asher, Chippewa Valley Music Festivals general manager, said he knew that Rock Fest would be huge this year, when all 7,000 campsites were scooped up and reserved in advance. Then the cars started coming and coming. Staff had to get creative in finding parking spots near the entrance and in the campsites. While Asher doesn't divulge exact attendance numbers, he said that of the 35 Country Fests and 28 Rock Fests ever held on their grounds, this year's Rock Fest had the largest attendance.
"It's literally the largest festival we've ever had, period, and literally nothing went wrong," Asher said.
Happy repeat customers is one reason for the growth, while other nearby music festivals shutting down because of the pandemic, like Rock USA in Oshkosh, brought in new fans.
"I think we have some overflow from that," Asher said of the canceled Oshkosh event.
During Rock Fest, the reserved VIP and reserved lawn seats for 2023 were put on sale. Fans were told to reserve now, or their seats would be sold on Saturday. Most fans immediately re-ordered.
"The people who scooped them up were on-hand; they didn't even go to the general public," Asher said. "Some people stood in line for three or four hours."
At about 8:20 p.m. Saturday, the festival alerted fans via their app that all reserved seats for next year's festival were now sold out. Asher struggled to find the words to describe his reaction.
"I literally have no words," Asher said. "It is just amazing that all these fans would reserve those seats a year in advance. It's simply unbelievable, without a name announced for next year. It just goes to show the faith and trust the fans have in us."
Asher said he does feel pressure to pull together a lineup that matched this year's shows. He said he'll start working on signing acts soon, with the goal of announcing the lineup in January.
"Every year, we say 'how do we top this year?' At the end fo the day, the fans are so happy, and that's what we strive for," Asher said.
Chippewa County Chief Deputy Curt Dutton said his officers handled no major issues throughout the festival.
Disturbed thrills, Avatar mesmerizes
Disturbed had a treat for fans while headlining the first day of Rock Fest on Thursday. Lead singer David Draiman announced they had released a new single, "Hey You," earlier in the day, and the band performed it for the first time ever to Rock Fest fans. The song is already #1 on iTunes rock singles chart. Disturbed, who debuted at the festival in 2018, ran through their hits, including their two well-known covers, "Land of Confusion" by Genesis and "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel, before saving their largest hit, "Down with the Sickness" for the encore. Thursday also featured the debut of Swedish heavy metal rockers Avatar, who put on a mesmerizing show with the look and sound of Marilyn Manson. Female-led Spiritbox also debuted on Thursday with a crowd-pleasing set.
Female Friday
For the first time ever, three female-led bands were the last three acts on the main stage at Rock Fest, first with The Pretty Reckless, then Halestorm, followed by headliner Evanescence. Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Amy Lee of Evanescence acknowledged the historic moment while talking to the crowd between songs, and how important it was to them to be put in that position.
"It went over way better than I thought," Asher said of curating the woman-led lineup. "I always try to get as many females in the lineup as possible.'
Evanescence recently released a new album, and played several unfamiliar songs to open the show before launching into their biggest hits, like "Lithium," "Going Under," "Bring Me To Life" and "Call Me When You're Sober." Amy Lee said the band was running into a good problem — they have too many songs to choose from, so inevitably fans will be disappointed by something that was skipped. The band played the 2019 festival, so this was their second headlining spot in three festivals.
The Pretty Reckless put on an excellent show, with Taylor Momsen running around the stage, looking engaged and sounding motivated. It was far better than their 2014 performance here, when Momsen appeared fatigued and possibly intoxicated. Momsen said she was glad to be there — she had just recovered from COVID-19, and the band had to cancel its recent Summerfest appearance because of her sickness.
Shinedown, Skillet carry the final day
In 2010, Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale was a late cancellation. Asher turned to Christian rockers Skillet, who were playing a nearby Christian music festival and were largely unknown in mainstream music at the time, to fill the second-to-last slot. The band earned rave reviews, and was voted best act of the festival on the Rock Fest website. This year marked Skillet's fifth time at Rock Fest, but their first show at the Who's On Top stage, with fans packed under the canopy and across the hill. The band powered through one rock hit after another, from "Hero" and "Awake and Alive" to new material like "Dominion" from their latest album.
Shinedown, who played here in 2015 and 2017, closed out the festival with lead singer Brent Smith acknowledging that next year will mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album. However, their latest album "Planet Zero," which was released earlier this month, has debuted at #1 on the Billboard rock album charts. Shinedown ran through an array of their hits from "45" to "Second Chance," giving fans a satisfying conclusion to three days of the festival.
