Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 – Day 1

Blue Ridge Rock Festival (BRRF) came back with a vengeance for its 5^th year in 2022 at a massive new venue, the 1,300-acre Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, Virginia. VIR opened in 1957, closed in 1974, then was renovated and reopened in 2014. This year, the festival hosted 172 bands, making it the second largest rock festival in the country.

For four full days from Thursday, September 8 through Sunday September 11, BRRF provided 12 hours of continuous rock and metal each day blasting from five stages. With two gigantic main stages side-by-side (Monster and ZYN), one could stay in one place to soak in 12 continuous hours of rock, or brave a steep hill (fondly named “The Hay Hill” and trek down to the large URW stage and a little further to the smaller Fan Driven stage. The HeartSupport stage was conveniently located near the vendors at the top/center of the festival. Overall, incredible bands graced every stage and it was hard to catch them all.

With around 35,000 in attendance, the raceway hosted the largest crowd in its history. This track is known for dramatic elevation changes, which most BRRF attendees felt firsthand. Because of this, some found it difficult to make the trek to the far stages, but could easily enjoy plenty of music at the two main stages. And while the sweltering heat and humidity only seemed to amp up the bands on Day 1. Their excitement was contagious and they channeled all their energy on stage and threw it right back to the crowd.

HM photographer, Annette Holloway, was able to catch a wide variety of Day 1 bands, including Ghost, In This Moment, Anthrax, Daughtry, Nothing More, Bad Wolves, Spiritbox, Pop Evil, Vampires Everywhere, RED, Shadows Fall, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Fire From the Gods, A Skylit Drive, and Smile Empty Soul.