Every day, from Thursday, September 8 to Sunday, September 11, the 5th annual Blue Ridge Rock Festival (BRRF) ushered in 12 hours of continuous rock and metal across five stages. The Day 4 finale featured Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Lamb of God, Seether, New Found Glory, Wage War, Project 86, grandson, and Lacey Sturm at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Anticipation was high on Day 4 with the incredible lineup ahead and (mostly) beautiful weather. Surprisingly, nearly half the bands showcased brand new music. First up, Christian rock queen and former Flyleaf lead singer, Lacey Sturm thrilled the audience with an unreleased song, “Reconcile,” three Flyleaf songs, and more fan favorites that started the day’s moshing and crowd-surfing antics.
Rain set in for a while, then on the ZVN stage, Canadian-American singer grandson performed songs from his 2020 debut album, Death of an Optimist. Seasoned metal veterans, Project 86, who are working on their final (double) album, brought the crowd to life with their own unreleased tracks. And if you love pyro like I do, Wage War provided plenty of it on the Monster Energy stage with popular tracks, “Stitch” and “Teeth.” Next up, the godfathers of pop-punk, New Found Glory, delivered an assortment of tunes on ZVN stage from their impressive list of albums, complete with the muppet “Animal” perched on Cyrus Bolooki’s drum kit.
RIAA Platinum-selling powerhouse Seether took the ZYN stage later in the day with timeless hits like “Broken,” “Fake It,” and “Fine Again.” At one point, the band spotted a dedicated fan in the crowd holding a sign that read, “Let me play ‘Remedy.’” On the last song of their set, the band hoisted the young guitarist on stage and handed him Shaun Morgan’s guitar to live out his dream.
Following Seether, Virginia’s own Lamb of God took over with a vengeance. The heavy metal force delivered all the hits, along with “Nevermore,” a track from their new brand new album, Omens, released October 7. Eager headbangers vented while moshing and injuries stopped the show twice. Grammy®-nominated multi-platinum Mississippi rockers 3 Doors Down, with original band member Brad Arnold, brought the crowd back to peace with “Kryptonite,” “Here Without You,” and “It’s Not My Time.”
The final headliner on Day 4 of BRRF, Disturbed, performed their recent single, “Hey You,” which is their first original song in four years and is featured on their upcoming album, Divisive. David Draiman’s staccato style, the hard-hitting guitar riffs, and the compelling lyrics pounded the listeners, waking them from any catatonic state of social or political ignorance. Other crowd favorites naturally included “The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover),” “The Light,” and 6x-platinum “Down With The Sickness.”
Overall, Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 boasted an incredible lineup with titans of rock and metal, unique performances, and a myriad of new music. With very public problems for fans last year, significant changes were made — and paid off — during this year’s festival, and hopefully even more will pave the way for 2023. Growing pains aside, festival founder Jonathan Slye’s dream of bringing a successful major rock festival to Virginia has come true.
Look for BRRF 2023 at the same venue September 7–10. Details can be found on blueridgerockfest.com.
