All hail to the hardest rocking festival of the season. The official lineup for Rock On The Range 2014 has been announced, with headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N’ Roses, and Kid Rock. The three-day rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza will also include sets from Alter Bridge, Black Label Society, Motörhead, Mastodon, Staind, Adelitas Way, Theory of a Deadman, Killswitch Engage, Seether, Down, Black Stone Cherry, Fuel, Pop Evil, and some old school flavor provided by the one and only Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. This year’s lineup is much more diverse, with many alternative and metalcore bands coming into the fold like Bring Me The Horizon, We Came As Romans, Of Mice & Men, and Miss May I, as well as some seriously heavy thrash and death metal courtesy of Slayer, Skindred, Exodus, and Trivium. With all the famous and legendary acts playing this year, there’s an amazing pool of up-and-coming talent, including The Pretty Reckless, Monster Truck, Devour The Day, British hard rockers Heaven’s Basement, blues guitar virtuoso Reignwolf, and heavy groove rockers Crobot, and a newly reunited Rev Theory. In 2013, Avenged Sevenfold, Alter Bridge, Killswitch Engage, Bring Me The Horizon, We Came As Romans, Trivium, and Heaven’s Basement all released albums that made TheRockRevival.com’s Top 50 Rock Albums of 2013 list. The festival is set to go down May 16-18 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 24 at 10am ET via www.RockOnTheRange.com.
“We are so honored to be headlining Rock on the Range,” says Avenged Sevefold frontman M. Shadows. “We take pride in our show and always try to outdo ourselves from the time before. Rock on the Range will be the perfect place to celebrate with our fans from all over the world and put on the killer show that they have come to expect from us. We are pulling out all the stops.” Slayer lead axman Kerry King added, “Super excited to be a part of Rock On The Range this year! I think it’s awesome to have an edgy band like Slayer on board for this round. Can’t wait to hit the stage!”
In 2010, Avenged Sevenfold released Nightmare. Arguably the best effort of their 
career, the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and sold over 163,000 copies in it’s first week of sales. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced that Arin IIejay would be the band’s touring drummer. That summer, the band headlined the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, and more. In October 2011, the band co-headlined the 48 Hours Festival in Las Vegas, NV along with Korn, Godsmack, and Five Finger Death Punch. In November, they embarked on a brief headlining tour, The Buried Alive Tour, with special guests Asking Alexandria, Hollywood Undead, and Black Veil Brides. The band took a break from touring in 2012 to relax and write. In April 2012, they took to the stage again, touring through Asia, and played Metallica’s Orion Music + More Festival in Atlantic City, NJ in June. On September 24, they released a new single, “Carry On”, which was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and is nominated for the award for Best Song at this year’s Revolver Golden God Awards on May 2. In late 2013, Avenged Sevenfold headlined Musikfest in Bethlehem,PA, performed at Rock in Rio in Brazil, and went on a brief U.S. arena tour with Deftones and Ghost B.C. The band’s new album, Hail To The King, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and was one of the top rock albums of 2013. With two Top 10 Billboard 200 albums, 7 Revolver Golden God Awards, 1 Kerrang! Award, and over 8 million albums sold worldwide, Avenged Sevenfold are one of the definitive bands of their generation.
Alter Bridge formed in 2004 and released their debut album, One Day Remains, later that same year via Wind-Up Records. The album hit #5 on the Billboard Top 200, and eventually was certified gold. The band toured hard from 2004-2006 and then began writing new material for their next album. They inked a deal with Universal Republic Records, and released their sophomore effort, Blackbird, in 2007. The disc hit #13 on the Billboard Top 200 #4 on US Top Rock Albums, and #2 on UK Rock Albums. It sold over 47,000 copies in it’s first week of sales. The band embarked on an extensive world tour to support the record, and recorded the live DVD, Live In Amsterdam, in Germany on December 7, 2008. In 2009, Alter Bridge took a break, as Tremonti, Phillips, and Marshall reunited with Scott Stapp for a Creed tour, and Myles Kennedy went to work with Slash. In 2010, they returned triumphantly with their third studio LP, AB III. The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top 200, and the album’s lead single, “Isolation”, hit #1 on Active Rock Radio. The band toured relentlessly, with appearances at some of the world’s biggest festivals including Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, Nova Rock Festival, Hellfest Summer Open Air, Download Festival, and Soundwave. In the summer of 2011, the band co-headlined the Carnival of Madness Tour alongside Theory of a Deadman, with special guests Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic. On November 29, 2011, Alter Bridge recorded their show at Wembley Arena for the live DVD Live at Wembley. It was the largest headlining show of the band’s career. Alter Bridge will be touring this spring in the U.S. and Europe in support of their latest album, Fotress, which debuted at #12 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on Billboard Rock Albums.
Pop Evil broke out with their major-label debut, Lipstick On The Mirror, in 2008.
The band worked with Kid Rock producer Al Sutton on the record, and it spawned the hit single “100 in a 55”. The band proceed to tour with Buckcherry, Saliva, Whitesnake, and Judas Priest on their British Steel 30th Anniversary North American Tour. Pop Evil have exploded onto the mainstream with the success of their sophomore effort, War of Angels, which hit #43 on the Billboard Top 200. The disc produced four hit singles. The album’s third single and huge radio hit, “Boss’s Daughter”, was co-written by Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, and Mars also makes a guest appearance on the track. On this album cycle, the band has toured with the likes of Drowning Pool, Trust Company, Finger Eleven, Escape The Fate, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd and Theory of a Deadman. Last Summer, the band toured on the Trespass America Festival, then headed to Canada for a run with Black Label Society. The band recently released their third studio album, Onyx, on May 14. The album hit #39 on the Billboard Top 200, and the lead single, “Trenches”, recently gave the band their first #1 Mainstream Rock Radio hit.
Heaven’s Basement formed in 2008, and have toured all over Europe with the likes of Bon Jovi, Papa Roach, Shinedown, Buckcherry, Theory of A Deadman, Tesla, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, and more. Nearly a year ago in February 2013, they released their debut full-length LP, Filthy Empire, to rave reviews. The album debuted at #9 on the UK Rock Albums Chart. Throughout 2013, the band supported the album by touring the U.S. with Buckcherry and Europe with Halestorm in addition to their own headlining dates and numerous festival appearances. Heaven’s Basement supported The Pretty Reckless on their North American Going To Hell Tour this past fall, and Black Veil Brides on their European winter tour. The band will kick off their own European headlining tour in March.
Crobot a riffy and relentless hard rock outfit from Pottsville, PA. Since their inception in
2011, the band has drawn comparisons to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Clutch, Queens of The Stone Age, Wolfmother, AC/DC, Audioslave, and more. They released their debut album, The Legend of The Spaceborne Killer, in 2012 and it was one of the best rock album’s of the year. In November, the band inked a deal with Wind-up Records. The band is currently in the studio working on their sophomore effort with renowned producer Machine (Lamb of God, Clutch, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship) with an anticipated release sometime later in 2014. The band will be hitting the road in early January with their idols, Clutch, for a few select east coast tour dates.
The Pretty Reckless formed in 2009 and released their debut album, Light It Up, in 2010. In 2012, they released the Hit Me Like a Man EP. The band has toured the world with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, and more, and they will be hitting the road with Fall Out Boy on their European tour in March. The Pretty Reckless just wrapped up a North American headlining tour with support from Heaven’s Basement, with whom they are reuniting with for the SnoCore Tour. The band’s new album, Going To Hell, is set for release in March.
Fozzy was founded in 1999 by Stuck Mojo guitarist
Rich Ward. Soon after, Ward met frontman Chris Jericho at a show in San Antonio, TX and invited him to play with the band. Jericho jammed with Fozzy for a few sessions, and officially joined the band in 2000. The band released it’s self-titled debut in 2000; a covers album with two original songs. They followed it up with 2002’s Happenstance, another covers album with a few originals sprinkled in. After extensive touring, the band made the transition to a wholly-original act, releasing All That Remains. The album featured guest appearances by the likes of Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), Mark Tremonti (Creed, Alter Bridge, Tremonti), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge, Slash), Marty Freidman (formerly of Megadeth), and Butch Walker (Marvelous 3). The album sold over 100,000 copies, and the band played their biggest show to date at Download Festival in Donington, England. With tremendous momentum, Fozzy grinded out a tour and immediately began work on their fourth album, 2010’s Chasing The Grail. The album produced arguably the biggest single of their careers, “Martyr No More”. In 2012, Fozzy released their fifth album, Sin and Bones, which spawned the hit single “Sandpaper (feat. M Shadows)”.
Of Mice & Men formed in Costa Mesa, CA in 2009. A year later, they released their self-titled debut LP. The album cracked the Billboard Top 200 at #115 and also hit #35 on Billboard Rock and #10 on Billboard Hard Rock. are currently in the studio working on the follow-up to their 2011 effort, The Flood, which debuted at #28 on the Billboard Top 200. The band participated on Warped Tour in the summer of 2011. In January 2012, the band re-released The Flood with four new tracks and that summer, they toured on Warped once again. Of Mice & Men will be embarking on a massive co-headlining North American tour with British metalcore stand-outs Bring Me The Horizon. The trek kicks off on February 3 in Orlando, FL, and wraps up on March 28 in San Diego, CA. The band is set to release their much-anticipated new album, Restoring Force, on January 28th. – by Matt Bishop
