Rock on the Range

Location(s)Columbus, Ohio, United States
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaYears active2007–2018Founded byRight Arm EntertainmentWebsiterockontherange.com

Rock on the Range was an annual rock festival that was held at two locations. The first and main location was in Columbus, Ohio, United States at Mapfre Stadium (originally Columbus Crew Stadium; renamed in 2015) from 2007 to 2018, while the other was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at the Canad Inns Stadium from 2009 to 2011. Rock on the Range debuted in Columbus on May 19, 2007, and in Winnipeg on June 27, 2009. The Columbus festival was always held in May, while the Winnipeg festival was pushed back to August in 2010. In May 2019, Rock on the Range was officially replaced by the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival.^[1]

Columbus

The first Rock on the Range was held on May 19, 2007, at Columbus Crew Stadium. The sold-out festival ran all day, beginning around noon and ending after 11:00 pm. Due to such success, Rock on the Range was turned into an annual event by returning to Columbus Crew Stadium in 2008. The second festival was a two-day event held on the weekend of May 17–18, 2008. This show had the very first Stone Temple Pilots performance in seven years, ending the band's hiatus.^[2] The 2009 show was two days as well, on the weekend of May 16–17, 2009. The lineup was announced on Rock on the Range's official website on Friday, February 13, 2009. For the 2010 festival, each stage has its own sponsor. While the Zippo Music Stage (formerly Jägermeister) is still the same, the "second" stage and the main stage (as they have been previously called) are now referred to as the Bud Light Stage (formerly the Kicker Stage) and the Monster Energy Stage, respectively. Other sponsors host their own events, such as Sony's PlayStation bus that demos new video games. An FYE tent is located near the Kicker Stage where, upon purchase of certain bands' CDs, many meet-and-greets take place.

The festival would often draw more than 30,000 fans each day onto the Columbus Crew Stadium grounds from its inception but in recent years that number has swelled to approximately 40,000 per day. This has occurred mainly due to a rise in the festival's popularity as well as some changes to the festival grounds layout and expansion of the number of festival days.

In 2007 and 2008, two stages were set up: The main stage is inside the stadium at one end of the soccer field, and the second stage is in the parking lot just outside the stadium. For the 2009 show, a third stage was added, the Zippo Music Stage (formerly the Jägermeister stage). It is located outside of the stadium on the opposite side of the second stage. The typical ticket price in the past, and for 2010 as well, is around $50–65 per day, depending on whether attendees choose to have field-access or not. Rock on the Range 2009 was Avenged Sevenfold's last appearance in the United States before their drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan died on December 28, 2009. During their performance on May 22, 2010, the music video for Papa Roach's single "Kick in the Teeth" was filmed.

In 2011 and 2012 the festival saw a major change and was expanded to include an additional half-day Friday Night Pre-party that saw the addition of four more bands being added for the party.

In 2013 it was announced that the pre-party day would be made into another full day by adding six more bands to the previous four bands to officially make the festival a three-day event. Also, new to this event year is an updated festival layout and new amenities including a comedy tent and stage, thanks to sponsors Old Milwaukee, Pabst Blue Ribbon and The Funny Bone.

In 2014 it was announced that the third day added in 2013 would be expanded to allow for additional bands to be added to the line-up. The comedy tent and stage added in 2013 would also return. Also, new was an updated festival layout with the addition of carnival rides including a Ferris wheel and a Shock drop.

Estimated attendance each year

• 2007 – 35,000 (one-day total) sold-out event^[3]
• 2008 – 55,000 (two-day total)
• 2009 – 55,000 (two-day total)
• 2010 – 60,000 (two-day total)
• 2011 – 70,000 (two-and-a-half-day total)
• 2012 – 70,000 (two-and-a-half-day total)
• 2013 – 103,000+ (three-day total) sold-out event^[4]
• 2014 – 120,000 (three-day total) sold-out event^[5]
• 2015 – 120,000 (three-day total) sold-out event^[6]
• 2016 – 120,000 (three-day total) sold-out event^{[citation needed]}
• 2017 – 135,000 (three-day total) sold-out event^{[citation needed]}
• 2018 – 140,000 (three-day total) sold-out event^[7]

2007 lineup

Saturday, May, 19 14 bands, all 14 played

Main Stage:

• ZZ Top
• Evanescence
• Velvet Revolver
• Hinder
• Chevelle
• Three Days Grace
• Buckcherry
• Breaking Benjamin

"Mad Packers" Second Stage:

• Papa Roach
• Puddle of Mudd
• Black Stone Cherry
• Operator
• 2Cents
• Whitestarr

2008 lineup

27 bands scheduled, 26 played

2009 lineup

38 bands scheduled, all played

2010 lineup

38 bands scheduled, all played

2011 lineup

May 20 pre-party (Friday night)

f.y.e. stage only (all four bands)

• Steel Panther
• Danko Jones
• Lez Zeppelin
• Red Line Chemistry

40 bands scheduled, all played

2012 lineup

May 18 Pre-party, Friday Night 4Play

f.y.e. stage four bands

• Hairball
• Foxy Shazam
• Black Tide
• Hells Bells

40 bands scheduled, all played

2013 lineup

50 bands scheduled, all played

2014 lineup

60 bands scheduled, all played

2015 lineup

60 bands scheduled, all played

2016 lineup

2017 lineup

2018 lineup

Winnipeg

On February 13, 2009, Rock on the Range announced that the festival would travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada to play at Canad Inns Stadium. The show was on Saturday, June 27, 2009. The weather throughout the day was rain and clouds, earning this year's festival the nickname "Rock in the Rain".

Rock on the Range Canada 2010 on August 7, 2010, had sunny skies with over 15,000 fans in attendance. On March 19, 2010, it was announced Rock on the Range Canada has signed a new multi-year agreement with Manitoba Telecom Services to become the new title sponsor until 2012. The new name under the agreement is "MTS Rock on the Range Canada". On July 18, 2011, Rock on the Range Canada was going to be moved to the MTS Centre due to the weather.

March 2, 2012, Winnipeg radio station Power 97 posted on their Twitter that MTS Rock on the Range Canada would not be happening in 2012.^[9]

2009 lineup

15 bands scheduled, all played

2010 lineup

13 bands scheduled, all played

2011 lineup

13 bands scheduled, 12 played

References

External links

• Rock on the Range
• Rock on the Range (Canada)