My first Rockville
by Charleygurl on 4/29/15Jacksonville Metro Park - JacksonvilleRating: 3 out of 5I went to Rockville on Saturday April 25 and though I wasn't able to make it at the opening time, I learned upon my arrival at 5 pm that I hadn't missed much. I got my VIP pass and geaded to the stages. Many of the bands had been cancelled due to weather conditions, but I still got to see two of the four bands I wanted to see most of all: Halestorm and Marilyn Manson.
Halestorm put on a great show, even jesting about naming your band carefully to avoid inclimate weather. They played their biggest hits and a few songs off the new album before handing the stage over to Slayer.
The fun and games started long before Manson took the stage. The mud pit was already churned to ankle depth by the time I got to the stage and there were intermittent shoving matches all around. A good day so far. I even found a tent selling gluten-free goodies so all was well.
I had never attended a Manson concert before so I was uncertain if the low energy was building to something greater towards the end. I ended up waiting for a crescendo that never came. Several times Manson mumbled through songs and even added a "whatever" as the always sexy Ziggy carried the band through the performance. I'm not sure if the resentment was mutual but he clearly had no love for Jacksonville.
Finally I attended part of the Korn concert. There was an abundance of energy to be had, but ranther a lack of focus. Most of the songs played were either so old or so new I didn't recognize a single stanza, even as I left the grounds and walked to my car. (Where I had to pay $20 to park).
The VIP pass in my opinion was a complete waste of money. The VIP area was so far from the stage I would have been better off mixing it up in the mosh pit. There was no parking included either. The VIP services consisted of a few vendors, mostly selling the same stuff - T-shirts and cheap beer - at a premium.
The information posted on the grounds and/or given by the staff was incorrect about 99% of the time. There were multiple signings I would have liked to attend, but couldn't get any information as to where and when they would be.
In closing, the weather certainly added an element of chaos to the event, but there was a clear lack of communication between the bands and the staff. Save your money and buy the cheap tickets because you can't bring a professional camera/ camcorder or binoculars into the event either. Might as well see it up close and personal even if you do wind up leaving bruised and covered in mud.