Memorial Day weekend, first and foremost, is a time to remember all the men and women of all races and creeds that have fought and died for this country to give us our daily freedoms. We at RockRevolt Magazine would like to salute all the men and women who have fought for our rights and are currently fighting for our rights as Americans. Memorial Day weekend also signifies the end of the month of May, which has been billed as the “World’s Loudest Month”, and how do you send off the “World’s Loudest Month?” Well, with Rocklahoma, of course.
Rocklahoma, held at the Catch The Fever music grounds in Pryor, Oklahoma, is a festival unlike the other three-day festivals held in the United States. Not only does Rocklahoma bring a blend of the biggest artists in the industry of the past and present, but they also show us a glimpse into the future by inviting regional and local acts from all over the country. Rocklahoma lets band like 3D in your Face and 5 Star Hooker get in front of fans they have not yet been able to play for, making it one of the greatest parties of the year.
Speaking of parties, all of the other festivals have started doing a kickoff party on the Thursday before the festival to get everyone ready to rock for the weekend. Well, Rocklahoma has that market cornered with the Campground Kick Off Party.
With the majority of the Rocklahoma faithful camping out for the weekend, a lot of the diehards show up Thursday night and proceed to set up camp, so why not kick things of and show those campers how much they are appreciated? Starting off at 6:00 pm Thursday night and going till after 2:00am Saturday morning, the Campground Kick Off party is the stuff of legend, and every band who plays that party always has memorable stories that cloud the line on whether or not they can be shared or, hell, even remembered. Taking part in the party starting things off were bands such as Stolen Rhodes, Another Lost Year, and the St. Louis madmen, Final Drive.
Day one was a sweltering Oklahoma day, but that deterred none of the fans that were waiting outside the gate anxiously to let them in. But never fear, what do you do while waiting for the main gates to open, that’s right. You head over to the Axis Stage and get your day started off with killer local and regional bands. Once inside, three stages of non-stop rock and metal were set to keep fans’ attention and their heads banging.
Day one, like days two and three were packed with nothing but great talent as bands like Fozzy, In Flames, and Pierce the Veil commanded the second stage. Over on the main stage, Slaughter, The Pretty Reckless and Three Days Grace paved the way for the night one headliners: Def Leppard. As always, and for decades, the boys from across the pond put on nothing but a damn good rock and roll show and left their stamp on a weekend to never forget…
Rocklahoma 2017 Day 1
Day two was one that was already pack with emotion due to weight that the night’s headliner spot was carrying. Soundgarden was slated to be the day two headliners, but were forced to be replaced by the tragic and sudden death of one of the greatest voices to ever hit our ears, Mr. Chris Cornell. With the loss of Mr. Cornell, Live had volunteered to step in and fill the vacant slot, and a Chris Cornell tribute was set to follow.
However, Mother Nature had her own tribute planned and that was a forced moment of silence. Winds whipped throughout the day as bands such as DED, Starset and Fuel took to their respective stages. At 6:00pm, Zakk Sabbath took to the stage with the yellow warning flags flying high above all the grounds, letting the patrons know that there was severe weather in the area. Halfway through the set, the red flags replaced the yellow and Zak Wylde and the boys were forced to vacate the stage as the well as the patrons to vacate the area.
At 9:00, the show was called for the night, leaving bands such as The Cult, Suicidal Tendencies and Stone Sour without a stage to play. Mother Nature had stepped in and demanded the stage go quiet for the night.
Rocklahoma 2017 Day 2
Day three had the weather was back to its beautiful, yet a little warm, self. With the cancellation of the festival the night before, the festival organizers pushed back a few times and started a little earlier to allow some of the local and regional bands their chance to play in front of the crowd that many of them drove several thousand miles to see. Again, this really showed that they have love for the little guys as well as the heavy hitters. Trust me, these folks know that someday that band playing the AXIS stage just might be headlining a main stage one of these years, and they will be wanting them back. Day three seemed to be going on without a hitch with Buckcherry all lit up and singing to all those crazy bitches, and the Ratt pack turning back the clock and reliving some old memories.
Then, Jackyl decided to start the shenanigans and not only played roughly 20 minutes over their allowed time, but rumor has it that they even cranked their sound up when Nothing More started on the second stage to try and drown them out. This did not sit well with the Nothing More fans, as chants of, “no more Jackyl” could be heard coming from the second stage area. Not only did this not sit well with the fans of Nothing More, it sure as shit did not sit well with Shaun Morgan of Seether.
Due to the extended set of Jackyl, Seether was forced to shorten an already shortened set even more, and Mr. Morgan was not at all pleased about it. You could hear him tell the crowd that “day three was brought to you by the fuck Jackyl committee,” as well as many other things. There is video of it out there; you can check it out for yourself. Disgruntled as they may have been, Seether still delivered one hell of a show and got the stage all nice and warmed up for Dexter and the boys of Offspring to bring it all to a close.
Rocklahoma 2017 Day 3
It was another one for the record books: three days of life, love, and rock and roll. I just want to personally tip my hat to Rocklahoma for making a place for the local and regional talents from all over the country, hell even the world to come and put their music out there for the fans to hear.
Review and Interviews by Ace Sims, RockRevolt journalist
Photos by Jason Squires
