It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 10 years since Soundwave Festival collapsed into a sinkhole of debt, doubt and dirt. Yes, really. And the only serious contenders to threaten to take its place have been Good Things and Knotfest. Sure, they scratch an itch, but none last longer than twelve hours, and neither did forerunners like Big Day Out or Alternative Nation back in the 90s. Indeed, attempting to stretch the appeal over two days may have been Soundwave’s fatal mistake.
As an ex-pat Brit, one of the things I miss most about the UK is its rock festivals: Reading, Download, even Glastonbury. And Europe’s Hellfest and Wacken were but a short hop away. But while Australia has no problem attracting tours from the largest international rock bands, our rock festival scene suffers from a dearth of multi-day events compared with Europe and the US. [Shout out to the uber-niche Blacken Open Air – three days of the deadest domestic Death Metal staining the desert outside Alice Springs.]
While around 25% larger in area, the US has nearly 13 times the population, many of them thirsty for the heavy, heavy sounds. So, as a result of our relative isolation on the planet, and therefore the cost of bringing over enough high-profile bands to fill four days of entertainment, Aussie metalheads must sit and watch the overseas festival lineup announcements with ever more jealous eyes (and ears), and wish that once, just once, we could have our own four-day epic, with multiple stages, gobsmacking band clashes, and that unique festival camping vibe.
And so, AU Review gives you five US rock festivals that we wish would take place over here.
Welcome to Rockville
Daytona International Speedway, FL, May 15-18
Welcome to Rockville is advertised as the biggest rock festival in the US, due to the venue’s unprecedented capacity of over 100,000 seats and room for many more standing. If you had to pick one to go to in 2025, this is the one. With four days, five stages, and a total of 152 bands, the possible clashes are enough to induce heart palpitations from 15,000km away. Rob Zombie or Bodycount? Korn vs Bad Omens? Good Charlotte to Killswitch Engage? [Okay, that one’s easy. Good Charlotte would lose out to The World Famous Frankie’s House Band.] Fortunately, a system of stage rotation will ensure such difficult choices are kept to a minimum.
By all accounts, the event has been very well organised in the past, with free water stations, lockers, pass-outs for campers, shaded areas and, of course, multiple food and beverage stalls. As this is an all-ages event, alcohol will be on sale for over 21s only. As well as ADA viewing platforms (Americans with Disabilities Act) the organisers are working with Living The Dream foundation to help terminally ill fans, and Soberville, ‘a supportive and inclusive initiative designed for attendees who choose to enjoy the festival without the use of alcohol or drugs’.
All-in-all, this looks like being a terrific event, with more outdoor metal mayhem in four days than Australia has seen in the last decade.
Head to the Welcome to Rockville website for more.
Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival
Columbus OH, May 8-11
Sonic Temple, which stirs memories of the excellent 1989 album by The Cult for those of us old enough, is a sort of sister festival to Welcome to Rockville, with many of the same artists contributing riffage. Two things the Florida festival doesn’t have is Metallica. Or to put it another way – Metallicas. For the metal behemoths are headlining two of the four nights on the main stage, with completely different sets! If you’re not a Metallifan, there are plenty of other options to occupy your ears, but if you are, these ‘no-repeat’ sets will have you frothing like a cappuccino. Other big players that make it worth attending, even if you’ve already got tickets to Rockville, are Ministry, Suicidal Tendencies, and good old GWAR (bring old clothes and swimming goggles).
Just in case you can’t find a band to watch at any one time (surely impossible), Sonic boasts other cool experiences, such as the whole ‘arts’ part of the festival. While details on this are so far limited to talk of murals and live art exhibits, the organisers promise ‘original works from both renowned and emerging artists, all drawing inspiration from the power and intensity of rock music.’ There’s a Dive Bar on site, worth a visit to see if Alice Cooper has decided to drop in and mix a batch of margaritas for all and sundry, and an on theme whiskey bar dedicated to BLACKENED, the bourbon/rye blend designed by Metallica and sonically-enhanced by blasting their music at the barrels. I kid you not.
It will be impossible to be bored at Sonic Temple 2025.
Inkarceration Music & Tattoo Festival
Mansfield OH, July 18-20
Looks like the moshers of Ohio are in for a cracking summer, with their second helping being the heavier of the two. Held in the grounds of Ohio State Reformatory, an historic prison building with heaps of atmosphere (all tickets include a self-guided tour of the premises worth $30), Inkarceration features not one but two, count ‘em, Aussie bands – local boys done good Parkway Drive and Gympie’s finest sons, The Amity Affliction. They’ll be shredding alongside such upstanding US citizens as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Lamb of God, and the kind of bands whose logos resemble the spilled entrails of a roo on the Great Western Highway.
Of course, no-one should pass up the opportunity to get a tattoo at one of the 39 studios inking skin that weekend at the Tattoo X. Loved Beartooth’s set on the Friday night? Take your adrenaline-fuelled impulse desire to Bleeding Black, Drunken Monkey, or Gothic Heart, and get the Beartooth logo carved into your bicep. Please note that the campground is approximately four miles (6.5 km) from the venue, but a complimentary shuttle is provided daily from 10am to well after the last chord reverbs through the Marshall amps to thunderous applause.
Heavier bands, gallons of ink, and a Shawshank Redemption theme park will make Inkarceration the pick of the festival palette for many Aussies.
Louder than Life
Louisville KY, Sep 18-21
If there’s a theme to this southern metal festival’s 11th anniversary, it’s just that – anniversaries. And reunions. Anniversaries and reunions. And Farewells. Anniversaries, reunions and Farewells etc. Let’s start with the former because it involves that recent and very welcome trend of bands playing their best albums in full. Item #1 Rob Zombie celebrates 30 years of Astrocreep: 2000 with an end-to-end run through. Item #2 Trivium give their 2005 masterpiece Ascendancy the same treatment. Item #3 Max & Igor Cavalera belting out Chaos AD in its entirety. Other anniversaries that don’t specify the full album treatment include Fear Factory’s Demanufacture (30 years), Kittie’s Spit (25 years) and Accept (a whopping half a century of ear-bashing). This is the stuff dreams are made of.
In terms of reunions, the big news is Slayer (not that anyone really believed they’d gone for good), who headline the first night. Then there’s Snot, Spineshank, From First to Last and a heap of others. Bonkers hip hop loudmouths Insane Clown Posse are playing a ‘farewell set’, although since their farewell has been ongoing for about four years, fans needn’t get too worried on that score. [They’ve still a fair way to go to beat Ozzy Osbourne, who’s 1992 No More Tours tour means his ‘long goodbye’ is pushing 33 years, i.e.50% longer than his actual career!]. Despite all these old names, the full lineup of 160 bands includes plenty of new and current ones.
N.B. Like every other festival listed here, Louder than Life is cashless. Also, make sure to read your chosen festival’s ‘Allowed/Not Allowed Items’ FAQ.
Some of the choices may surprise you.
Aftershock
Sacramento CA, Oct 2-5
While many of the bands on the Aftershock bill are clearly doing the festival rounds this summer (Hello, Marilyn Manson!), the festival does have a few cool tricks up its sleeve. There’s Scottish ‘Pirate Metal Drinking Crew’ Alestorm, pop punk schoolboy fart-jokes Blink 182, and a bizarre tribute to the ultimate thrash metal supergroup, S.O.D. (Stormtroopers of Death), called Stormbreeders of Death, featuring two of the original members of S.O.D. So they’ve like, formed a tribute band to themselves! See also: Gojira, All American Rejects, Deftones, and Bruce Dickinson – Iron Maiden’s over-achieving frontman who just had to fit in a quick solo album and tour before his main band’s next epic global slog!
You can enjoy the antics of Sargent D via General Admission, VIP pass, or the Capital Club – an access-all-areas deluxe blowout of a ticket, which includes elevated viewing, an air conditioned lounge, complimentary light bites and beverages (including alcohol), exclusive rest rooms, a fast track to the merch stand, and private lockers. Unusually, Aftershock is a no-camping festival, meaning out-of-town punters will have to fork out for a hotel for the whole five nights. On the plus side, you’ll start each morning clean, and won’t have some drunken arse setting fire to your tent in the middle of the night. Just don’t bring in beach balls, hydration packs, strollers, metal containers, or ‘musical instruments of any kind’ (which might cause the musicians a bit of strife!)
And if you manage to attend all five festivals, you may consider yourself a rock fan of the highest order. We salute you!
And the one that got away…
Sick New World, Las Vegas NV, April 12
Sick New World 2025 promised to be the heaviest, metallist day the earth had seen since the Chernobyl meltdown – an insane number of enormous bands were booked for a single day. I won’t mention them here as I don’t want readers to weep salty tears of FOMO all over their keyboards, but alas – it was not to be. The primary rumour surrounding the cancellation was low ticket sales due to high pricing. I can’t imagine how much the promoter’s outlay would have been for that lineup, but general admission started at USD399 (~AUD650) – pretty steep for a single day. And the clashes would have brought even the Minotaur to its knees.
