Uproar Fest is essentially the hard rock answer to Mayhem Fest (Rockstar sponsors both tours) Normally I wouldn't of went to this show, but my cousin gave me free tickets. The show ended up being better then I expected.
My friend and I arrived a bit late, so we missed the local opener. We got there about halfway through (regular Uproar opener) Hell Or Highwater's set. Hell Or Highwater was really standard hard rock that fell pretty flat. Their whole set was bland as all hell, they were even bad by radio rock standards. Completely forgettable set that turned out to be one of the worst of the day.
Art Of Dying was up next. They were similar to Hell Or Highwater, but they were a lot better. Their vocalist and guitarist were respectable and they were pretty energetic on stage. The only problem with their set was their music is just really average. Not bad at all (especially after Hell Or Highwater), but nothing special either.
Black Tide was next in line. I was a fan of Black Tide a few years ago when I saw them at Mayhem 08 and they sucked. Not much changed this go-round except Black Tide is touring off of a shitty album now. Gabriel Garcia is an awful singer. After the second song, his voice already sounded strained and raspy. It's not even like he is doing anything crazy vocally, that really shouldn't happen. I will give them a few points for Garcia's guitar playing and their drummer's completely balls-out energy. Despite a few bright spots, Black Tide put on a pretty lackluster performance.
Sevendust closed out the second stage and completely destroyed everyone else on that stage. I really didn't know what to expect because I hadn't listened to Sevendust in a long time and even then I barely listened to them. Their energy and stage presence really struck me immediately. They worked the crowd exceptionally well and you could tell they were having a blast on stage. I probably won't be buying of their albums anytime soon, but Sevendust was pretty damn good live and put one of the best performances of the day.
On the opposite of the spectrum, Escape The Fate opened the main stage. They were way out of place on this lineup and their terrible performance didn't do anything to change my opinion of them. It seemed the only people into them were the 12-13 year old girls in attendance screaming their fucking heads off. Escape The Fate's scene image and really bad emo-ish metalcore was just sad to me. I will admit their guitarist is pretty good, but other than that, watching Escape The Fate was a pretty painful experience.
Bullet For My Valentine was up next and they were pretty good. For whatever reasons, their material sounds better live. Their set was made up of mostly tracks off their middling last record Fever, which was kind of a bummer. Thankfully, these tracks sound a lot better live. The older material was without a doubt the standouts of their set. I really wish they would play more old stuff, it would make their set quite a bit better. Bullet For My Valentine was on par with the last time I saw them and I wouldn't mind seeing them again.
Seether was the next band up. Their performance was pretty decent. They sounded pretty similar to the studio recordings which is always a plus and their fans were really into them. I really only had one major gripe with their set, the fucking feedback after every song. After every single song, there was just a giant wall of feedback that lasted for a minute and a half until they went into the next songs. It got extremely annoying and they could have played another song or two instead of having obnoxious feedback between every song. It actually brought my grade of their performance down from a 7 to a 6.5. Besides that, Seether's set wasn't bad.
Three Days Grace was the surprise of the day. I have always considered them to be one of the best hard rock bands around and their live show solidified that. I really didn't expect them to be that enjoyable live. Adam Gontier is a damn fine frontman and he sounded spot-on live. His crowd interaction was great and he was funny as hell. Their setlist was pretty predictable, but that really wasn't a issue for a festival like this. I don't know if I would pay to see them headline, but they fit in really well on a festival like this.
Avenged Sevenfold was on next, and they were great. Definitely the best performance out of the three times I've seen them. The setlist had quite a few surprises including most notably "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1". I could not believe they played that, it was one of the most pleasant surprises setlist-wise out of all of the concerts I've been to. The whole band was having a lot of fun. M.Shadows was smiling throughout the show and you could tell he was having a great time on stage. On top of that, the whole band played really well. Synster Gates is a such a great guitarist and their new drummer is damn good as well. Avenged Sevenfold is always a good time live and they closed out Uproar on a high note.
Not a bad festival overall. I probably wouldn't have paid to go, but it was definitely worth taking the free tickets for.Avenged Sevenfold was worth it by themselves and some of the other bands exceeded my expectations.I had a pretty good time and the bands (for the most part) kept me entertained.
Scores
Hell Or High Water 3.5/10
Art Of Dying 5/10
Black Tide 4/10
Sevendust 7.5/10
Escape The Fate 2.5/10
Bullet For My Valentine 7/10
Seether 6.5/10
Three Days Grace 7/10
Avenged Sevenfold 8.5/10
Setlists:
Art Of Dying included:
Whole World's Crazy
Die Trying
Black Tide:
Warriors Of Time
Bury Me
Let It Out
That Fire
Honest Eyes
Sevendust (jacked from setlist.fm):
Splinter
Strong Arm Broken
Forever
Pieces
The End Is Coming
Face To Face
Bullet For My Valentine:
Your Betrayal
Pleasure and Pain
Waking The Demon
The Last Fight
Guitar Solo
Scream, Aim, Fire
Tears Don't Fall
Begging For Mercy
Seether:
Rise Above This
?
Gasoline
Fine Again
Broken
Tonight
Country Song
Fake It
Remedy
Three Days Grace:
The Good Life
Break
Pain
I Hate Everything About You
I Don't Care
Home/Lose Yourself (Eminem Cover)
Never Too Late
Riot
Animal I Have Become
Avenged Sevenfold:
Nightmare
Critical Acclaim
Beast and the Harlot
Welcome to the Family
I Won't See You Tonight Part 1
Afterlife
Not Ready to Die (live debut)
Scream
A Little Piece of Heaven
Bat Country
Unholy Confessions
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