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ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
Written By: Gary Crouthamel
*Click images below to view larger versions.
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
ROB ZOMBIE- BOARDWALK ROCK FESTIVAL 2025
OCEAN CITY, MD
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MAY 17-18
 
Wow! Welcome to the inaugural Boardwalk Rock sold-out concert with 55,000 people on our beach and boardwalk.  It was a perfect weekend of sun, fun and rock music for us to enjoy from 28 bands representing more than four decades of incredible music. Unfortunately, due to health issues, Motley Crue, 3 Doors Down and Alice in Chains all had to cancel their appearances at the festival which meant some of the other bands had to shuffle their time slots.  With only a week ‘til show time, they were able to get Rob Zombie to fill in one of the slots.
 
Day 1 started out with Kat Von D on the main Thunder stage.  Some other highlights of the day had Extreme playing on the Lightning stage with lead singer Gary Cherone running around the stage like crazy the entire set.  I skipped The Struts band as some of the bands overlapped with the same time slots. Mammoth WVH put on a high-energy set that was great to see.  I have only seen Wolfgang Van Halen one previous time when he was the bass player with his late great father Eddie Van Halen's band Van Halen.  Would love to catch them again sometime.  On the Bolt stage midday was Bush where during the second song, lead singer Gavin Rossdale jumped in the photo pit and all the way down to the soundboard to sing up close and personal to the crowd.  Back to the Thunder Stage where Sirius XM's very own Eddie Trunk was introducing the next act saying, “It's not too often you get to see a zombie during the daylight,” as he introduced Rob Zombie to the crowd. Back to the Bolt stage where Halestorm was rocking the crowd into a frenzy as Lizzy Hale and the band played a powerful rock set that closed the Bolt stage with a great performance.  To close out day 1 on the Thunder stage was Def Leppard who played a 90-minute set as an absolute sea of people on the beach roared their approval and also with waves of applause.  It was cool to read on Instagram that Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen said, “We are in Ocean City, Maryland, at Boardwalk Rock Festival and I never knew this place existed but it is awesome.
 
Day 2 started out with an easier entrance into the festival than day 1 which had quite longer lines that had gone around some of our street blocks as well as up the boardwalk for several blocks. I’m also happy to say the weather was just as perfect as on day 1.  I got started back at the Thunder stage with Saliva, which I had seen years ago in Salisbury at the Civic Center.  They put on a powerful set with lead singer Bobby Amaru getting some of the fans up front to crowd surf their way to the photo pit.  Then I hurried to the Bolt and Lightning stages to catch the bands Lit, Crossfade, Dorothy, and Night Ranger. What a great performance from them with Night Ranger’s lead singer and bass player, Jack Blades throwing in some songs such as, “Coming of Age” and “High Enough,” from his days in the old Damn Yankees (remember them) with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw.  Now it was time to take a short walk across the parking lot to the Bolt stage to catch one of the best acts of the day: none other than Alice Cooper!  He and his band gave us a great 60-minute set with his amazing guitarist Nita Strauss just shredding her guitar and bending her body all over the stage.
 
Then I was back to the Thunder stage for Shinedown in the blistering heat and sun amid thousands of fans on the beach. It was just amazing to behold this sea of people on the beach when usually we can just walk right down to the water. To end day 2 at the Bolt stage, we heard Three Days Grace. Then up on the Thunder stage Nickelback ended the festival giving us a crazy 90-minute set with pyro and great images on the LED screen behind them and the two on each side of the stage.
 
All in all, the sold-out Boardwalk Rock was a huge success for all the fans and our town and is already booked for next spring at the same time; in fact for the next five years with C3 Productions.  Don't wait; get your tickets early because you don't want to miss an event like this.  Clearly, these festivals are making a positive impact on our town and, in fact, are putting Ocean City on the nationwide festival map.  Many of the performers commented on what a great town and beautiful oceanside view we have.  Ocean City has become quite attractive to bands and I’m sure we’ll continue to have the opportunity to hear many more.  And remember, we do have the fall festivals Oceans Calling & Country Calling coming back in the fall the same time as last year. Until then, let’s enjoy our summer here at the beach before they start setting up again for the next incredible concert lineup.  Thank you Ocean City!
 
 
Gary Crouthamel, Concert Photo Journalist for Coconut Times
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