WDHA'S ROCK THE ROCK FEST AT PRUDENTIAL CENTER IN NEWARK

It has been close to 3 years of a wait for this festival. This past Thursday, April 28th, 2022, the long-awaited WDHA’s “ROCK THE ROCK FEST” finally arrived at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. With the support of Lilith Czar, Wage War, Black Veil Brides, and Three Days Grace, Godsmack headlined one of the craziest and best festivals I have attended in quite some time. 

To start of the night, Lilith Czar took the stage as the King she is. Originally walking out on stages as her other personality, Juliet Simms, Lilith Czar has shown just way she has overtaken the body and is here to stay. Her performance literally proved why she is one of the best female goddesses to pick up a guitar and slay her audience with her beautiful and unique vocals. Each song was packed with passion as you could visually see the expressions on her face, and that bodysuit Ms. Czar was rocking definitely had necks snapping and eyes glued to her! Lilith Czar is the total package, from being an extraordinarily unique person with an eye gazing style from head to toe, a powerful set of vocals with a wide range of sound (lows to highs, raspy to clean, soft to powerfully loud), and a personality that easily connects with the crowd as we witnessed her talk and joke with her fans yelling up to her in between songs. Lilith Czar is here to pave a new and permanent way, not as a queen, but as the King she is.

I have been waiting to get my chance to see Wage War live. I have been a fan for a while now. As I personally have just gone through an extremely tough time in my life, their music has been a very big part in giving me the kick in the ass to keep moving. Now, being able to see these guys perform live and capture it, I was overcome with a massive amount of excitement and thrill. They were definitely one of the harder groups I have captured as they are literally moving around and jumping all over the stage - such high energy and so much power in each step they take and each note they play. Briton Bond and Cody Quistad sounded just as great as on their albums. From the heavier vocals to the cleans, you can hear and feel what they are singing. The rest of the boys all respectively dominated their instruments and did their part to make Wage War one of my new favorite acts to see live. From hitting the stage to walking off, they did not stop. I sometimes wonder just how these people can rock this hard every god damn night with such small breaks in between. However they do it, Wage War delivered everything you could want from a live show and have you NOT wanting to leave – but wanting much more! 

Black Veil Brides was the next to take their turn in making this night one never to forget. Again, here is another band I have listened to plenty of times, but never had the chance to see live, and to go 3 for 3 now - another act you can add to my list of amazing live performances. One of the other photographers in the pit happened to be a huge fan. She told me how Black Veil Brides have been a favorite of both hers and her fathers, one that they have followed together since she was a kid. I was able to get a good breakdown of the band’s past, along with some songs to keep my ear open for. As I watched Andy Biersack perform and sing his heart out, and watched the band rock out from behind the drum kit to stepping on to the speakers/risers and doing some duo guitar solos, I could easily see why she was such a massive fan of these guys. 

I have seen Three Days Grace perform live several times. Every show was an awesome time, and with knowing that I was well prepared for yet another great performance.  “So Called Life”, “Animal”, and “Home” were the trio to open their set. I have been a fan of Three Days Grace for years now. To hear some of the classic songs mixed with the new was a perfect mix of past and present. “Goodlife”, “Painkiller”, and “Never Too Late” were some other songs they played during this set. I started on stage left where Barry Stock was situated. As always, he makes sure to acknowledge both the camera crew in the pit as well as all the crazy fans yelling for him to toss out some picks. Seeing both Matt Walst and his brother Brad Walst rock side by side and showing that brotherly love is always great to watch and capture! Neil Sanderson took to his throne behind his kit, and was always tossing sticks in the air and jumping up in between songs to entice the crowd and make sure everyone is yelling, screaming and having one hell of a time! This band just knows how to get the crowd going, keeping them going and enjoying the show, and deliver one hell of a performance every single time they play. 

The time had finally come for the massively talented and hard rocking headlining act to hit the stage. It has been a few years since Godsmack last played in NJ. The last time I saw them was at the Food Truck and Rock Carnival that was held in Clark, NJ. As the night came into play, and the daylight had come and gone, these rock veterans closed out that festival like no other. This past Thursday they, once again, were part of a festival with some amazing acts. This time it was WDHA’s “ROCK THE ROCK FEST”, and these Rock Gods closed it out with massive amounts of pyro, accompanied by their long list of classic tunes as well as some of their most recent from When Legends Rise. Hearing some of my all time favorites – “I Stand Alone”, “Keep Away”, “Speak”, and “Bulletproof”– this night truly just kept getting better and better. Sully, Robbie, Tony, and Shannon are masters at what they do. Each member still is rocking harder than when they hit the stages over 2 decades ago. One thing special that caught my eyes this time - as the encore was to begin, a beautiful white Grand Piano was set center stage for “Under Your Scars”. Many of us that have seen Godsmack perform live have witnessed Sully and Shannon in their duet drum solos. This was the perfect time for a change up, and “Under Your Scars” was the absolute right fit.

The wait was finally over from the show being postponed since April of 2019. All of these acts were the perfect fit for a perfect night. WDHA’s “ROCK THE ROCK FEST” did simply that… ROCKED!  Until next time… keep checking us out for more amazing shows and festivals to come!