by Holly Van Ness | April 25th , 2024

All images are from WDHA Rock the Rockfest in Newark, NJ on 4/25/24.

Photo by Holly Van Ness | @Hollyvn_photography

Produced by Ledge Entertainment in collaboration with local radio stations, a traveling festival filled with iconic rock bands started in St. Augustine, Florida, and ended in St. Paul, Minnesota. My show, presented by WDHA-FM, was at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and marked my very first arena show–as well as Social Casualty’s first festival coverage!

When I walked into the arena, I took a good look at the crowd and quickly realized that Jenna, Evan, and I were probably the youngest people in that entire building. Which made total sense considering the big headlining bands were huge when I was still a fetus in the womb. My only Seether knowledge came from my death-metal-loving ethics professor the day before (shout out to Dr. Guitar!) That being said, the crowd didn’t act their age in the slightest bit. They were rowdy, loud, and singing along to practically every song an artist performed. The people at the barricade were a mix of Seether and Staind megafans and while I still don’t understand the reference, someone was dressed entirely in a Santa costume.

Ayron Jones officially opened the festival with his unique sound of blended rock, hip-hop, and soul. He was joined by his band, all of whom matched his eccentric energy and smooth rhythm. After them, Dayseeker introduced the crowd to a different type of heavy rock by playing their signature nu-metal sound and lead singer Rory Rodriguez showed off his killer vocals.

The Struts had my favorite performance out of all the bands. I’ve been a casual listener to them since high school (their music was always on my “walking to school” playlist) and it was super exciting to recognize a ton of their music and be able to dance and sing on my way out of the photo pit. Luke Spiller has the most amazing and exhilarating stage presence I’ve seen in a very, very long time, and his showmanship is just fucking wild.

Seether and Staind played longer sets back to back and looking around, it was obvious that there were a lot of longtime fans in the crowd. There was an older mom with her teenage son near the front of the crowd and I kept watching them for a while and was filled with his warm, almost-fuzzy feeling at the sight of them singing along and getting lost in the music. There’s just something special about holding onto the memories of music, even after so many years have passed.

I think it’s safe to say that WDHA’s Rock The Rock Fest…totally rocked.