The first ever Chicago Open Air festival at Toyota Park in Chicago kicked off with a bang and was well stocked with a heavy-hitting bill featuring household names such as Rammstein, KoRn, Disturbed, Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, Marilyn Manson, Breaking Benjamin, and more.
Kicking off the three days of mayhem, Sumerian Records recently signed four-piece hard rock band, Through Fire, lit up and set the tone on the second stage with their single, “Stronger”, which is steadily climbing the charts and reached #1 on Octane and iTunes.
In This Moment’s Maria Brink put the audience in a trance with sultry, ballbusting vocals and provocative costumes – a spellbinding performance to say the least.
Here’s another amazing shot of Maria Brink for your viewing pleasure.
I can’t recall ever seeing a circle pit before noon. Butcher Babies nailed that. In fact, I was shocked to see that area of the festival grounds fairly close to max capacity so early in the afternoon. Clean sound, Butcher Babies firing on all cylinders, and an energetic crowd. Heidi, Carla and the gang riled up a massive crowd-surfing frenzy with their monster hit, “Monster Ball”, which injected a surge of energy into festival-goers to kick off the day in great fashion. I will add that Heidi and Carla walked around the festival throughout the remainder of the day and did not hesitate to stop and grab photos or autographs with fans every single time they were approached. Kickass ladies with a true, sincere dedication toward their fanbase!
Fan favorites and one of the greatest metal acts of our day, Trivium, got the crowd going full of circle pits and a death wall stemming from a mixture of old favorites and new jams.
The masked men of Hollywood Undead graced the stage with rapcore and defining electronic elements that cranked the crowd level up to 100 strobe lights and all.
Of Mice & Men’s energy was exceptional on the main stage and the crowd response was as expected; piercing. From member changes, to musical direction, Of Mice & Men has evolved and their pit-inducing potential continues to rock the hearts of their extremely dedicated fan base.
Beartooth put an unbelievable performance at Chicago Open Air. As one fan put it, “Beartooth killed it. They better be back.”
If you like Silver Snakes’ new album ‘Saboteur’, you need to get your ass to one of their shows. They owned every second of their performance. Unbelievable.
The Swedish God’s of heaviness, Meshuggah, melted faces and blurred the lines between time and space with their set that closed down the second stage by digging into their discography and playing tracks from their 1998 release, ‘Chaosphere’.
The German freaks of nature, Rammstein, absolutely tore up and closed down Toyota Park for their only 2016 U.S performance. The crowd went absolutely insane for a show truly unlike no other. Till and the gang brought upon the theatrical aspect with music that reflects the darkness coalesced within their mixture of techno, trance, metal, and industrial sound. The fire launched into the crowd is face melting hot and Till ended the set in flame-covered wings that left the audience absolutely stunned.
Canadian Rock band, Saint Asonia, fired up the main stage and looked as though they felt right at home performing songs such as, “Better Place”.
San Antonio Rock band, Nothing More, played their hearts out with songs off of their 2014 self-titled record for majority of their set.
Ohio’s Miss May I made their way in Chicago in neck-snapping fashion and tore up the second stage. Vocalist, Levi Benton, enlivened the crowd with his signature growls and the gang gave a dynamic performance both current tracks and crowd pleasers that stemmed back to 2009.
The melodic death metal band from Liverpool, Carcass, were once amongst the pioneers of new genres of metal and pleased the crowd with classic Carcass tracks that are head-banging material from every era of the band.
An intense energy lingered in the midst of Gorija’s set that worked the crowd into a frenzy. Let’s just say that if you were standing next to the enormous amplifier on either side of the stage, you may want to consider getting your hearing checked in the near future.
Breaking Benjamin rolled through onto the main stage with most of their hits and a few newer tracks that created a memorable experience for Chicago Open Air. The place felt electric and the crowd really loved Benjamin Burnley and the gang.
It’s the 21st anniversary of one of the most standout nu-metal bands of all time, KoRn, and they sure as hell put on a great live performance. The band’s set was balanced with a combination of 90’s hits such as “Freak on a Leash” and “Got The Life”, and the release of a new track that showcased that the uniquely talented musicians aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Saturday night came to a close with Chicago’s own, Disturbed, adding a cherry on top of a night that was whipped with insanity and mayhem. Being the seasoned performers that they are, the guys treated the crowd with elaborate guitar playing and a range of hits full of vocal goodness from David, who made his presence and performance seem effortless.
Sunday kicked off with fans stoked to see the Alternative Metal band that formed in Los Angeles, Gemini Syndrome, which features lead singer, Aaron Nordstrom’s rich and powerful vocals.
Texas proud deathcore band, Upon A Burning Body, destroyed the second stage with a brutal, unrelenting array of aggression from a band visibly giving it everything they got.
All That Remains set fire to the main stage and set the mood with Phillip Laborite’s powerful screams and pitch perfect harmonies.
Letlive took the second stage and delivered a frantic performance with one of the craziest mofo’s to hit the stage, Jason Butler, leading the way and belting out intense lyrics that left the crowd stunned.
Bullet For My Valentine pummeled through a solid set where mosh pits and sweat-soaked masses of diehard fans swarmed the premises for the power-metal quartet.
The Lord of Darkness, Marilyn Manson, tossed around empty kegs/beer bottles, launched thousands of empty pill cases into the crowd, walked around stage on industrial stilts with a fake butcher knife, performed from atop a podium parodying Hitler, etc. Can you say one-of-a-kind?
The audience passionately belonged to the gang of Five Finger Death Punch who didn’t miss a beat while Ivan Moody captivated the crowd with his electric stage presence.
Last but certainly not least, there was enough pyro on stage to burn down a town while Slipknot closed out the festival with their deep-rooted aggressive sound that they unleashed with full force on the voracious crowd. The nine-piece gang had constant command of Toyota Park and Corey Taylor provided memorable, strongly-executed choruses that the crowd waited all weekend to chant along to.
Chicago Open Air was a dream come true for metal fans and will continue to be in the coming years. This festival was a perfect opportunity to see all of your favorite bands in the same location for three days – and let’s not forget the ample supply of craft beer and #GourmetManFood! Horns up to Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) for putting on such an incredible event.
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Written by Jessica Golich on behalf of ROCKwell UnScene
