Another Carolina Rebellion in the books for this year! And what a year this Rebellion was! No matter what the lineup is like, I always have a great time every year. This was my 5thRebellion and I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t feeling the lineup this year. I was only there for a handful of bands: Parkway Drive, Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, Alice in Chains, Emmure, Hatebreed, Trivium, Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Cane Hill, Code Orange, and Incubus. But I ended up seeing some bands that I didn’t plan on seeing, and WOW!!! All the bands that I saw really impressed me.
I reunited with some of my homies at the Carolina Rebellion that I go to other shows with, and I also made some new friends (like always). A big shout out to my boys from Havelock, NC and Greenville, SC for jamming out with me. I hoped that the people that attended the festival followed my tips and tricks. I also saw every person on my list of people you’d see at a metal festival. I got tons of stories to share and bruises to explain after this past weekend. Were you at the Carolina Rebellion? Did you see me in the pit or crowdsurfing? Who was your favorite band from that weekend?
Did you see me at the Rebellion?
Man, these sunglasses I wore to the Carolina Rebellion are the real MVP’s. They survived multiple mosh pits and tons of crowdsurfing. I didn’t lose my sunglasses and they didn’t break. 10/10 would recommend.
Friday, day 1:
I arrived at the Carolina Rebellion around 1:40. The first band I wanted to catch, Pop Evil, came on at 2:50. I had enough time to plan out my day and walk around before I started moshing and crowd surfing. I ended up buying a bandana because the mosh pits that weekend turned out being dirt pits. So, I tied a bandana around my nose and mouth. I looked pretty cool if I do say so myself.
I was behind the pit when Pop Evil started, they were one of the first rock/metal bands that I got into in my young, teen years. Like always, they put on a great show. This father had his son on his shoulders and the crowd “Woo’d” them as they went to the front. The lead singer for Pop Evil let the little boy yell “Rock n’ Roll” in the mic and said that they are the next generation of this great music. I ended up crowd surfing out to the song Trenches.
After crowd surfing, I waited at the stage for one of my favorite bands to come on: Parkway Drive. I saw them at the Rebellion two years ago and I also saw them when they played in Charlotte with Miss May I and Thy Art Is Murder. I ran into one of my good friends while waiting for Parkway Drive to come on. To entertain ourselves, we were hitting inflatable balls around the crowd. You’d be surprised how easily entertained a group of metalheads are. Parkway Drive came out to Wishing Wells, which is a song that is off their new record, Reverence, and the crowd exploded. People were jumping around, moshing, crowdsurfing, and singing. Their set was live on Sirius Octane and man, did the crowd get rowdy. There was this one guy, (and his name is supposedly Pat), and he crowdsurfed to them in a giant rubber duck float. 10/10 for creativity. Parkway Drive is a great band to see live because their presence is so entertaining. They played some of their other popular songs such as Crushed and Bottom Feeder. I got a pretty gnarly brusie on the side of my thigh during their mosh pit. But hey, battle wounds are the best. My philosophy is that if you don’t come back sore and covered in bruises, you didn’t go hard enough. I crowdsurfed durung Bottom Feeder and I ended up meeting Jeff and Luke from Parkway Drive after their set. They are really cool guys, and they said that they really liked my sunglasses (I got that compliment a lot this past weekend).
As the day went on, I also saw Bullet For my Valentine, Stone Temple Pilots, and Stone Sour. All of these bands put on a great show. I don’t know what it is, but music always sounds better live and I realized that people at the Carolina Rebellion will literally mosh to anything. The last band that I saw that night was Alice in Chains. I have been looking forward to seeing them for years! Everyone was jamming out when they came on. People were crowdsurfing, singing, and dancing to every single one of their songs. I told all my friends that I would crowdsurf to Rooster, and GUESS WHO DID IT, YALL?! That’s right, The Saw did. My life was complete after crowdsurfing to that song.
Alice in Chains
Crowdsurf count: 4
Bruise count: 3
Saturday, day 2:
The second day of the Carolina Rebellion was easily my favorite day. There were so many bands that I wanted to see and I was planning on getting my crowdsurf count up and dying in the Hatebreed mosh pit. The first band I saw was Palisades and they put on a really good set. I only knew one song, Through Hell, and they played that song first. They are a smaller metalcore band and I enjoyed their set. I was jamming out beside a dude that was dressed up like a Viking. I also saw a dude dressed up like a penis. He was very popular when it came to taking pictures. I then saw some of Bad Wolves set, and boy did the crowd really like them.
Palisades
I then left to get a drink and I thought I was in line to get a Monster Energy Drink but come to find out I was actually in line to meet Asking Alexandria. They were pretty cool, and they all complimented my sunglasses. I had to throw it back to my middle school days and go see Asking Alexandria once again. But I left their set early because I was looking forward to seeing Trivium. I was 4 rows of people back for Trivium and I was already prepared to get pushed around in their mosh pit. I met up with some friends and once Trivium hit the stage, the entire crowd was a mosh pit. The lead singer said that we were the craziest crowd that he has seen on tour. They played my favorite song, In Waves, and I ended up crowdsurfing to that song as well.
Now, the next band I saw was… Black Veil Brides (BVB). I’m not a big fan but I wanted to see their live show. I made friends with a group of Marines that I hung out with and they were really cool. One of them was a big Asking Alexandria fan and this was his first Carolina Rebellion. So, I gave him my signed Asking Alexandria poster. He was so happy when I gave it to him. It was the least I could do. BVB’s set was really good, they put on a great live show! There was a baby pit for them and tons of crowdsurfers. I kept laughing because there was this guy beside me who kept commenting every time a crowdsurfer came by. He would say things like “Oh my god here comes another one,” “TIMBER!!!!!,” or my favorite “I have literally been eating ass all day.”
Black Veil Brides
I saw In This Moment again and if you haven’t seen them live, you are really missing out. They put on a great live show as well! And the singer’s voice live is amazing! I saw a girl in a wheelchair crowdsurfing and another girl with a sign that that said, “stop assaulting female crowdsurfers. I came to rock, not to get grouped.” I then went and saw a little bit of Emmure’s set and they are another band that is really good live. I heard them play my favorite song, Flag of the Beast, and then I went to get a spot for Breaking Benjamin. They played Darth Vader’s theme song and the inner nerd in my freaked out. They played some of their most popular songs such as Failure and Diary of Jane. I was on a guy’s shoudlers for Diary of Jane and I had a great view of the mosh pit and the band.
In This Moment
Breaking Benjamin
I ran over to the Gold Stage to see my boys in Hatebreed. There was a huge crowd, so I hauled ass and made my way to the pit. Yeah… the pit for Hatebreed was INSANE!!! Everyone was getting pushed around, there were crowdsurfers, and people on their friend’s shoulders. I’ve never seen a more rowdy crowd. The last time I saw Hatebreed was when they played with Cannibal Corpse years ago. I absolutely loved their stage show and how they interacted with the crowd. Everyone literally went crazy for them. I was bummed that they didn’t play Destroy Everything, but they did play one of my other favorite songs, Looking Down the Barrell of Today, and I moshed so hard. I then crowdsurfed out to catch Five Finger Death Punch.
I was in the way back for Five Finger Death Punch, and somehow, pushed my way to the barricade. The mosh pits for them were crazy, like always, and he talked about how much he loves America and the American Flag. That got A LOT of cheers from the crowd. The lead singer then brought a little girl with cancer on stage and sang to her. It was the most heartwarming thing I saw all weekend. I hauled ass out of the front to catch one of my favorite childhood bands: Godsmack. The first time I saw Godsmack was at the Carolina Rebellion a few years ago, and I was excited to see them again. I was dancing and singing the entire time and I made everyone around me dance with me as well. I got on one of my buddies shoulders for Something Different because Sully told us to. He played some of my favorite songs such as Keep Away, Whatever, and I Stand Alone. I crowdsurfed the entire time during I Stand Alone. It was awesome.
Five Finger Death Punch
Godsmack
Crowdsurf count: 6
Bruise count: 4
Sunday, day 3
The final day of the Carolina Rebellion is upon us and it is a very sad day. I saw some very interesting things on the last day. For example, there was a slip n’ slide where they used a tarp and soaked it with soap and water and then guys would slide into a girl’s butt. It was quiet entertaining to watch. And I am a strong supporter that rednecks are awesome and I want to spend every waking moment with them.
The first band that I saw was Cane Hill even though the mosh pit wasn’t as crazy, the band still put on a killer set. I made some friends that are from Greenville, SC during their set and I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the day. They were some really cool guys and I enjoyed hanging out with them on the last day. The only other bands that I really wanted to see on the last day besides Cane Hill was Code Orange and Incubus. I just walked around and looked at all the tents that were set up while I waited.
I met back up with my homies that I met during Cane Hill and we saw the rapper Jelly Roll. He was interesting to see, even though I wasn’t a big fan, the crowd seemed to love him. I went with my friends to see Greta Van Fleet and they impressed me. They remind me of Led Zepplin and the pipes on the lead singer are impressive! I was also shocked to find out that everyone in the band are family and they are all around my age. See! There is hope for my generation! During their set, I got asked to get on my friend’s shoulders and pose with a Yoda doll. So I did it, it was pretty cool.
Then We all went to the Black Stage to see Code Orange and I became the hardcore kid of my dreams. Code Orange was my favorite of the day and their pit brought the heat! I ran inside the pit here, at one point I got on my friend’s shoulders and we ran around in the mosh pit. But for the most part, I mainly crowdsurfed. This is where I crowdsurfed a total of 9 times. My friends just kept throwing me up and there I would go, flipping and rolling around in the air. We started running around in the pit and then I would run to my friends and I would jump as they threw me in the air to crowdsurf. It was the most hardcore kid thing I have ever done and it was a GREAT time. I had a guy come up to me after their set and said that my hair is like a mop and that my hair brushed his sunglasses and then he lost his sunglasses.
We then went and saw The Fever 333 and wow, they put on a great show!!!! Their stage show was crazy and the pit was insane. I just kept getting pushed up against people the entire time but hey, we’re all family! It’s all good in the pit ya feel me? Their guitarists ended up getting in the mosh pit with us and it was one of the coolest things that I have seen.
Incubus was the last band that I saw at the Carolina Rebellion and it was another impressive set! Again, the people at the Rebellion will literally mosh to anything so there was a pit for them as well. There were tons of crowdsurfers too. I was on my friend’s shoulders and I swear it was like I was a magnet for crowdsurfers. They all came out of nowhere, but shoutout to my boys catching all the bodies for me and made sure I didn’t fall off my friend’s shoulders. I crowdsurfed myself and I got a really bad handprint bruise that is very visible on my inner thigh. But hey, go hard or go home right? Incubus ended their set with their cover of Pony and I was shook to the max. The mosh pit turned into a grind train and everyone was dancing and grinding on each other showing off their best stripper moves. It was a great time. This guy in front of me was just throwing his ass in a circle on me and he had rhythm so it wasn’t too bad. After their set, I left with my friend’s and went back to the camp grounds to chill out and eat. I was exhausted from getting pretty beat up from crowd surfing and moshing.
Incubus
Crowdsurf count: 10
Bruise count: 8
Carolina Rebellion 2018 was a complete success. I have a great time each year no matter what the lineup is. The people you meet, the things you see, and what you experience is what makes the festival great. I am truly the happiest when I am at the Carolina Rebellion and it is always the highlight of my year. I saw a bunch of blown up sex dolls, people dressed up as penis’, Stormtroopers, bananas, and a piece of bacon. Saw a lot of girls (and guys) flash their boobs and met some great people. Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Carolina Rebellion one for the books. I will miss you all.
Until next year,
Stay Metal.
Overall crowdsurf count: 20
Overall bruise count: 15