Is Bang Camaro Playing Rocklahoma? Or Why the Lineup Needs Rebalanced...Or Fully Announced...Or Something

Looks like Bang Camaro might be playing Rocklahoma. I mean, it's hard to tell because the festival hasn't put an official release listing all the bands in ages...but the side stage lineup was announced yesterday and Bang Camaro is on it.

Why are Bang Camaro on a side stage?

Let me rephrase: why are any national bands on side stages when the main stage talent is so sparse/random/weak?

Bang Camaro is a national band. Modern? Yes. Famous? Yes. Could they sell tickets? Yes. Move them to the main stage.

Let's review.

Tracii's L.A. Guns are on a side stage. Tracii personally told me this was his choice because he didn't want to play in the midday sun. I respect that as playing Oklahoma in the middle of July is sort of like signing up to walk barefoot on hot coals while already having a sunburn on 100% of your body. Yeah, it ain't fun. Actually, fun and being outside in Oklahoma during July don't really go together period, but whatever. I hope it rains again and the mud people come back. Ah, that would be great. Mud and stink for days. Or not.

Big Cock - also side stage. They are main stage worthy. David Henzerling is my friend, he rocks harder than you and, oh yeah, Robert Mason can sing his ass off. Move them to the main stage.

Dirty Looks - side stage. Seriously? This is a band that has never played Rocklahoma. Die hard Glam fanatics have been asking for this band for ages. Dirty Looks trump Stryper. Move Dirty Looks to the main stage.

Who else is on a side stage that would have previously been main stage caliber? Let's see: D'Molls, Baton Rouge, Faster Pussycat, Britny Fox and about a dozen more.

Damn, son - I don't get it. Here I am, lucky enough to go to Rocklahoma for free but choose to pay to support both the festival and the bands and to keep my bias in check - but somethin' gotta give. By the time it's all said and done, I will have dropped about two grand on the third installment of Rocklahoma. That's money that could have gone to Hawaii, some really fancy Glam stage clothes...or therapy. Perhaps all three.

So, here I am, looking at a credit card bill for two grand in one hand and a bizarre festival lineup in the other. Apparently you can do some weird upgrade experience at Rocklahoma this year meaning you can pay more money and sit on the stage and get access to a fancy lounge. Rock Gone Wild is doing this, but the lounge access is included in your platinum ticket. Let me reiterate that I already paid for a Rocklahoma V.I.P. ticket which is apparently now worthless in the standard "I'm a very important person" sort of fashion. Shame, really, as I was looking forward to being a V.I.P. again.

I dunno. Are there good bands slated for Rockalhoma 09? Hell yes, chiefly Kix, Big Cock, RATT, Lillian Axe and Baton Rouge - in that order. That's five bands...divided by two grand...eh, screw it.

At this point, it is what it is: I will go to Rocklahoma and have fun with my husband Eric, Christian and Kari; won't drink any watered down beer and will attempt to stay out of the sun as much as possible. I won't think of how I could have used that two grand for front row at Aerosmith or even American Idols Live to see Adam Lambert. No, I will go to America's biggest Glam festival, wearing a Bring Back Glam! T-shirt and review the show. Every day I will reiterate that most of the side stage bands should be rocking the main stage and I'll provide photographic evidence of both bands and crowd size. 

So help me, I just don't get it.

Are you going to Rocklahoma? Agree? Disagree?

Comments

[Retrospect Records]

I retract my above statement. AX7 vocals are not that bad (as long as they stay melodic). Primal Fear DOES write better songs though in my opinion.
AX7 are one of the very few American bands I can tolerate.

[KixRules]

Hey Sam...you are so off base on Rock on The Range...I bet you have never even listened to bands like Charm City Devils...before throwing a blanket statement over something, be informed first...just listen to this band and tell me what you think...

[Retrospect Records]

I checked em out - they're ok but that singer just fucking grates on me after 2 minutes. The riffs are cool but again 'where's the big hook'?? No no no , this is once again typical mediocrity that y'all are accepting because you haven't checked out the big boys. Airbourne blows CCK out of the water.
Now let's peruse the other bands at ROTR...

Shinedown = average , nothing special
Buckcherry = ditto
the Used = crap
Atreyu = crap
Chevelle = crap
Flyleaf = total crap
Saving Abel = forgettable
Saliva = haha shyte
Blue October = dont know these guys
Hoobastank = should have never got past the garage stage.
Black Stone Cherry = see Buck Cherry
Slipknot = built their rep on songs like Fuck the World. Great great talent in the drum department but let's get serious people.

So , there ya go. A bunch of mediocrity. Now look at the sidestages alone at Rocklahoma.

'Nuff Said.

[Christian]

I'm glad you get that we're saying the side stages look good, because they really do.

The vocals on the first couple of A7X albums are screamo, but the last two are good. Primal Fear does have a better vocalist, and the songs are great, I only highlighted the issue of technique because of your reference to grunge and nu-metal. But, my fave Primal Fear song is 'Seven Seals', which is not a great song technique wise. Technique is not everything.

[Christian]

You did not list ALL The bands at ROTR. For me, A7X will be the highlight, I have a live DVD and they put on a hell of a show. I don't see how someone who likes 80s rock doesn't like Buckcherry, but, whatever. Black Stone Cherry, well, that's more of a 70s sound, so you either like that, or you don't. Clutch is a killer band, I can't wait to check them out. Atreyu is crap, and I don't know a lot of the other bands. I am going to see:

Buckcherry
A7X
Black Stone Cherry
Clutch
Motley Crue
Slipnot
Shinedown

Now, I don't see how that's a lot different from going to ROK, where there are also about 5 bands that I really like a lot, and have not seen before, and a bunch of other bands I either think are OK, like but I've seen enough, or I've not heard of.

It's not war of the festivals. I'm coming to ROK, I'm coming to ROTR. I am even going to the Minnesota Food Festival, seeing as they could book JP/WS and ROK could not.

[Retrospect Records]

Rok had those two (JP / WS) in the bag all the way up to March - it was THEIR agency that screwed Rok and decided to book 3 shows during the Roklahoma fest. Don't you see , it was all about MONEY. JP / WS's agency made 3x the money when they took the dates in Canada and NY as opposed to Oklahoma. So who's to blame here?

[Retrospect Records]

Supporting festivals like ROTR is like telling the record companies "yes it's ok to feed us substandard mediocrity and we'll accept it". STOP THE MADNESS.

[Christian]

So, you're saying I shouldn't pay to go to a festival that has a number of bands I want to see, why exactly ?