The Inaugural Boardwalk Rock Festival brings 55,000 Music Fans to Ocean City, Maryland May 17, 2025

May 22, 2025
International Concert Reviews, International Festivals
by Jody Wilk Photographer/Writer

Day one of the inaugural Boardwalk Rock Festival took place in Ocean City, Maryland. After some heavy thunderstorms rolled through Friday night, a tornado watch, and a rainbow overlooking the festival area, the weather cleared out for Saturday, and it was beautiful with a little breeze. Perfect weather for around 55,000 music fans to descend on Ocean City to enjoy a day of hard rock and metal. Fans were excited to check out the festival grounds and get a feel for where everything was. With three stages, Lightning, Thunder, and Bolt, that would take a little time. Headlining Saturday’s event were Def Leppard, Halestorm, and recent addition, Rob Zombie, who replaced Alice in Chains, who was also a replacement for Motley Crue, who both had to cancel due to medical reasons, as well as 3 Doors Down. There were also a bunch of other bands from the eighties, nineties, and beyond. Fourteen bands in total would grace the stages on Saturday.

Fans started lining up around 10:00 for 12:00 doors. The lines were about three blocks long, and aside from some initial problems with scanners at a few gates, things went smoothly getting in. Once inside, you were immediately on the boardwalk, which had tons of food vendors and stands selling Ocean City shirts and collectibles. Just about everything you would need for a day at the beach could be found on the boardwalk. Also at the boardwalk were Jolly Roger at the Pier, The Giant Wheel, and The Kraken. The rides were included with the festival wristband. Way off to the north side of the festival area was the main stage called Thunder. Then moving south, towards the center of the area was the big carnival area with the Ferris wheel, roller coaster, a few other rides and games. Just beyond that, facing the water was the medium-sized stage dubbed Lightning. Also in this area were the festival’s concession stands, an elevated ADA viewing area, and a VIP lounge area with air-conditioned bathrooms. Then, on the farthest southern point of the festival was the Bolt stage.

There were 5 levels of tickets, including general admission, GA plus, VIP, Platinum VIP, and Ultimate. The different levels of VIP had various perks, increasing with each level. VIP and Platinum had special cordoned off viewing areas off to one side of the stage, bleachers, an area with tables, and their own beverage stands and free water. Platinum also had a free lunch, snacks, and dinner. Ultimate had side stage access on the main stage, access to a backstage lounge area, and golf cart rides from stage to stage.

With so many bands playing, there were a lot of times when two bands had the same start time, so I had to pick and choose which bands to photograph, as we were only allowed to photograph three songs. The end stages were what seemed to be about 3/4 mile from each other, and this made for a 15-20 minute trek depending on how crowded the beach or boardwalk were. Throughout the day, I had a Santa Claus sighting, along with 2 guys in banana costumes, and I even found Waldo, although he was elusive from my camera.

Royale Lynn

Bolt Stage 12:30-1:15

Royale Lynn is a new rock sensation who has a unique sound. Her powerful vocals carry a pop-rock feel to them, but combined with her heavier guitar and drums, it brings her sound to the forefront of modern rock. Her new album Black Magic is being released June 27th of this year. She played “Black Magic”, “Greed”, “Where Do We All Go When We Die”, “Six Feet Deep”, and a few others. “Six Feet Deep” hit number one on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Sales Chart last year. Lynn commented that she’s just a metalhead who grew up in the country, and that’s what her songs are about. I would have loved to see a complete band on stage as there was no bass player. I loved their sound and her powerful vocals, and think they will be out headlining arenas in no time.

Kat Von D

Thunder Stage 1:15-2:00

Kat Von D is a tattoo artist on the TLC reality show LA Ink as well as a recording artist. She took the stage with Sammi Doll on the keyboards, keytar, and background vocals. Kat makes electronic music with a darkness to it. Kat is on tour supporting her second album and drew a big crowd, even given the fact that she was one of the first artists to perform at the festival. The crowd gave her a huge, warm welcome to the event. Speaking of hot, the temperature was really starting to rise, making it important to stay hydrated at one of the free water filling stations or one of the many bars located around the festival.

Trapt

Lightning Stage 1:15-2:00

I didn’t get to stay and watch Trapt, however, I did get a photo of them while passing through to get to Puddle of Mudd at the Bolt stage.

Puddle Of Mudd

Bolt Stage 2:00-2:45

Although they formed in 1992, they didn’t gain huge popularity until 2001, when the release of “Blurry” reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. With Wes Scantlin on vocals and the only remaining original member, these guys had their performance together. They hit the stage with “Control” and “Psycho” two of my favorites, and ended the set with “Blurry” and “She Hates Me”. They also played “Beautimous” off of Kiss The Machine, which was just released. Puddle of Mudd was a nice surprise for me. I was unsure how it would go, seeing as all of the members are new to the band.

Extreme

Lightning Stage 2:45-3:45

Extreme, is a hard rock band from Boston, probably most known for “More Than Words” which hit number one on the Billboard charts in 1991. Led by charismatic frontman Gary Cherone and guitar wizard Nuno Bettencourt, these guys kept the fans thrilled through the entire set. Playing a set consisting mostly of songs off of Extreme II: Pornografitti, they also hit on a few songs off their recent album, Six, which was released in 2023. Bassist Pat Badger looked like a rock star with his custom hat, sunglasses, and hair blowing in the breeze. And on the drums, Kevin Figueiredo could be seen putting 110% into his kick ass performance. Everyone’s eyes were on Nuno for his guitar solo. But the highlight for any casual fan is hearing them play their number one hit “More Than Words”. Personally, my favorites are “Kid Ego”, and “Get the Funk Out”, both songs they also played.

Mammoth

Bolt Stage 3:45-4:45

Mammoth has been making waves and gaining fans for a few years now. With Wolfgang Van Halen as the band’s frontman, they got their name from his father’s band, with Alex prior to forming Van Halen. Mammoth has two studio albums out. Earlier this month, he shortened the band’s name from Mammoth WVH to just Mammoth, with the release of his latest single entitled “The End”. In addition to playing “The End”, Mammoth also played songs off of their two albums Mammoth WVH and Mammoth II. It was clear that Mammoth has acquired a really good following, and it showed by the number of people fist pumping and singing along. Lzzy Hale of Halestorm could even be seen side stage watching Mammoth and later, Puddle of Mudd on the Bolt stage.

Chevelle

Thunder Stage 4:45-5:45

Chevelle is a rock band from Illinois formed in 1995 by brothers Pete Loeffler on lead vocals and guitar and Sam Loeffler on drums. Currently, Kemble Walters is their touring bassist. “Send The Pain Below” is probably their most well-known song from the early 2000’s and they were certain to play it. On May 14 of this year, they released a video for “Rabbit Hole – Cowards, pt. 1” and they played it for their fans at Boardwalk Rock. Since then, they have announced that the self-produced album will be entitled Bright As Blasphemy. Chevelle rocked the Boardwalk without much extra stuff on the stage besides a few aliens in black robes and the video wall behind them.

Rob Zombie

Thunder Stage 6:50-8:05

One week before the festival, Rob Zombie was announced as a replacement for Alice In Chains, who was a replacement for Motley Crue. I was excited for this announcement after having become a big fan seeing him with Alice Cooper on The Freaks on Parade Tour two times. Rob brought his theatrical blend of metal and industrial music to the stage, including all of his usual antics. Usually, when we see Rob Zombie perform, it is in a smoky theater with saturated red and blue lighting, adding to the mystique that is Zombie. Today, we got to see him in direct sunlight, which made it easier to do my job as a photographer. Mike Riggs was on guitar and backing vocals, Ginger Fish on drums, and Rob “Blasko” Nicholson on bass. In stark contrast to Chevelle, Zombie had his stage fully utilized with props, including a giant blow up robot alien, and during “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.” there was a 10-foot alien walking around the stage. Sherri Moon Zombie could be seen watching her husband perform from the ultimate VIP side stage balcony. At one point during his one-of-a-kind theatrical performance, Zombie stopped addressing the fans, “Are you sick of that song? I’ve officially played that 5381 times not counting rehearsals.” and then asked the fans to “put your phones away and do it like the good old days”. Apparently, he was frustrated with people watching their phones as they filmed his performance rather than enjoying themselves. Zombie played all of the songs we love to sing along to, including “Superbeast”, “Living Dead Girl”, “More Human Than Human”, and “Dragula”.

Halestorm

Bolt Stage 8:05-9:20

Lzzy Hale, Halestorm’s power vocalist, always blows it out of the water, and this show was no exception. They performed an hour and fifteen-minute set, including a drum solo for Arejay Hale to show off his amazing talent. Halestorm played their new single “Darkness Always Wins” which was released on April 14 and will be on the new Album coming out on August 8th, entitled Everest. Lzzy always has some of the coolest stage clothes, and this show was no different. She was sporting leggings made out of leather stars that were all held together with metal hardware. (see photos) Lzzy is one of the most powerful frontwomen in the industry today. Her persona and strong attitude shine through in her performance night after night. Joe Hottinger kills it on the lead guitar as well as Josh Smith on Bass. My personal favorites were “I Get Off”, “Love Bites (So Do I)”, and “I Miss the Misery”.

Day one of the inaugural Boardwalk Rock Festival is in the books and was an amazing day. Of course, there will always be complainers, but for 99.9% of the concert goers, it was a stellar day of music, sun, food, and of course, a bunch of top rock bands. The weather was great, although many failed to put on sunscreen, and it showed on day 2. The VIP areas worked out well for most, the bathrooms were clean, and there were plenty of food choices for everyone at the festival concessions as well as the boardwalk vendors. There were several merch tents for festival t-shirts and swag as well as another for band merch. After a long day of fun, most fans seemed to be tired and wanting to head back to their hotels and rest up for the next day of music and partying.

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