Welcome To Rockville is officially the biggest rock festival in North America, hosting more than 200,000 people and 150 bands on 5 stages for the first time. This year, Rockville also broke records to become the largest event for festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents. Looking ahead, the May 2025 festival dates at Daytona International Speedway will be announced soon.
The 13th Welcome To Rockville featured its most powerful collection of artists yet, including headliners Mötley Crüe & Disturbed (Thursday), Limp Bizkit & Jelly Roll (Friday), Foo Fighters & Queens of the Stone Age (Saturday) and Slipknot & Evanescence (Sunday), along with Judas Priest, Greta Van Fleet, Falling In Reverse, A Day To Remember, Breaking Benjamin, Bad Omens, The Offspring, Mudvayne, Koe Wetzel, Stone Temple Pilots, Primus, Cypress Hill, Sum 41, a rare appearance by Mr. Bungle, and many others. Welcome To Rockville brought in fans from around the U.S. and the world for the four-day destination event.
These were some of the highlights and can’t-miss moments during the festival:
▪ Mötley Crüe had the crowd in a frenzy with a set filled with decades of hits, along with newer tracks like the recently released, “Dogs of War.” (Thursday)
▪ Disturbed’s powerful show included a surprise cameo by legendary Heart vocalist Ann Wilson for a duet with David Draiman on “Don’t Tell Me,” the song they recorded together for the band’s current album. This marked the first time Wilson joined Disturbed onstage to perform the song. (Thursday)
▪ After his headlining set on the SiriusXM Octane Drift Stage, Jelly Roll joined Limp Bizkit for the band’s version of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes.” As Rolling Stone reported: “…Fred Durst told the crowd repeatedly, ‘I need an angel to come out here and save me. Drop something from the sky. I don’t care what it is, drop anything, please sweet angel. Save your brother Freddy D!’ As summoned, Jelly Roll then appeared onstage with Limp Bizkit to deliver the song’s second verse…” Later in the set, rapper Riff Raff joined Limp Bizkit on stage to perform his track “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz.” The band also brought a couple from the crowd on stage for a live gender reveal. (Friday)
▪ Falling In Reverse was joined by Tech N9ne and Alex Terrible from Slaughter To Prevail--who both played at the festival earlier that day--for the first-ever live performance of "Ronald (Feat. Tech N9ne And Alex Terrible)," which will appear on Falling In Reverse's new album. (Friday)
▪ Rockville fans saw the second show ever for Kerry King's solo band, with a set that included songs from King’s forthcoming album as well as Slayer classics. (Friday)
▪ Foo Fighters played a 2-hour set packed with hits, including an appearance from Mammoth WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen who surprised fans with a few classic Van Halen solos during Foo Fighters’ mid-show medley. (Saturday)
▪ Queens of the Stone Age closed out the SiriusXM Octane Drift Stage Saturday night with an epic set of fan favorites. (Saturday)
▪ Slipknot’s mind-blowing festival-closing set celebrated the 25th anniversary of the band’s classic self-titled album and was one of the first shows with the band’s new drummer Eloy Casagrande. (Sunday)
▪ Evanescence’s Sunday night SiriusXM Octane Drift Stage headlining performance marked the band’s first show in the continental U.S. this year. (Sunday)
▪ Sum 41 had the crowd singing along throughout their energetic set--one of the final shows ever for the group. Shortly before the band hit the stage, fans had the unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of a SpaceX rocket launch from nearby Cape Canaveral lighting up the sky behind the Vortex Stage. (Sunday)
▪ The Church of Rock & Roll had surprise karaoke appearances from Rockville artists each day, including John Moyer (Disturbed), Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), John Cooper (Skillet), Ash Costello (New Years Day), Devin Oliver (I See Stars), Tim Montana and more.
▪ Brand new onsite experiences at Rockville included the BLACKENED Burger Bar with Chef Chris Santos on the festival grounds and Just Add Milk Cereal Bar in the Rockville campground.
▪ During the festival, the live broadcast on Rockville Radio on SiriusXM’s Chanel 504 included music from bands on this year’s lineup, interviews, streamed sets and more. Fans can re-live the best of Welcome To Rockville on Rockville Radio via the SiriusXM app, available to stream through May 22, 2024.
