Although it is usually the main headliners that get the recognition and airtime when there is a major rock festival coming to town, it is usually the second and third stage bands that make or break the success of the event. For the 2009 Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, OH it was no less true, and the bands did not disappoint. After all, most fans get up early in the morning, plod their way to the show and begin listening to music at noon and it isn’t until a full days work later that the headlines begin to appear on the stage, and if those eight hours are not filled with crowd-driven music, those in attendance will not be primed and ready like a 426 Hemi engine for the bigwigs of rock. With names like Motley Crue, Alice in Chains and Slipknot, the engine needed to be running at full idle, and it was bands like Hurt, Blackstone Cherry and Static X on Saturday and Sick Puppies, Blue October and Hoobastank on Sunday that kept the show purring along.

The days began calmly enough with large lines trying to get into Crew Stadium, but once inside and with music blaring, the stadium took on a life of it’s own as those in attendance took full advantage of every band to let loose steam not just gathered from the weather and closeness of skin and bodies, but from life as well. Music is so often a release for so many people, and with the economic times this country is on, it may even be more important than normal. So when over 10,000 rock fans filter in from all points Midwest to a small, paved area with music dedicated to mayhem, it is only natural for aggressions and frustrations to seep through pores like pus from a zit. And amazingly enough, few altercations occurred while the pus oozed during bands like Billy Talent and Rev Theory.

Amidst all the hype of seeing Slipknot, Motley Crue reuniting for yet another show, Alice in Chains making a comeback and the countless other stories that dominated the headlines of Rock on the Range 2009, what should not go unnoticed is not just the promoters good fortune to land the dozens of opening stage bands, but the actual performances themselves. Even bands like Blue October who one would think does not fit in this festival performed a blistering set. Often, the media will latch on to the phrase “unsung hero” and Rock on the Range was full of them. Many of the bands playing will never make it to a main stage or headline a show for more than a few hundred, so playing this type of festival is their shot to be like their idols. And it seemed band after band after band never let the audience down or take a rest. So, when those who attended or wanted to attend read the countless reviews of the headliners and see dozens of photos of either Nikki Sixx, Josh Todd, any mask from Slipknot or the countless bare breasts, one should take a moment to think about those that really made Rock on the Range the success it has become, and that is names like John Allen of the Charm City Devils or Lizzy Hale from Halestorm.