Article and Photos by: Bob Linneman

It was a beautiful day for the annual MMR*B*Q Music Festival in Camden, NJ, held by local Philadelphia radio station WMMR.  The marathon of music lasted over 11 hours and included; Stolen Rhodes, Rival Sons, Dinosaur Pile Up, Zakk Sabbath, The Struts, The Pretty Reckless, Bush, Live (with the return of lead singer Ed Kowalczyk), and Godsmack.

Opening the festival was local band Stolen Rhodes, a mix of blues, rock, and country.  The band consists of rockers Kevin Cunningham (guitar), Jack Zaferes (bass), Matt Pillion (vocals, guitar, keys, saxophone) and Chris James (drums).  Stolen Rhodes has been out promoting their new album Bend With The Wind, opening for such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robert Randolph, Drivin’ N Cryin’ and Blackberry Smoke.

Dinosaur Pile Up, hailing from England, felt so much at home in Camden that lead singer/guitarist Matt Bigland announced, “This is better than being in London!”  The band delivered a high-energy set which included “Red and Purple” and their current chart hit “11:11,” which closed their set.

Next on the stage was Rivals Sons from California, a modern mash-up of Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, and Wolfmother.  The band has a unique stage presence which is very reminiscent of the late 1960s.  Rival Sons played all of their hits including, “Open My Eyes,” “Pressure and Time,” and “Keep On Swinging.”

Zakk Wylde immediately took his “I mean business” stance as he blistered the fretboard and whipped his hair with such force it was almost impossible to see his face.  The crowd showed their appreciation with raised devil horns while the frenzy grew in intensity.  Zakk Sabbath, (Black Sabbath super group) consists of Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Blasko (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens of the Stoneage).  The set list included: “Supernaut,” “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Children of the Grave,” “War Pigs,” and “Snowblind.”

The Struts coming off a very successful tour in 2016 continued their momentum for 2017.  The flamboyant showman Luke Spiller took to the stage with the band offering a throwback to the British Pop Rock vibe.  The Struts from Derby, Derbyshire consists of vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies.  The Struts set list consisted of “Put Your Hands Up”, “These Times Are Changing”, “Could Have Been Me”, “Kiss This”, “Put Your Money on Me”, and “Where Did She Go.”

The Pretty Reckless played their top hits “Follow Me Down”, and “Take Me Down”.  Singer Taylor Momsen gave a very emotional tribute to close their set, ending with “Like A Stone” by Audioslave.  The Pretty Reckless was perhaps the closest to the Chris Cornell tragedy of the lineup, as they had just opened Soundgarden’s last show.

Gavin Rossdale performed like a madman unleashed onto the stage, jumping up and down while playing guitar.  A highlight of the Bush set was when they performed REM’s “The One I Love”, and then blended it with Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” as a tribute to Chris Cornell.

Live, recently regrouped and fronted by Ed Kowalczyk, has a long history with the WMMR radio station. The station supported Live well before they became famous, so it was natural for the reunion of Live to take place at this event. Kowalczyk commented that this was the first “official” show since rejoining the band. During the pre-show interview, he commented that it felt like they never broke up. Live’s set list included the band’s hits “Lightning Crashes,” “I Alone,” and “All Over You.”

As the midnight hour approached the headliner, Godsmack closed the festival with a culmination of the entire days worth of energy in one performance.  Sully Erna veins were popping from his neck as he opened with “Awake”, and immediately went straight into “Straight Out of Line”.  During “1000hp” the stage became ablaze as pyrotechnics lit the stage throughout the song raising the temperature in the open venue.

Godsmack from Lawrence, Massachusetts, is composed of founder, front man and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin.  During “Batalla de los Tambores”, Sully and Shannon had a drum off as two full drum kits took the stage.  The set list continued with hits, “The Enemy,” “Keep Away,” “Cryin’ Like a Bitch,” “Something Different,” “Voodoo,” “Whatever,” and “I Stand Alone.”   They concluded the set with a fantastic cover of The Beatles, “Come Together.”