Inaugural Rockstar Energy Drink Disrupt Festival
There are always questions surrounding first year festivals as they emerge, especially when they are touring festivals. Rockstar’s Disrupt Festival appeared to be poised to take aim at the void left in the wake of the Warped Tour. One of the unique components to Disrupt Festival is that it seeks to remove one of the well-known stresses of attending a festival. The tour made it a point to spread out set times so that attendees wouldn’t find themselves hustling to get from one stage to another, a move that seemed to prove quite successful
Another strategy that the festival seems to have utilized to its advantage was to incorporate a lot of the talent that had previously performed on Warped Tour. Veteran bands like The Used and Atreyu joined relative newcomers like Juliet Simms and Hyro the Hero on the lineup.
One of the stand out performances for us at ConcertHopper came from Circa Survive. Frontman Anthony Green made it a point to let the crowd know, vocally, how much he enjoyed performing for them with his band and it showed. Antics involving microphone stands were just some of the bits of excitement to behold. From the photo pit, ConcertHopper overheard Green tell one of the security guards, “I’m going” after having performed at the security railing for a while. Shortly after, the microphone was flung back towards the stage as the singer vaulted into the welcoming arms of the crowd.
While Disrupt Festival certainly stands on its own as a festival, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to Warped Tour. Similar to Warped, Disrupt takes a good approach to mixing in several different genres of music leading to a more well-rounded overall billing. This provides some unique and exciting opportunities for fans. It’s awesome to be able to see bands like The Story So Far on the same lineup as metal acts like Memphis May Fire.
Perhaps this versatile lineup contributed to the fervor of the fans, or maybe they are just that passionate about music. In spite of the beautiful but decidedly toasty Georgia Summer, fans were still moshing even as The Used performed their last songs. And this energy wasn’t just reserved for the mainstage, as the first act of the day, Hyro the Hero strode into the midst of moshers, joining them in the frenzy after asking for a big group hug.
There were a couple of hiccups with the festival though this is far from surprising for a first year festival. For example, the Atlanta date (and consequently a couple of others) lacked performances from Sum 41 as well as Andy Black, frontman of Black Veil Brides and husbands to Juliet Simms. In spite of this, the festival still felt like it was full of incredible acts from start to finish, though it would have been nice to experience performances by those acts.
Sleeping With Sirens filled the slot of the final act or headliner for the first stage at the festival. If anyone doubted their passion about the band, all they needed to do was be close enough for each of the band member’s band logo neck tattoos to be visible. This passion was on display for the fans as there were numerous times all of the band members (minus the drummer who, for obvious reasons couldn’t participate) were photographed airborne mid breakdown.
This level of passion and energy extended throughout every performance for the most part. Smiles were painted across the faces of virtually every artist that performed (and not just the vocalists) throughout the day. There also seemed to be a familial vibe amongst the bands performing as it was not uncommon to see the artists side stage taking in the sets of others or, even sitting amongst the crowd at the main stage.
Disrupt Festival was an event well worth attending. ConcertHopper is excited to see what the coming years bring for the festival. Hopefully it grows and expands and can even hope to bring in some of the unique components of one-off festivals like food vendors that tour with the bands.
As always, please feel free to browse around ConcertHopper’s website further and to check out our articles covering a wide variety of topics. Please also check us out on social media on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Life is a beautiful thing and music only adds to that beauty, make some time to get out and celebrate beauty and life with a community of like-minded individuals at a concert soon, it’s always worth the price of admission. Check out the tour dates for the rest of the festival below as well as a complete list of bands from the Atlanta stop with links to their websites.
July 5 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
July 6 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 7 – Hartford, CT @ XFINITY Theatre
July 9 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
July 10 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 12 – Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 13 – Thornville, OH @ Legend Valley
July 14 – Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
July 15 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 17 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre*
July 20 – Irvine, CA @ Five Point Amphitheater presented by Mercury Insurance
July 23 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 24 – Boise, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre
July 26 – Chula Vista, CA @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 27 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion
July 28 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
Complete List of Bands from the Atlanta Date:
Hyro the Hero