Review by: Jeff Palmucci
Photos: HERE
Venue: Rocklahoma
Be sure to check out our GnR review!
You may be asking yourself why a site called New England Concert Reviews would cover Rocklahoma 2013. The answer is, of course, that we could and we thought it would be really fun. The three day hard rock festival took place May 24-26 in Pryor, Oklahoma, with over 60 bands participating. Here at NECR, we have photos up for Ratt, Halestorm, Bullet for My Valentine, Steel Panther, Skillet, and Cheap Trick. Others to follow as a dig myself out from under my pile.
One highlight of the weekend was becoming best friends with Satchel from Steel Panther. Don’t believe me? Neither does he, but I have the Facebook profile picture to prove it. This hilariously inappropriate parody band had me laughing my a** off with their on stage banter and over the top lyrics. Forget about letting your kids listen to these guys, they are so offensive that you won’t be able to play them in front of anyone you know. And in case you were wondering: yes, they did play “Girl from Oklahoma”.
On the other end of the spectrum, Rocklahoma was my first chance to hear the Christian rock band Skillet. I’m not a very religious guy. In fact, I make Bill Maher look like Oral Roberts on the prayer tower (yes, we went there too). I was not expecting to like these guys. In fact, I was caught flatfooted because I wasn’t planning on shooting them. I heard them on stage and decided to run into position to get my shots (that’s why there are so few). For those of you with a preconceived view of christian rock (I say looking in the mirror), you should give them a listen. They rock and their lyrics are not preachy or something you won’t identify with. And this is from Satchel’s best friend!
In the end, we were right. It was a really fun trip and I hope I’ll make it next year. I’m going to talk to the powers that be about changing the site name to New England and Oklahoma Concert Reviews. You can check out our highlight gallery below.
New England Concert Reviews Covers Rocklahoma 2013
