• What: Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, a nationally touring rock festival with 14 bands on three stages.
• Where: Sleep Country Amphitheater, 17200 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
• When: Gates open at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23. Festival lasts all day.
• Cost: Prices range from about $20 to $90, depending on seats and package. Tickets available through Ticketmaster in advance or at the will call box office, which opens at 10 a.m. on the day of show.
Main Stage:
6:10 p.m. Adelitas Way
7:05 p.m. Staind
8:20 p.m. Godsmack
9:50 p.m. Shinedown
Ernie Ball Stage:
1:25 p.m. In Her Memory (Battle of the Bands winner from Lebanon, Ore.)
2:05 p.m. Mindset Evolution
2:55 p.m. Thousand Foot Krutch
3:50 p.m. Redlight King
4:55 p.m. P.O.D.
Jagermeister Stage:
1:05 p.m. Jager Band
1:45 p.m. TBD
2:30 p.m. Candlelight Red
3:20 p.m. Deuce
4:20 p.m. Fozzy
Sonny Sandoval is worried that young rock fans just aren’t stage diving and crowd surfing enough.
So if they come out to see his band P.O.D. at the UPROAR Festival on Sunday, he wants to make sure they know his band’s performance will be rowdy-crowd friendly.
• What: Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, a nationally touring rock festival with 14 bands on three stages.
• Where: Sleep Country Amphitheater, 17200 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
• When: Gates open at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23. Festival lasts all day.
• Cost: Prices range from about $20 to $90, depending on seats and package. Tickets available through Ticketmaster in advance or at the will call box office, which opens at 10 a.m. on the day of show.
“We’re here for the kids that want to go crazy,” said Sandoval, the band’s vocalist. “Some people just want to sit there and be entertained, but we’re from the school where we’re not entertaining anyone — we’re part of the community. If you want to jump on stage, then jump on stage. We’ll provide the music.”
P.O.D., a San Diego Christian rock and metal band, will headline on the second stage, called the Ernie Ball Stage, during the three-stage, 14-band festival.
Sandoval, who’s been with P.O.D. for 20 years, said he’s noticed that the younger generations almost seem shy about stage diving and crowd surfing, which is when fans jump on stage, dive off or even just lean back and fall and let the crowd pass them around over their heads.
“The younger kids, they don’t know how to crowd surf,” Sandoval said. “You see them thinking about it. One show I just said ‘I know you want to — so do it.’ And finally they did. The kids have fun with it.”
The festival, which has been around since 2010, is traveling to 30 cities this year. Sunday will be the first time it has come to Clark County at the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield.
“In the U.S., there are a lot of destination or weekend music festivals, but from a touring standpoint, there’s really not much,” said John Oakes, one of the festival’s founders. “We’ve been to Seattle before but we hadn’t been to the Portland-Ridgefield area, and a lot of the bands touring with us hadn’t been there either, so we thought it was a good opportunity.”
Visitors can check out big-name bands such as Staind, Godsmack and Shinedown on the main stage, or listen to some up-and-coming bands on two smaller stages.
“We hope people come early and have a good time,” Oakes said. “Currently every band on the tour is doing autograph signing from 2 to 5 p.m., so people can do that, buy CDs and meet some of the younger bands.”
The festival also has promotional giveaways, a Rockstar Energy Drink tent that will give out free samples, and a host of other vendors.
The event is also attached to the national Ernie Ball Music Man Battle of the Bands contest, where professional judges pick unsigned bands from each region to compete for prizes and studio recording time with well-known producer Jay Baumgardner.
“Mindset Evolution, they’re playing with us on every tour date, they won the Battle of the Bands last year,” Oakes said. “Whoever wins this year will get to tour with us next time.”
In Her Memory, from Lebanon, Ore., is the regional band from our area in this year’s contest. They’ll play at 1:25 p.m. on the Ernie Ball Stage and help warm up the crowd for P.O.D.
Main Stage:
6:10 p.m. Adelitas Way
7:05 p.m. Staind
8:20 p.m. Godsmack
9:50 p.m. Shinedown
Ernie Ball Stage:
1:25 p.m. In Her Memory (Battle of the Bands winner from Lebanon, Ore.)
2:05 p.m. Mindset Evolution
2:55 p.m. Thousand Foot Krutch
3:50 p.m. Redlight King
4:55 p.m. P.O.D.
Jagermeister Stage:
1:05 p.m. Jager Band
1:45 p.m. TBD
2:30 p.m. Candlelight Red
3:20 p.m. Deuce
4:20 p.m. Fozzy
“This is the fun side,” Sandoval said of the other acts performing with P.O.D. “Our crowds are right up against the stage. It’s cool hanging with all the new bands here. They’re young and hungry and exciting to watch.”
Sandoval also expects a special guest to turn out to watch his band perform — his father lives in Bend, Ore., and plans to come up for the show.
“I love it,” Sandoval said. “It’s a full day. Everybody should come out. The bands are great. The kids will all have fun.”
