Rock'N Derby 2016: Day 3 –– Shinedown Slays, Megadeth Remembers Nick Menza, and Enter Shikari Ra

May 29, 2016

3 min read

Rock’N Derby Festival continued with Day 3 on Sunday at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds in Schaghticoke, NY. Beginning the day with a few upsetting announcements one being that Like A Storm could not make it to the festival as they are having issues with their tour bus. The other announcement being the passing of former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza, which made for a sad day for not only Megadeth fans but the band as well who are performing on this final day of Rock'N Derby 2016. Rock’N Derby Festival Day 3 had some weather scares but the sun eventually came out and the rain and clouds past by.

Next is, Ghost, who hit the Derby Stage after a energy filled set from both Trivium and Sevendust, brought the storm with them as the winds started picking up and it began to get dark and rainy as soon as Ghost launched into their eerie haunting set. The weather only escalated as they played making their set much more haunting. The Nameless Ghouls and Papa Emeritus himself causing the storm with their grammy winning sinister themed music. Then taking the stage is a rock band Coheed And Cambria, who lives up to the hype they have online and not only are fans there for their music but for frontman Claudio Sanchez's huge head of hair that many fans seem to worship. Headlining The Derby Stage and closing out a weekend of incredible music was Shinedown who launched into their set with a fan favorite, "Fly From The Inside." Before the band got into the song “If You Only Knew,” Brent Smith told the fans that he knows it has been a very long exhausting weekend of incredible music, and told the crowd to "give a big round of applause for all the other performers who played during the festival, and that he is honored that he gets to share the stage with them". Brent Smith then said “With that being said, we’re not in those bands. We’re in Shinedown. And this is 100% between us, and all of you here tonight. So, did you bring your singing voices tonight?” Shinedown's frontman Brent Smith even singing happy birthday to a little girl named Danielle (turning 5 years old) who was present upon the barricade for the entire weekend. Shinedown performing a very energy filled set in support of their 2015 release Threat To Survival. Guitarist and Backup Vocalist Zach Myers very interactive with Brent Smith throughout the entire show even making lots of connection with the fans along the barricade, serenading them, pointing them out and such. When they begin to perform their staple cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Simple Man,” it is a chilling moment hearing everyone on the Fairgrounds sing along at ear-deafening volumes. Ending the show on a high note with “Sound Of Madness,” the enthusiastic energy that Shinedown exchanges with the crowd makes this a night to remember.

Rock'n Stage getting a late start to the day as Like A Storm was not there to perform their 2:40pm set as they had problems with their bus and couldn't make it to the festival. Taking the stage at 3:30pm was Dokken rockin out and having the crowd jammin' and ready for old school radio conquering band Collective Soul. Then SiXX: A.M. who have been conquering the festivals this summer and slaying with their latest release of Prayers For The Damned. (Click Here for a FULL Review of Sixx: A.M.) Conquering the Rock'n Stage was Heavy Metal Rockers Megadeth, who had a rough day with the early morning news of the passing of their ex-drummer Nick Menza. The band had a moment of silence for Menza and frontman Dave Mustaine said, “Nick went to heavy metal heaven last night” before performing “Trust.” (Check out the video here).

At the Upstate Concert Hall Arena Stage was some heavy bangers throughout the entire day. Featuring local acts like Rahway & Bad Case Of Big Mouth. Both of which slayed the stage with Bad Case Of Big Mouth's Mosh ready pop-punk tunes and Rahway's classic rock feel tunes. Going into the heavier bands as the night went on was Upon A Burning Body who never fail to put on one hell of a set. Born Of Osiris taking the stage after UABB igniting the crowd into a barn filled with dust and mosh pits with their heavy music and the unique blend of vocals from Ronnie Canizaro & Joe Buras. Closing out the stage with Enter Shikari, a British electronicore rock band from England. They slayed their set with an explosive amount of energy and so interactive with their fans even having ALL the band members go into the crowd for the last few songs and creating a crazy mosh pit.