The talk of the M3 Rock Festival was Saturday evening headliner David Lee Roth who performed a set of classic Van Halen songs with a full band for the first time in five years!
Celebrating its Sweet 16, M3 Rock Festival continued with a fab start on Saturday as hosts Mark Strigl and Tommy London from Sirius XM welcomed in the crowd.
It began with a Soundcheck Rock Party around 12:45 pm which came way too early after closing down Union Jacks the night before with the flamboyant trio, The Midnight Devils, and Bad Marriage from Boston (who offer up a classic rock sound with a triple guitar attack that now includes Tommy Skeoch (Tesla)), closed things out.
Ironically, the first official act of the day Red Voodoo, a young and up and coming group with a throwback sound has ties to both Tesla and Van Halen. You see, the band has worked with current Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon on their debut release and has also gained recognition from another Van Halen frontman, Sammy Hagar, who even compared them to Montrose. They made this stop at the M3 Rock Festival’s Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD as part of their current touring with Winger and the Bulletboys.
Red Voodoo is comprised of lead vocalist Dino McCord, drummer Andy Nathan, guitarist Davin Loiler, and bassist Andrew Edwards and takes its name of course from the Red Rocker’s album Red Voodoo which was released back in 1999. While there was no beach party with the Waboritas on stage for this performance like there was in Hagar’s Red Voodoo era, these guys still managed to catch our attention with their youthful energy and we look forward to hearing more from them.
They were followed by local favorites Child’s Play, whose set began with John Allen fronting the band while Jason Heiser took the seat behind the kit, and later the original frontman Larry Hinshaw took overfor a few songs while John played drums. Rounding out the band were Nicky Kay on guitar and his son Mikhali, as well as original bassist Phil Wiser.
Highlights included the addition of “Rat Race” to the set (finally) and a special appearance from Brian Jack’s daughter Adrian, who joined John on backup vocals as a the spur of the moment addition.
One of the strongest acts of the festival was a returning favorite, drummer Steven Adler, who took us back the time when the off-the-charts debut from Guns ‘n Roses was all over the airwaves with a little help from his band, which features frontman Ari Kamin, guitarists Michael Thomas and Alistair James, and bass player Christian Sturba.
Connecting with the audience with a grin that lights up the entire pavillion, Steven Adler delivered the grooves that highlighted the teenage years of most of the crowd. From “Mr. Brownstone” to “Paradise City,” the magic of those classics were brought to life for us on that Merriweather stage.
Speaking of which, for those who have never been to this festival, I must point out the beauty of the revolving stage ,which allows four drum or more kits to be assembled long before the artist is scheduled to go on. Typically one facing the crowd, one facing the rear and a kit on either side of the “circle” and for good measure a kit or two on the loading docks. As such, the ‘lazy Susan’ of stages offers quick transitions at this festival. We are talking just 20 minutes between sets, if that, and just one stage to showcase the artists!
Slaughter took us back as well, and in a very cool way. The incredible backdrop of the carnival atmosphere of their Stick it to Ya! album came to life as their intro began, and the energy just fed from there. Props to Dave Stabley for his awesome video skills, which quite literally heated things up with a wall of fire behind Slaughter and other vivid imagery throughout their set.
Slaughter’s line-up is Mark Slaughter on lead vocals and guitar, Dana Strum on bass, Jeff Blando on lead guitar, and Jordan Cannata on drums. It is worth a mention that original Slaughter band drummer was in the house as well, and performing a headlining set with current bandmate Stephen Pearcy (Ratt).
Highlights included the always magical “Fly to the Angels” which lit up the bowl despite the mid-day sunshine and high-energy cuts like “Mad About You” and of course, the appropriate anthem “Up All Night.”
Having just returned from their final tour of Australia, Winger joined the M3 Rock Festival after a headlining show at Penn’s Peak on Friday evening. We were excited to see John Roth back with the band as he had been out with Starship for the last few Winger shows that we saw on Monsters of Rock Cruise.
The all-original line-up features Kip Winger on bass, Reb Beach on lead guitar, Paul Taylor on guitar and Keyboards, John Roth on guitar and Rod Morgenstein on drums. And, they hit the ground running from the start with “Stick the Knife in and Twist” from their most recent release Seven.
We were digging Reb’s blue Kramer guitar during his flashy solo on the stacks in front of the stage, as he took advantage of the missing barricade and got up close with the crowd for the intro to the bands most popular and most controversial song “Seventeen,” and from the looks of it, the band was having just as much fun as the audience.
There’s been lots of speculation as to what’s next for Winger as a band having announced a “farewell” tour. But we are pretty sure we haven’t seen that last of them. In fact, Kip Winger has just had a successful world premiere of his Violin Concerto No. 1 during a classical concert at the Nashville Symphony – Schermerhorn Symphony Center on May 9th.
Another highlight from the day, and perhaps the strongest performance of the festival, was Accept. The band features a triple-axe approach and choreographed moves similar to Winger, making them super fun to photographer. But of course they are much more of a raise your horns type of metal band. From the anthem of “Balls to the Wall” to the humor of watching grown adults playing with an inflatable during “Fast As A Shark,” we thoroughly enjoyed watching these guys kill it on Saturday night .
The band is led by axe man Wolf Hoffmann and features vocalist Mark Tornillo along with Philip Shouse and Uwe Lulis on additional guitars, Martin Motnik on bass, and Christopher Williams on drums. The consensus was that they could have easily been the headliner, but the volume of Van Halen fans out there made the return of David Lee Roth the right choice due to popularity alone.
Everyone was anxious to see what David Lee Roth had planned for the M3 Rock Festival finale on Saturday evening. We didn’t know if it was going to be a disaster or brilliant and honestly, the verdict is still out. With thousands of comments and critiques happening almost instantly (many of which were from people who weren’t even on-site), the response was mixed to say the least.
I’ve been avoiding the discussion because there is no changing anyone’s mind when it comes to strong opinions or cyber bullying. So, let me first give you the facts. David Lee Roth is a seventy-year-old showman who hasn’t performed with a full band in five years. He brought back his band which features Al Estrada on guitar, Ryan Wheeler on bass, Francis Valentino on drums, and Danny Wagner (who has also played drums with Warrant) on keyboards. He lined-up an all-male ensemble to back-up his vocals, and he was adorned in black leather from head to toe as he worked the audience with the charisma and swagger that made him a star.
While David Lee Roth can’t “Jump” off the drum riser at his age, he did add it to a lengthy set of Van Halen classics. And, for those that attended, and allowed themselves to get lost in the music, “Diamond Dave” reminded us of why we love Van Halen so much. The songs are timeless yet they have a magic the makes us smile, and sing, and dance the night away. The artists that performed that day and those who were scheduled to perform the next day like Warrant, Spread Eagle, Vixen, Accept, and more, joined the crowd to watch Roth deliver one hit classic after another.
As they were not only hoping to get a glimpse at rock royalty themselves, but to also to capture their own fan videos and join the party…because this was something truly special! With Roth announcing his come-back tour just after the festival, I’d suggest you decide for yourself instead of reading the commentary. I for one was there, and I’d watch his show again in a heartbeat. When music moves you to sing along to the point that your voice is gone the next day, then it is worth watching. In a time when our heroes are all fading away, I wouldn’t miss the change to see any of them perform one last time. And, I’d rather it be a genuine performance than pitch-perfect any day of the week.
As we made our way to the Merriweather Lakehouse, we were on a bit of a high from the day. And, looking forward to another afterparty which included a performance from Steve Brown (Trixter), Greg Reigle (PJ Farley Band, Red Dragon Cartel), and Ted Merrill (Stone Horses) along with special guests including Tommy London (Sirius XM) and Tyson Leslie (Vixen). We enjoyed some Trixter classics, and a spontaneous mix of fun covers in the hotel ballroom before getting some much needed rest in anticipation of Sunday’s showcase.
Review and photos by Kara Uhrlen for The Pure Rock Shop. Posted on 5/13/2025
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