Date: Thursday May 14th 2026
Location: Historic Columbus Crew Stadium
City: Columbus Ohio
Event: Sonic Temple 2026 Day 1 of 4:
Featuring: My Chemical Romance, Slaughter to Prevail, Breaking Benjamin and Many More.

In May the world of metal, hard rock and Emo light up the sky as fans from all over the country descend upon Columbus Ohio for the Annual Sonic Temple Music and Arts Festival. This year they added a fifth stage as well as Art Battles to the fun so it’s a new look in 2026. Many flock to Columbus Crew Stadium early to get in by doors opening, which on this day were 10AM (as they did a soft opening for day 1), while others filter in throughout the day depending on when their favorite act is performing. The set times are generally released weeks in advance so you can plan your day though as most festival goers know it never seems to go as intended when you arrive and deal w/ your body shutting down or potentially showing up for you. My day was meant to cover about 15-20 bands and managed to be closer to 25 as things seemed to just be going well and bands were either perfectly on time, or some ended early which led me to catch the end of another set I hadn’t even planned on.

The Goblikon and Nekrogoblikon open up the brand-new Alter Stage at Sonic Temple 2026

AEW Wrestler Chris Jericho Performs with his band Fozzy on the Cathedral Stage.

The Used on the Cathedral Stage at Sonic Temple 2026.

Previously I had drove in early Thursday morning, showed up an hour or two into the festival and checked into the hotel later after the show. This year I decided to come in a day early so as to be there when it starts in order to see some bands like The Pretty Wild, Nekrogoblikon and Egypt Central. I chose the Shuttle option this year and it was very smooth. I arrived at the venue a little before 11AM and realized that the shuttle situation did have one flaw to it, which was you are dropped off where rideshare is and that my friends is about three quarters of a mile walk to the actual stadium. It is what it is, however when you're at a festival and plan on walking all day an unexpected pre mile is a bit of a bummer. Non the less, the Festival saw me roll in through the doors around 11:15. That gave me 45 minutes until the first band of the day.

This was one of my tougher choices as far as overlaps go because though I love the Pretty Wild dearly I had to leave them about 20 minutes in to catch the return to the stage of the ever-impressive EGYPT CENTRAL. These guys out of Memphis Tennessee hit rather big back in 2008 through 2011ish w/ two records, one of which “White Rabbit” really set the rock radio world on fire w/ the title track. The band took a step away nearly 15 years ago and have just recently reemerged hitting the stage again early in the month at Welcome to Rockville and again right here at Sonic. I got over there just in time to see them perform “The Way” for the first time since the re start as they did not perform this one at Rockville. He mentioned how stepping away from music was his biggest regret because he missed his rock family. The crowd was all about the band as it was very crowded on that Cathedral stage for 12:30 on opening day. They closed out their set w/ the ever popular “Taking You Down” and then had the entire crowd singing along to “White Rabbit” before exiting the stage. I’m not sure what the future holds for these guys but I’m certainly glad they are back on the scene.
This lead to a bit of a lull in the day for me personally but I did manage to go over to the Temple Stage for the first time of the weekend to check out Ohio’s own Hawthorne Heights. I remember back in the day these guys played at Gulliftys so seeing them on a Huge Stadium stage was pretty cool. They had the crowd singing and continued to tell them how much they mean to the band while blasting through favorites like “Niki FM” and others. Honestly they created one of the moments of the weekend with the entire stadium Singing along to the closing “Ohio is For Lovers”. Hearing “And I Can’t make it on my own, because my heart is in Ohio” from some 20,000 plus at 1:30 in the afternoon was something I think a lot of folks will remember for a long time. I know I will.

If I’m being completely honest the first bands I really committed to in my head were The Pretty Wild and Egypt Central which the fact that they played the exact same time was my first dilemma of the weekend. However, being their early enough, I figured let’s check out NEKROGOBLIKON band. They did not disappoint as I was able to catch a good 15 minutes of their set. They have a screamer and then they have the singing Goblin known as the Goblikon. I must say the mix really works well. They had the crowd moving at noon which is always a great way to show your skillset. The Goblikon is a presence as well. When he walks on stage you definitely think to yourself, well he’s someone. I’m really glad I checked them out and would love to get them in the midstage in the future.
I did leave the set early because our friends in THE PRETTY WILD were opening the Sanctuary stage which is located over next to the Citadel stage. They rotate performances all day. I was able to get right up front on the gate. The band played a powerful set opening w/ “Paradox” and immediately getting the pits going and the crowd singing along w/ the chorus, “Caught in a Paradox”. They have so much energy, stage presence and charisma that you just know they’ll be climbing the timeslots on these stages each time they perform. Where they’ll end up is anybody’s guess but they are main stage worthy in my opinion. They are also up there with smiles on their faces to which is important to note because not all bands see this as fun, many see it as only a business. Its good to see a band see it as both and not lose sight of the fact that they are doing something they love and feel compassionate about.

The Pretty Wild Open the Sanctuary Stage at Sonic Temple 2026

Walking out of the Stadium back into the world of the other 4 stages I stopped by the Sanctuary stage again to catch a few songs from the band NERV. Now we have had them locally before and they are simply growing at this perfect rate. They were able to knock out a seven song set including “Blue”, “Low” and the hit song “Bad Habits” which closed the set and had many singing along. I was unable to catch to much of the set as I was pretty intent on getting back to Cathedral stage.
WWE / AEW Wrestling Legend Chris Jericho led his band FOZZY as they ripped through their set of classic metal. The band is a tribute to the late great Ozzy Osbourne, though not in covering the man’s songs (though they did do one, we’ll get to that) but in the sense that they just love and respect the man. You’ll probably recognize lead guitarist Rich Ward from the band Stuck Mojo. Originally the band was called Fozzy Osbourne, hence the love for the Legend. Jericho is and always has been a showman and while he owns the stage in ways many don’t, he also takes advantage of the entire stage which I found to be done much to infrequent for the weekend. Walking all the way to both sides of the stage to get a bird’s eye view of all angles of the audience and of course to give them a good glimpse of the man who beat Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in one night. Journey and Metallica having a bastard child is the perfect description of this band. He changed his coat and lead the entire crowd on a huge sing along to his current entrance track called “Judas”, which is also the bands biggest hit to date. Closing out the set they did a brilliant version of “Crazy Train” by Ozzy. Chris was like a light haired and younger version of the famous Osbourne throughout the entire song. After “Judas” this really set the tone for the rest of the day for all metalheads.

I reached a bit of a wandering around stage of the day as there weren’t any acts playing that I was super excited about. I sauntered over to the Citadel stage to catch the first few songs by 200 STAB WOUNDS and though I had never seen them before I was kind of impressed. I will be honest and say I did not even expect to like them, but they entertained me for a few minutes. They have a vocalist / guitarist and just dirty looking guys, but they made it work so well. They looked exactly how they sounded and it was glorious. I was having more success throughout the day by keeping moving instead of standing still so I headed inside to the Temple Stage and caught a song or two of L.S. DUNES. They are made up of Circa Survive Vocalist Anthony Green, MCR Guitarist Frank Iero and Coheed guitarist Travis Stever. They seemed to be pretty well received however if I’m being honest, I personally wasn’t into them. Just felt like a lot of other bands to me.
Then came the time of day that was pretty much back-to-back to back on the Cathedral Stage of heavy hitters that I was pretty jacked up to see. First up at a fresh time of 2:55 was FLYLEAF W/ LACY STURM. Frankly I just call them Flyleaf because she was the original vocalist and to me that’s Flyleaf, but they are billed the other way so I’ll highlight it as such, but moving forward its Fucking Flyleaf. They are very deliberate with their live performance. They don’t make any big stink about anything the house music goes off and they just walk out on stage, grab their instruments and go into song. Naturally Lacey does walk out last. The band broke straight into “Chasm” off of the 2009 sophomore record “Memento Mori”. The band relied heavily on the debut self-titled record featuring 5 tracks including “Cassie” and “Fully Alive” which had the entire crowd singing along. In her words the stars aligned for a special treat to the fans of Sonic Temple as they brought out Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin to sing the song “So I Thought” in what was a beautiful duet. Then the heavy hitter “I’m so Sick” followed by Lacey giving a nice talk about what the final song means to her and telling her story about how she had attempted suicide, but God saved her. It’s a powerful moving story and she put an exclamation point on it with the final song “All Around Me” which had many singing, a few teary eyed but all paying attention.
This led to another lull to an extent where I wasn’t incredibly excited for anyone although COHEED & CAMBRIA was on the Temple stage and I was interested in them as the only time I had seen them was for 40 seconds at Blue Ridge Rock Festival before the storms came and ended my entire weekend. So I went in and watched a few songs and damn if they aren’t pretty good. I don’t know all their stuff but have a bit of knowledge on songs from the one album “Good Apollo Burning Star IV Volume 1”. I really like that album and I got to hear “The Suffering” which was cool because I remember listening to that track like 100 times before. Also I caught a bit of CARNIFEX and HOLDING ABSENCE, both were good, though I really only saw a song of Holding Absence and probably 2 or 3 of Carnifex so I really can’t form a huge opinion.

Then the band I was super excited to see as I had never seen them before. THE USED. Ironically, they were at that trainwreck of a Blue Ridge Festival as well, or were supposed to be and I missed them, then I missed them in Harrisburg the night I came home so this was a long time coming. They did not disappoint as they were in my top 2 for the entire weekend. They prance onstage slowly and vocalist Bert has a huge smile on his face as they break right into “Pretty Handsome Awkward”. They proudly proclaimed they have been at this for over 25 years, never stopped, never took a break they’ve always been here. Which selfishly, I read as where the fuck have you been Nick? My favorite record by them is “Lies for The Liars” and they of course opened with PHA and hey also had the crowd moving to “The Bird and The Worm” a big hit from that album. They played a great mix of songs from their records. At one point Bert encouraged the entire crowd to scream Fuck you to the band as loud as possible to which they did and replied shyly with “That kind hurt my feelings”. They played the first few notes of “I Caught Fire” and stopped which really got the crowd booing to which he flipped us all off playfully. He really seems like one of the more chill personalities of any frontman I’ve seen recently. Nothing really bothers him, laid back and has a dry sense of humor. They hit most favorites though they have many and closed out with the biggest of all “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”. Throwing in a bit of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana was a nice touch as well. With that the band said their thank you’s and exited the stage, making way for the next band up. We will get to them shortly.

Bert McKracken of The Used at Sonic Temple 2026.

Unfortunately I did miss all of Bodysnatcher but The Used was 100% worth it. I made my way into the temple stage again for Pop Punk group ALL TIME LOW I know a few songs by them but am not extremely familiar with their work. It was a good time though, listening to them and everyone seemed very happy. I guess it’s hard not to be when a band like that is on. They are very energetic and get the crowd moving. Then it was back to the Sanctuary Stage to see some of CATCH YOUR BREATH. There’s something special about this band. They have the sound and I see them continue to grow. Playing all the fan sing a longs, but it was “Dial Tone” that had everyone joining in on the singing. It was hard to find anyone not singing that one. They closed the set off with “Shame on Me” which is a bit of a change as Dial Tone is usually in that spot.

Two years ago, was at Sonic was the first time I had ever seen RISE AGAINST and they were spectacular. It was time to see them again, same stage and everything. They opened w/ “Re-Education (Through Labor)”. They had a super cool stage set up that I feel doesn’t work as well during the day as they have so many cool lights and smoke throughout the set. It’s still awesome somehow but would definitely be better at night. One thing I noticed watching them was how the song structures were not that crazy, but the song writing is brilliant and the melodies, my goodness the melodies flow so perfectly. There is a lot of the world sucks talk but that’s the bands thing and that’s the focus on many songs. They honestly have way more popular songs then a 40-minute set would allow however they hit many of them and through in the new single which has been out about a year now called “Nod” off the newest record “Ricochet”. One of the more popular songs by the band is “Help is on the way” a song about government response time failures during times of crisis. Lead vocalist Tim pleads with the crowd not to give up and if anyone they know is struggling to get them help before they play the song “Ready to Fall” which is about suicide struggles. The band closed out with “Savior” and of course had the entire crowd in a frenzy during this one. They’ll be overseas most the summer until October when they play Louder Than Life and then embark on a Headline tour w/ Alkaline Trio serving as openers.

This led into another portion where I was going to do some split sets. I caught the end of MAGNOLIA PARK. I’m glad that I did because these guys have energy. They also have some great choruses. “Shallow” was a particularly strong standout track to me. The other one that I heard was the Tevin Campbell cover of “I2I” which was a great sing along for the crowd. Then I went into the Stadium for PIERCE THE VEIL. I’m going to admit my ignorance on this band. I was very uneducated on them and had no idea why they were so high in the lineup and even headlining a night at Louder Than Life. I walked in as they were playing “Pass the Nirvana” and I think I am starting to get it at this point. I had really thought they were just one of those bands that the industry was forcing on us but no, they are pretty damn good. They have songs like that one that are very hard and heavy, yet they dip into the emo a bit with tracks like “So Far So Fake”. I had only planned on watching a song or two but ended up sticking around for 5 or 6 songs as I was really into them. I did want to check out WHITECHAPEL though, so I headed back over that way. They put on a great show and sound brutal, and people are going to disagree but take away their extra lights and such and I just don’t see much difference between them and other metal bands. I’m certainly not saying they are not good because they are but I’m just having a hard time separating them and others.

The had given away to evening and it was headliner time on each stage. First up for me was the Cathedral stage where Wilkes Barre’s own BREAKING BENJAMIN were the featured act for the day. They had one of the coolest intro videos. It was a computer downloading breaking ben songs from Napster and then playing the opening track “I Will not bow”, then stopping and if I remember correctly it begins to malfunction and the band comes out and plays that track for real. I found it to be really neat. You want to talk about a set with single after single then this was one for you. Throughout the 14-song set I believe every song was a hit at one point. “Red Cold River”, “So Cold”, “Follow” all one by one as the crowd sang every word. Recently the band dropped a brand new single entitled “Something Wicked” and had only played it one time that being at Welcome to Rockville the previous weekend. We were treated to the second performance of said song. “Awaken” was another great addition to the set as this is a song that was released last year. Both songs are likely to be the upcoming record that still has no title or release date. The favor was returned from earlier in the day as the band welcomed Lacey Sturm on stage to sing the beautiful duet of “Dear Agony”. Both vocalists were all passion and smiles throughout the song and giddy happy at the conclusion. Touring partners in the future perhaps? Finally, they would close the Cathedral stage for the first day with the ever popular “Diary of Jane”. They have a few shows over seas in June and that’s all that is currently on the books for them.

I did leave their set a bit early as I couldn’t miss the opening of SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL. These guys are on another level with their live show. They were headlining the Citadel stage this year. It was packed. The night sky had taken over the day and we got our first, well my first sighting of the heavy metal ambassador and host of the weekend Jose Mangin. He was either high or drunk as fuck because he did his introduction talking about last weeks “Blood 4 Blood” event and then went on to of course talk up STP, however when he leaned into the camera he fell over and knocked part of the bands High rise down. One of the crew members came out and appeared to yell at him to get off stage so he could fix it quick. It was pretty hilarious. The stage lights were cut, and ominous music began to play as smoke filled the stage. One by one the band members took the stage, and they cut into “Bonebreaker” followed by the last man to take the stage, lead vocalist Alex Terrible as he jumped up on the riser and they exploded into the opener. Alex was with Broken nose from the fight he had less than ten days prior, but he sounded great. He is such a presence onstage and what’s interesting is his intimidating looks are completely chipped away by his extremely friendly and vulnerable talks he has with the crowd. Super thankful for his position in life right now and he makes sure we all know that. I caught the beginning and end of the set as I did head over to see a bit of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and I’m going to be brutally honest; I got a weird cult vibe from the band was just not into them. Love the music but just wasn’t into the live show this time. Zero disrespect as I do believe they probably had the biggest crowd of the entire weekend. For me the headliners were definitely the boys from Mother Russia, Slaughter to Prevail.

TOP 5 BANDS OF THE DAY:
01. THE USED
02. SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL
03. RISE AGAINST
04. THE PRETTY WILD
05, BREAKING BENJAMIN

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Egypt Central
Flyleaf
Pierce The Veil
Fozzy