Date: Friday May 15th 2026
Location: Historic Columbus Crew Stadium
City: Columbus Ohio
Event: Sonic Temple 2026 Day 2 of 4
Featuring: Shinedown, Lorna Shore, Sublime, Staind and More

Friday being day 2, I was beginning to get the hang of things again and a good feel for things. I knew I had to walk nearly a mile after the bus before I got to the venue. It was once again going to be a long day as I arrived about 11:20. The first band to take the stage on Friday was a band I’m very familiar with in FLAW. I’ve had my ups and downs with the band but through it all I always maintained that I enjoyed the bands music. It’s been a good bit since I’ve caught them live and I was excited to see them in this atmosphere. The band didn’t disappoint as they only got a short 5 song 25-minute set however they nailed the hits and even played a brand-new track that will be included on the new record due out end of summer. It’s always cool to get a neat little announcement at a festival, especially before noon. “Only The Strong” was the opener and the bands still biggest hit to date “Payback” marked the end of the set. Touching on the new song I’d like to say that It’s probably the best new song they’ve put out since the “Endangered Species” era in my opinion. I’m unaware of the track title however I’m sure we’ll be getting more information in the not-so-distant future.
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I did a lot of wandering around on Friday and didn’t do a ton of full sets. I headed over to the Temple stage to see the always entertaining BUCKCHERRY. I really only intended to watch a song or two of them as I’ve seen them before and there were other acts I wanted to see, however I ended up watching nearly the entire set. They came out strong w/ “Lit Up” the debut single that got them noticed, about doing a lot of Cocaine. They snuck in a few tracks I wasn’t particular familiar with but still sounded great and were solid selections for a festival crowd. I figured after a few I didn’t recognize I had to stick around to hear “Sorry” and a bit of closer “Crazy Bitch”. They really got the Temple stage ready for a long day of music.
Over to Sanctuary to see a very hot on the rise young act NOT ENOUGH SPACE. These girls similar to The Pretty Wild are a two-lady duo using singing and screaming vocals along with heavy music. I see why the band has so much buzz behind them as they put on a very solid show. They managed to buzz through a seven song set focusing on their debut record “Weaponize Your Rage”.
Cathedral opened at 12:35 with the 90’s hitmakers LIT. This stage featured an full day of 90’s hit songs from each band that played it. For the Lit set, lead vocalist A. Jay Popoff was doing his best to rock out with only one leg. I missed what happened to his other, however he was unable to be his usual running the stage self for this set. I found him to be just as energetic and playful with the crowd honestly. Hearing “Zip Lock Bag” and of course the closer “My Own Worst Enemy” was pretty damn nostalgic. If you know the band and their music you’d enjoy seeing them live as it kind of makes you feel young again.

Jackie LaPonza of Mushroomhead performs on the Alter Stage.

My personal surprise of the weekend was coming up as I headed out to catch a song or two by the Japanese Metal band JILUKA. Mark them down as I truly believe they are going to be taking the Slaughter To Prevail, Kublai Khan type ride to the top in the next year or two. They blew me away with their energy, stage presence and overall vibe. I can honestly say I was planning on catching one or two songs and then catching Everclear but the boys from Santa Monica could wait because these Japanese folks were putting on a show. Sometimes when you see a band you can just catch a feeling in the air that people are seeing something special. That is the feeling I got when I saw them. Once again, it was a similar feeling seeing STP or KK the first times. They have a djent, metalcore with some electronic mixed in. Stage outfits though they looked hot as hell were a great visual as well and shows how seriously the band takes this. I couldn’t tell you the number of songs they played or what they were, but each song seemed a bit better than the last. There was no downtime in the set, no catch your breath moment. Highly encourage you to go check them out.
Now it was time to go see EVERCLEAR. I’ve never been a huge fan but I was really looking forward to seeing them as they have some of the better songs from the 90’s in my humble opinion. Due to the Jiluka surprise I did miss some of the set but walked up right as they were singing “Wonderful”. As expected, it was a giant sing a long over at Cathedral. That was followed by “Father of Mine” and “I Will Buy You a New Life”. Lead vocalist Art was super relaxed and friendly with the crowd as you’d expect. I would see them again for sure.

Left on Red performing at Sonic Temple 2026.

I’ve seen them many times but there was no way I was missing POWERMAN 5000. Not once have I seen them put on a bad show. It was cool seeing Spider standing side stage for many of the bands as well. Very dedicated he is. They put on a solid set featuring favorites like “Bombshell”, “Nobody’s Real” and “Horror Show”. He was very talkative with the crowd as well doing everything he could to make us feel old. Frankly those of us who were into them when they came out back in the mid 90’s ARE pretty old. The crowd was singing a long and bouncing throughout the whole set. The band would close with their biggest hit “When Worlds Collide” then a nice wave and “Thank You” from Spider and they were off again.
I did go in and see one song by STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, and it was fine, but I didn’t see enough to really comment. It’s touchy on that one because Scott was so larger than life and the new fella isn’t, but he sounded good. I had to rest a bit as the damn trips to Alter were starting to take their toll on me, so I sat and watched some of NEW FOUND GLORY. i’ll be honest and say I never liked these guys, but they are growing on me and damn do they put on a fun show. It was pretty great seeing “My Friends Over You” live too.
Back to Alter stage for some DOPE. I really like this band and I can say I have not seen them live enough. They put on one of the more fun shows of the whole weekend. Lead singer Edsel Dope was hilarious, especially his constant banter about the giant Dicks in the crowd. He must have mentioned them every single song, in-between each song and had a new funny comment every time. The band played a great mix of songs such as “Bitch”, “Debonaire” and of course the mosh pit inducing “Die Motherfucker Die”. After a medley of songs he concluded with “Considering the giant dicks, I assume you don’t take yourselves to seriously and this is the dumbest song ever written” before bursting into their version of “You Spin Me Round”, the Dead or Alive Classic.

Lzzy Hale of Halestorm at Sonic Temple

Staind performing at the Temple Stage at Sonic Temple

I walked into the SHINEDOWN three songs in, and the fireworks had already started. The band was playing the second night of its “Dance Kid Dance” tour and when they do outdoor shows, they put everything into it. This band plays with more passion than most on the scene and there is a reason they are one of the biggest bands in the world. I will admit though the crowd seemed a bit thin for them, not nearly as crowded as MCR the night before, which I personally feel is a shame, but it is what it is. Lorna Shore overlapped w/ them as did Simple Plan. Back to Shinedown though. They are one of those bands that says they don’t preach but they totally preach yet you don’t mind it and come out of it like you weren’t really preached to yet still remember everything he said. That probably makes no sense but its my feelings. They played some new stuff like “Searchlight” set opener “Safe and Sound” as well as “Three Six Five” which was one of the highlights as before that song Brent hit us with one of his famous speeches that had so many tears flowing in that stadium. He spoke of close ones who had passed on recently and how they are here with us today. He speaks so genuinely and its like he’s a politician, but not an asshole. Very powerful stuff. “Devil” had the pyro going at full blast. They incorporate so much into a set. The aforementioned Pyro, Fireworks, videos, light show amongst other things. I had a mile walk ahead of me so I ended my night after the “Three Six Five” thing and started heading out. I caught “Simple Man” on the Cathedral Stage as I was walking past. The band will be at Giant Center in Hershey in two weeks and limited seats are left so I’d pick up your tickets as these guys put on one of the most incredible live experiences that you’ll ever see.

TOP 5 OF THE DAY (NO ORDER)
01. SHINEDOWN
02. SUBLIME
03. DOPE
04. STAIND
05. KUBLAI KHAN

Honorable Mentions:
Jiluka
Halestorm
Powerman 5000

Christopher Vols of Flaw Opens Day two on the Alter Stage.

I believe I mentioned that I avoided the Alter stage a good bit this weekend and didn’t head over there at all yesterday. Today was the day I planned on hitting it the most as it was filled with my kind of nu metal type bands. The first one I wanted to see again was Cleveland’s own MUSHROOMHEAD. This band absolutely packs these side stages in Ohio. Its pretty well known that there are many offshoots of this band going right now and I expect to see those acts (Ex Faces, Ventana, Jeffrey Nothing), on the Sonic Temple Stages soon if they haven’t already been there (A Killers Confession). This was the original’s time though and they always come with the energy as they now have 3 vocalists including latest addition Jackie laponza who is not only a site on stage but is a ball of energy who always goes out into the crowd and stands on audience members while singing. The band is down to one original member that being Steve “Skinny” Felton, however many consider this the new version of the band and not some cover act. Focusing only on newer songs from the most recent record “Call The Devil” seemed to hit home as all songs performed had the majority of song writers still in the group. The band will be at Capital City Music Hall this fall so if you get a chance go see them.
I did want to catch HINDER over on the Temple stage. I dipped out of the Mushroomhead stage a big early and to my surprise as i walked past Cathedral, (they always had main stage bands on the big screens at Cathedral when nobody was on that stage) they were already playing “Lips of an Angel” so I missed that. I did manage to pop in there to catch the closer which was “Get Stoned”. I feel like Hinder gets a lot of unnecessary heat for being a 90’s radio band. They have some solid songs and great sing a long songs as well. I only caught one song but the band sounded fantastic. Marshall Dutton who has been singing for the band for the last 10+ years sounds good. I’m sure there’s a big difference to huge fans but only hearing one song I honestly didn’t notice much and it sounded just like the “Get Stoned” that I know and love. Although it was hard to hear over everyone else singing it.

Japanese Metal outfit Jiluka Performing at Sonic Temple 2026.

‍ ‍ LEFT ON RED is a band that won a Facebook contest to be featured on the show. Also we’ve had them to town and will be bringing them again June 18th at Racehorse Tavern as part of the Free Bike Week event so don’t miss them. For the sonic show they were on fire. They throw in their little Spongebob sounds which they are becoming known for in a sense and they just batter you with their brand of Missouri New Core Metal. It was so great to see such a large crowd for these guys. That’s one thing about festivals that many don’t talk about. There is a mass amount of people who are willing and excited to check out new talent. Left on Red is a newer band and I’m sure 75-80% of those watching them were new to them. They seemed to be a big hit from what I could tell as they had pits and everything going. Once again, June 18th, Racehorse Tavern. Don’t Miss them.
I’m pretty sure I saw DAUGHTRY walking around on Friday but today he was on the big stage inside. I kind of did a walkthrough of the temple stage as I did want to check him out but wasn’t expecting much. He seemed to be very well liked, and the crowd was rather large especially for that portion of the day, but I personally wasn’t into it. I really might have had my mind set on the next band though if I’m being honest.

Edsel Dope of Dope performing at Sonic Temple, probably looking at the Giant Dicks in the crowd.

I’m going to skip ahead a bit as I really didn’t catch much of bands like YELLOWCARD, though again hearing “Ocean Avenue” Live will be a memory i hold. I did see a few songs by THE WORD ALIVE & CHELSEA GRIN. Both bands I enjoy but nothing sticks out to me about them. I don’t mean that shitty, it’s possible I just haven’t heard enough of them because they are both massively popular. Once again they could have been victims of me already in the headspace for the next band.
Here was a bit of a tricky choice. You had Static-X on Alter and then in Temple the mighty York Heroes HALESTORM. I thought of splitting sets but if I’m being honest I wasn’t interested in walking all the way over to Alter again and I had a hard time justifying leaving the Halestorm set because I got up pretty close and the band just continues to improve every single time I see them. The band all walks on stage with Lzzy being last and they break into the first track off the new album “Everest” called “Fallen Star”. You always hear about her voice and you should because it’s insane. The way she can belt out a note is inhuman. Her scream before “I Miss The Misery” controls the entire stadium. They focused on the new record as most touring bands do hitting two others from the album “Rain Your Blood on Me” and show closing “I Gave you Everything” which is an extended duel solo type song that lifts the audience into some alternative reality. It is the old school stuff that really hit though, songs like “I Get Off” and “Freak Like Me” that really gets that crowd singing. They once again put on a show stealing type performance as they always do.

I caught a bit of PALEFACE SWISS and good lord they are a hell of a live band. They really are. I stayed away from Chevelle and its nothing against them, I have always felt they were rather boring live. I can listen to pretty much any of the records and will but Live I’ve just simply never been into them. The day began turning to dusk as the hardest skip of the entire weekend was coming up for me. They put Sevendust on all the way back at the Alter stage the same time as Kublai Khan and Staind. Reluctantly I missed the entirety of the Sevendust set. I started out in Temple for STAIND. I’ve seen them more than anyone at the festival but I’ve only seen them one time in the last 10-15 years and that was at Sonic two years ago so I was pretty excited to see them again. Aaron Lewis prances the stage like a walrus, but somehow its effective because I love it. They opened up with “Mudshovel” which immediately got the crowd involved. You could hear the entire stadium singing along with Aaron. Guitarist Mike Mushnik over there just banging his head away like he’s in slayer. I had heard they were doing the Anniversary of “Break The Cycle” but I suppose for the festival they chose to mix in others. This set was to feature the hits and fun live songs. “Lowest In Me” off the most recent record, heavy mosher “Wannabe” which Aaron told us: “I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this next one, I guess I thought I could rap”. He has such a dry sense of humor but if you get it, you get it. I was super amped to hear “Just Go” as that’s not a song they play much and its one of my favorites. I headed towards the Kublai stage during “So Far Away” though they did end up closing with “Outside” and “It’s Been Awhile”.
Let me tell you how insane a KUBLAI KHAN Live show is. Ok, maybe not insane but it’s great. They just rip through 12 songs like it’s nothing. For the first time I missed the intro to the set but I got there pretty early on and watched the majority of their onslaught. “Ant pile”, “Ant pile 2”, “The Hammer” just nonstop in your face squealy guitar and heavy stop / start riffs that you cannot help but bang your head to. Seriously go see them and try not to band your head. I walked around the area a bit during the set and picked up one of those all American burgers. It was good but not $20+ good. It was also neat to see the band at different positions as I was up close then was way far away and man those guys have really managed to draw a crowd. Rowdy people too. The band closed out with “Theory of Mind” to another huge pit and maximum chaos.
I then went to the Cathedral stage and holy shit it was absolutely packed, more then I’d seen it since Sleep Token a few years back. The headliner for this stage on this day was non other than SUBLIME. Lead now by vocalist Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob. I think they found it with him. He’s very like his father but he has such a kid feeling to him. He seems to look at the world with such joy and love and it fits with the vibe of the music. They had a big Dalmatian prop on stage representing his father’s dog Louie who went everywhere with Brad. Jakob’s dog was wandering around on stage during the set as well. They ripped through nearly 20 tracks including the hits, the staples and everything in between. The show needed to be stopped numerous times for issues in the crowd which was wild because they had one of the most calm sets of the weekend. Jakob did a fantastic job keeping the audience engaged during a particularly long halt after a crowd surfer needed to be stretchered out. “Burrito’s” made the set even after he said it should have been cut for time but his girlfriends friend really wanted to hear it. They did “Wrong Way”, “What I Got” and they closed with “Santeria” to the delight of the crowd. The crowd did get thinner towards the end of the set as there were two huge sets coming up, those being Lorna Shore and Shinedown. I had more fun at Sublime’s set then possibly anybody’s all weekend.
Heading to the Sanctuary stage I was literally going to do a walk by of LORNA SHORE because I adore Shinedown so much and I’m seeing Lorna at Ink. Yeah I had to stay for a few songs. I had heard a lot about them live and they are every bit of what folks say. They are one of those bands I generally don’t listen to but I’m becoming enamored with them live. The stage filled with smoke and Will just walks out into the shadows and he’s like this famous ghostly feature up on stage just putting everything into his growls and screams. I Cannot wait for Ink to see these guys put on a full set.

Shinedown Closing out the Night at Sonic Temple