SONIC TEMPLE MUSIC AND ART FESTIVAL DAY 3
SATURDAY MAY 16TH
Date: Saturday May 16th 2026
Location: Historic Columbus Crew Stadium
City Columbus Ohio
Event: Sonic Temple 2026 Day 3 of 4
Featuring: Good Charlotte, Marilyn Manson, Bush, Motionless in White and More.
Saturday was the day we all had bookmarked as potential issues with regards to good old Seek Shelter. They had been calling for Rain all week and mother nature did not disappoint as I personally woke up around 10am to the sound of thunder and rain hitting my hotel window. The show was postponed. All in all it was not long before the rain and storms cleared out and we did lose Butcher Babies, Allt and Amira Elfekey. I arrived a little bit after 1:00PM and sadly missed All That Remains and Novelists.
There was a patch of rain that began to come down just as GIDEON took the Alter Stage. Coming out of Alabama this metalcore band thwarted the rain away after a few songs into their set. Prior to that through the rain we got to see their real strength as they just crushed it with their Metal almost hardcore punk style. Vocalist Daniel had his signature cowboy hat on along with his sleeveless button down shirt. I truly wasn’t convinced I was going to check them out however after their set I’m not going miss them when they come around.
Palaye Royale opens the Temple stage on Saturday at Sonic Temple
There was a reason I was hovering around the Alter stage as I was intent on checking out SNOT. Snot was a staple on the Ozzfest back in the late 90’s with original vocalist Lynn Strait. His tragic death in 1998 sidelined the band and derailed all the momentum they had gained for a long time. Enter Andy Knapp in 2024 as the band returned to the stage in a tribute to Lynn and to give the fans who missed them the live shows they deserved. Coming out on stage before any vocals are sung Andy announces “This is for Lynn” and it always is. Opening the set with their Namesake “Snot” and playing tracks from their debut and only record “Get Some”. Andy is an energizer bunny on that stage throughout the performance. Founding guitarist John “Tumor” Fahnestock announced that the band will be releasing a new record with Andy this fall. This set the crowd on fire as this will be the first new music from the band since Lynn’s tragic passing and first bit of music with Andy on vocals. He does an amazing job of filling the slot for Lynn, he doesn’t try to replace him or replicate him. He tributes him and he makes you know it as he is constantly mentioning Lynn and his beloved dog dobbs who also perished in the accident. The future seems to be pretty bright for Snot.
Dez of Coal Chamber performing on the Cathedral Stage at Sonic Temple
Gideon open up the Alter Stage on Saturday in the rain.
This led to another unfortunate conflict in bands I wanted to see but there was no way I was going to miss the mighty COAL CHAMBER on the Cathedral stage. I’ve seen this band many times and they deliver every single time. Typically, they walk out to the Halloween theme song but not today, they all took their places onstage while ominous music played as Dez took center stage and “The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on fire” and the opening notes of “Sway” sent the crowd into a frenzy. The band is known for their energetic live shows and they have not slowed down in the least. Speaking of not slowing down they followed sway up with “Big Truck” into “Fiend”. Dez was in a particularly good mood and mentioned how thankful they were for the people sticking with them all these years. Next year marks 30 years since the release of their debut record. They focused heavily on that record for this set as they blasted through a raucous set that came to an end with “Oddity” and the bands first single and biggest song to date “Loco”.
I did dip out a bit early to catch a bit of MAKE THEM SUFFER. You could really hear Coal Chamber in between make them suffer songs. I was able to catch the last 2 or three songs of their set. They are unique in that they have a lead singer / screamer and then their keyboardist Alex Reade sings most of the clean vocals and she is a very much a focal point of the band even though she is tucked in the back with the keyboards or keytar. They closed with the song I was waiting for “Doomswitch”. I listen to that track a lot. I’d love to catch a full set by these folks.
I was able to catch a little of the STATE CHAMPS on the Citadel stage. More of that pop punk emo stuff and honestly again I had a lot of fun watching them. I wasn’t able to watch to much as there was a band in Temple Stage I was looking forward to but for anyone who enjoys the pop punk emo I’d recommend them.
Next up was a band I had seen before but have really gotten into them more since then. BLACK VEIL BRIDES took the Temple stage, which really shows how much they’ve grown in the past year or two. The band is currently on tour in support of brand-new record “Vindicate” and for this performance they touched heavily on that album. “Bleeders”, “Halleujah” and “Vindicate” one after another the new tracks sounded spectacular on that big stage. Vocalist Andy Black was constantly joking with the crowd and once again continued on with his we are Sleep Token joke that has been gaining steam on social media. After a plethora of new tracks, the band closed out with “In the End” a fitting capper of the set.
This portion of the day was basically just killing time until Motionless in White took that Temple Stage. I did head over and lay in the grass and watch some of ALTER BRIDGE. I realized I don’t know any of their stuff and had a hard time getting into them. I figured I’d head over to that Citadel stage to see a bit of THE WONDER YEARS. These guys are the ones who sing that badass new theme song for WWE’s Becky Lynch. I checked a few of their set lists and they don’t play it. I don’t know if there is a clause that states they can’t, but I personally think its lame that they don’t. 100% they gained fans from that, I had never heard of them. I don’t know, I wasn’t a fan of them.
It was time to head into Temple stage to see the ever growing MOTIONLESS IN WHITE. That stadium was packed especially for 5:20 in the afternoon. The band is hot on the heels of announcing their new record “Decades” which is coming out in June. Opening up with the one two punches of “Meltdown” and “Sign of Life”. The set included an explosion of Streamers and plenty of pyro. One interesting portion of the set was watching the streamers hanging from the lights and wondering when the pryo was going to catch them on fire, they never did. They did play the new track “Afraid of the Dark”. Chris asks for a lot of crowd participation, and they oblige throughout the set. “Slaughterhouse”, “Rats” among others were up next. It’s incredible to see how big this little band from Wilkes Barre has gotten. Closing the set as they always do with the words “We are motionless in white and we are… Eternally Yours” as they bust through the song of the same name. You can see them again when they play at Inkcarceration Festival in Mansfield OH in July.
I went to Citadel again for some more pop punk in the form of MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK. I’ll admit I wasn’t that into them. I’m so sad about that to because I watched both their live streams from the Warped tour and was so excited to see them. Maybe I just caught a slower portion of the set. I Only saw the first 2 songs so I could be being unfair. I was pretty excited about heading over to Cathedral again to catch one of the better live bands around BUSH. Gavin has not lost a step, and the dude doesn’t stop moving, bouncing up and down the entire set. They opened with “Machine head” and followed that up with “The Land of Milk and Honey” and then going all the way back to the beginning with “Everything Zen”. During the track “Flowers on the Grave” they played an extended version as Gavin walked through the entire crowd singing and slapping fives with hundreds of folks. He also utilizes the entire stage which I like because he comes to the corner of the stage to see all us guys on the side. Before playing “Glycerine” he confessed “I wasn’t sure I should play this next song being a metal festival and all. But I felt maybe you guys need a little break”. He then did an incredible solo version of the song. Closing out the all to quick set with “I Beat loneliness” and the usual closer “Comedown”. These guys are truly one of the best live bands on the scene and they’ve been going for over 30 years.
Joel Madden of Good Charlotte performs on the Temple stage at Sonic Temple.
I took my first trip into the Temple area for a band called PALAYE ROYALE. These guys are a straight up Rock band out of the dirty streets of Vegas. Lead vocalist Remington is a trip with his shirt off and clear love of the crowd as he was up close and personal with them quite a bit. Using the crowd to hold him up and encouraging them to put those hands in the air. All smiles and power chords from these guys as they breezed through their opening set. I really enjoyed them. The band is catching steam as of late with the singles “Feel Something, Great” and “Sad Generation”.
It was time for a bit of a round about the area for me as I was going to be catching a few bands and possibly grab a bite to eat. First up I went and checked out the Citadel stage which was focusing on Pop / Punk and Emo bands on this day. First up was KNUCKLE PUCK. I had no familiarity with them at all however I once again stayed and watched longer than I had anticipated as they were super fun.
Contrastly over at the Sanctuary stage it was more of a hardcore type day opening up with ALPHA WOLF. I had missed them at festivals more than once, so I was happy to finally see them. They came out like a ball of energy. Opening up with the powerful track “Sub-Zero” and blasting through a seven-song set that featured pits, fist bumping and more.
I caught a bit of POP EVIL on the cathedral as I made my way back to the Alter stage. I’ve never been much of a pop evil guy but that’s not to say they aren’t a good band. Just not my thing but they had the crowd really excited. There was a burger stand up close to the Alter stage that I went to a few times as they were some of the better burgers I had eaten. Another stand over there was an Ice Cream stand which I stood in line for a few minutes until I then realized it would probably be a bad idea to dairy on a day that was becoming warmer.
Andy Knapp of Snot performs at Sonic Temple on the Alter Stage
Chris Motionless of Motionless in White performs at Sonic Temple.
I was super excited to head into Temple stage because it was time for one of my absolute favorite live bands. Little intro music hit as GOOD CHARLOTTE took the stage. They slowly take their places very calm, and they kick right into “The Anthem”. I got a little Bizkit vibes in a sense, not the music but the fact people think they are so cheesy, but they just grip you live right away with their signature sound. Hands were thrown in the air and everyone was singing a long instantly. “Girls and Boys”, “Riot Girl” one after another the band never let up and neither did the crowd. Vocalist Joel Madden was so laid back and just stalked the stage with his in between song banter. I can say this was the best set of the weekend in my opinion. I was a bit worried they would come off a little weak after the Motionless set but they stole the show. They did play a pair of new tracks as well. “Bodies” and “Rejects” both off the recently released Motel De Cup, their first new music in seven years. They took the crowd through a time warp and a little past midway through the set they took us all the way back to the very beginning in the year 2000. Crowd participation was essential for the original hit “Little Things”. A song dedicated to “all the kids that got picked last in gym class”. They had us rocking, singing and even thinking as they slowed it down for the hugely popular “Hold On”. Joel then proclaimed “We’re going on tour” before playing “The River” a song that on record featured M Shadows of the band Avenged Sevenfold who will be the headliner on the tour he was speaking of. They closed the set with “I Just wanna live” and of course had the entire crowd along for the final stop on the journey through time when they hit the final song “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”.
I finished my night over at Cathedral where Marilyn Manson was the closer of that stage. The man sounds damn good and he also looks like he’s having an incredible time on that stage. This was the first time I saw them w/ Tim Skold back on the guitar. They opened with “Nod if you Understand” a track from last years “One Assassination Under God Vol. 1”. Then it was hit after hit after hit and even brought back some deep cuts. They included two favorites from Anti-Christ Superstar those being “Angel with the Scabbed Wings” and “Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World”. One of the rarer songs they played was “Great Big White World” off Mechanical Animals. Manson seems to be in tremendous spirits since getting off drugs and alcohol. His on stage movements and his voice are vastly improved. He had the perfect back drop as the day turned to night as he was performing. “Sweet Dreams”, “The Dope Show” and others had the crowd invested. Most of his words to the crowd consisted of “Sonic Temple, I Love you”. This was repeated many times. He wasn’t all that personable, but he did mention his love and affection for us. He closed out the set with “mOBSCENE” and “The Beautiful People”. Asking us all “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people”. On his night it felt pretty good.
I decided to skip Bring me the Horizon and head back to the hotel for the night. I was tired, sore. I did watch a song or two of SEPULTURA on my way out and sure they sounded good and Derrick Green seems a good fit but I’m of the opinion no Cavalera no Sepultura. I don’t fault those who still enjoy them though as they did sound pretty good.