Oliver Anthony, Papa Roach, and Shinedown perform parking lot set at canceled Blue Ridge Rock Fest

By wazup on September 10, 2023 Comments Closed / 94 views

As we reported earlier on Sunday (September 10th), this weekend’s Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway was plagued by severe weather, causing most of the four-day event to be canceled. However, at least one bright moment occurred, when viral sensation Oliver Anthony joined Papa Roach and Shinedown to perform an impromptu acoustic set in the parking lot on Saturday (September 9th) for fans who missed out on seeing their favorite bands.

Blue Ridge Rock Festival was set to be one of the biggest hard rock and metal festivals ever in the United States, with dozens of bands scheduled to play each day. Thursday’s lineup was cut short due to storms, and while Friday went on as planned, most of Saturday and all of Sunday were outright canceled when the heavy rain returned.

Not wanting fans to experience complete disappointment, Shinedown rallied Papa Roach and Oliver Anthony to play acoustic sets for a few hundred fans who remained in the parking lot.

Anthony, whose song “Rich Men of North Richmond” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after going viral thanks to its sociopolitical lyrics, did get to perform a full set in front of thousands on Friday. He returned on Saturday to play “Rich Men of North Richmond” during the parking-lot set, and also joined Shinedown for their hit “Second Chance” and their cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” to close out the performance.