Six Big Things That Happened at Welcome to Rockville 2024
The 2024 edition of Welcome to Rockville is in the books, and this year's festival left fans with plenty of great memories. Below we revisit six big things that happened at this year's Welcome to Rockville festival.
Limp Bizkit and Jelly Roll Teamed Up
Limp Bizkit played one of the more memorable sets of the weekend. Their 11-song performance featured one special guest, country crossover superstar Jelly Roll. But rather than spitting some rhymes or getting all aggro on "Break Stuff," the rising star chose to join in on one of the set's more tender moments.
The group performed their cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes," which appeared on the Results May Vary album and had ties to the Halle Berry film Gothika. Mid-song Fred Durst started asking for a sign and for the audience to pray for an angel to save him. Not too long after, Jelly Roll, sporting a white cowboy hat and a visible cross necklace chain, walked out onstage to take the next verse. The two musicians then traded some vocals and harmonized together at the end before sharing an embrace.
Limp Bizkit Featuring Jelly Roll, "Behind Blue Eyes"
Fred Durst Revealed a Baby's Gender
Limp Bizkit shows have become more of a celebration in recent years and during the Welcome to Rockville festival, Fred Durst took part in one couple's celebration of a pending life. That's right, the singer helped a young couple with a gender reveal to learn the sex of their unborn child.
As shared by Rock Feed, Durst held the results on a paper that he would be first to read with the couple learning at the same time as the crowd. First he had the audience share applause as to whether they hoped it was a boy or a girl. "Zack and Angel, congrats, it's a boy," he revealed as the couple embraced to loud cheers from the audience. "Is there something wrong with a girl?," he then asked after hearing the response from the crowd, then adding, "It's a boy, motherfucker."
READ MORE: New Horror Movie Has More Metal Than Fred Durst Playing a Terrifying Dad
Foo Fighters Prank Welcome to Rockville With a Friend
Wow, that Dave Grohl has some serious guitar skills! Ehhh, wait a minute! Grohl and Foo Fighters pulled a fun prank on the Welcome to Rockville crowd with the frontman stepping up to the mic to deliver a blistering performance of Van Halen's "Eruption."
It started off convincing enough, as Grohl nimbly tapped along the fretboard of his guitar, but once one hand moved away from the instrument the crowd knew something was up. As Grohl then raised both hands skyward away from the guitar, the big screen behind the band showed Wolfgang Van Halen backstage noodling away on the classic instrumental made famous by his father.
After a fun exchange between Grohl and Wolfgang, drummer Josh Freese started a beat with Wolf then serving up a bit of guitar work for Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" in a moment that apparently hadn't been planned.
Given Wolfgang's reluctance to play Van Halen material in Mammoth WVH, it was a rare moment where audiences got to see him revisit some of his late father's finer guitar work.
Foo Fighters Prank Welcome to Rockville With Wolfgang Van Halen
READ MORE: PHOTOS - Four Days of Rock + Metal at Welcome to Rockville 2024
Falling in Reverse Debut "Ronald" Live With Their Famous Friends
During their Friday (May 10) appearance at Welcome to Rockville, Falling in Reverse's Ronnie Radke took advantage of the rock world's convergence upon Daytona Beach by inviting special guests Tech N9ne and Slaughter to Prevail's Alex Terrible to join him for the live debut of the band's new song, "Ronald."
The set's penultimate performance was a feverish and fiery fury, making great use of pyro and flashing lights as Radke paced the stage. Toward the latter portion of the song Tech N9ne emerged spitting rapid fire rhymes as he and Radke jumped in time to the hard-hitting drums. Then Terrible joined in with rough vocals traded off with Radke. At the end, they all embraced and then posed for a photo with the audience in the background.
Falling in Reverse Featuring Tech N9ne + Alex Terrible, "Ronald"
Anthrax's Joey Belladonna Takes Us on a Journey
Not everything of note takes place on the big stages at Welcome to Rockville. In fact, Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna tore it up at the Church of Rock & Roll dive bar experience that was part of the weekend festivities.
He turned up Thursday night (May 9) to sing two Journey classics - "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" - for those who decided to duck in and check things out. Belladonna didn't appear to be backed by a band, making it more of a karaoke-styled performance, but he showed his prowess in taking on Steve Perry's powerful vocals. That said, he does play shows with the Journey tribute outfit Beyond Frontiers when he's not fronting Anthrax.
Disturbed + Ann Wilson Onstage Together
Disturbed and Heart's Ann Wilson have one of the more celebrated duets of the past year, collaborating on "Don't Tell Me" from Disturbed's most recent album, Divisive. While Disturbed have added the song to their set, occasionally using guest female vocalists to handle Ann Wilson's part, Thursday night (May 9) at Welcome to Rockville finally found David Draiman and Ann Wilson together onstage for the first time to perform the song live.
"it finally happened," remarked David Draiman who shared a photo of their onstage collab. The Heart vocalist also shared a few photos from the performance.
It was a huge weekend for rock music, as it's been reported that over 200,000 attended the Welcome to Rockville festivities over the weekend. In addition, the festival, which has faced weather challenges in recent years, got through everything with no cancellations or weather-related issues.
Photos: All Four Days of Welcome to Rockville 2024
Gallery Credit: Danny Wimmer Presents