Last weekend, I attended the biggest rock music festival in the country for the second year in a row: Rock on the Range. And how convenient is it that it happens basically in my own backyard: Columbus, Ohio? If you have never been, allow me to educate you on everything you're missing. Because it was the 10th year anniversary, this sold out three-day extravaganza was insane from start to finish.

The Stadium

Rock on the Range takes place in Mapfre (Crew) Stadium, near Ohio State. There are three stages: the main stage is located inside the stadium, while the other two are positioned on either side. Ticket sales estimated well over 100,000 people to attend the event who rotate between the three locations depending on performance times.

The Bands

ROTR always recruits the huge names for their lineup, and the bands thoroughly enjoy the festival across the board, many having been featured multiple times throughout the ten years. It stands out in its organization, size, passionate fans, and its overall craziness.

I'm biased in my personal band preferences, but I thought that Disturbed (photographed above) and Shinedown (my favorite rock band) were the two best performances. They played back-to-back on Friday night and stole the show. Shinedown always finds a way to engage the crowd and make it both an emotional and kickass experience. The singer, Brent Smith, always promotes unity and respect for all and encourages us to fight for our genre: "Rock n Roll is not dead. It is very much alive. Rock n Roll is a way of life."

Disturbed is a mainstream heavy metal band, so their show was mainly seductively hard and deafening. The music was spot on and the vocals were chill-worthy. During their slower cover of Sound of Silence, cell phones and lighters lit up the stadium, and tears spilled from myself and people around me. It was my first time seeing them live, and they certainly did not disappoint.

Other bands to highlight include Five Finger Death Punch on Saturday. You wouldn't think so, but the lead singer, as badass as he may seem, actually has quite the soft spot. He stopped the show just to ask that the crowd and security guards handle children crowd surfers with extra care and respect. He then invited a group of young kids on stage to rock out with him. He may have dropped a couple hundred "F bombs," but I don't think they minded.

The last performance of the event was The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Sunday night. I'm only a moderate fan of their music, but even I sang along to every word of the several songs I knew. Their light show was incredible, and their energy was note-worthy. It was both an exciting and somewhat relaxing way to wind down a weekend full of deafening guitars, drums, and screaming.

The Festivities

If you're not preoccupied with the shows, there's plenty of fun to be had all around. The food might be overpriced, but at least it's good! Beer is ridiculously expensive, but that doesn't stop thousands from dropping $100 a day on it (and between you and me, I know a lot of people snuck in flasks!). There were plenty of shopping booths that featured band CDs and tee shirts and other clothing and jewelry that drew in a crowd. I saw people playing cornhole and many wandering into the comedy tent while they waited for their bands to hit the stage. And if tickets were too expensive for locals, they bought a parking pass for the lot outside the stadium and set up their own tailgating area for some grilling, family time, and awesome music in the background.

The Fans

Thousands and thousands of people gather from all across the country and even Canada every year to see the show. If you love people watching, this is definitely a place to get some entertainment. Name something crazy, and I've probably seen it. I've watched three year old girls dancing on stage with heavy metal bands, seven-year-olds screaming along to songs on their dad's shoulders, men with six facial piercings, people napping on the ground in between shows because they drank too much, people dressed half naked in speedos, people wearing dinasour onesies.

I've seen every Avenger unitard and Spiderman three times. I found Waldo twice. I've been hit on by older men, young men, and women. And everyone crowd surfs: twenty somethings, women, teens, young kids, creepy old men, even someone in a wheelchair! An appalling amount of people drink themselves incoherent or smoke way too much marijuana, but at least they give people a good laugh. We're all different, but we all have one thing in common: we're metalheads to the core.

The Result

The endgame is one giant sh*tshow of everyone coming together to celebrate a genre and a way of life. I crowd surfed twice, moshed several times, and somehow avoided getting high off of secondhand smoke. I met so many awesome people, some of whom actually became friends. I sang/screamed myself voiceless. I cried over the bands and songs that helped shape my life and even save it a few times. I bonded with my mom who's my forever rock concert buddy. And I made many memories that will surely last a lifetime.