The 2013 Carolina Rebellion took place in Charlotte Motor Speedway Rock City Campground in Concord, NC on May 4 & 5, 2013. This is the third location in the festival's three year history and the best layout yet.

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The two main stages were far apart this time, with food and merchandise vending in between, as well as off to the sides. This allowed plenty of room to move between main stages and the side stage. The weather on Saturday was cool and cloudy, which was a sharp contrast to the scorching heat of the prior two years. 16 bands played over 12 hours and all put on a tremendous show.

 [click on picture for Rebellion Stage slideshow]

Sunday was another story. The temperature stayed around 50 degrees and the rain that had started the night before never let up. There was a lot of confusion, schedule changes, misinformation, and ultimately most of the highly anticipated artists were forced to cancel due to the conditions of the stage. The fans that did stick it out were treated to some great shows by the bands that did perform, most notably Pop Evil, Sevendust, Steel Panther, Hollywood Undead and Buckcherry. Hopefully next time the weather cooperates and the stages are better prepared for whatever comes.

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Photos By Jo Anna Jackson

Heavy metal supergroup Adrenaline Mob stormed the Cheyenne Saloon in Las Vegas to showcase and support their Ep Covertá. Vocalist Russell Allen (Symphony X), bassist John Moyer (Disturbed) guitarist virtuoso Mike Orlando (Sonic Stomp) and award winning drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre, Avenge Sevenfold) powered through songs from both their LP Omertá as well as a few of the bands' favorite covers from newly released Covertá. Kicking the set off with "Psychosane" and "Feelin' Me", Allen and AMob also ripped through new renditions of Heart's "Barracuda" and Sabbath's "Mob Rules" for the full house at Cheyenne.

The US tour is over for now but AMob will hit South America on tour with Halestorm this summer. Drummer Mike Portnoy has geared up to tour with another project, The Winery Dogs, with bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr Big) and vocalist/guitarist Richie Kotzen (Mr Big, Poison), and have a new video out for first single "Elevate". Look for Winery Dogs on tour later this year, they kick things of in Japan this July.

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Sevendust was a late addition to the 2013 Carolina Rebellion, rescheduling their tour plans to replace 3 Doors Down. Despite the cold and rain and numerous band cancellations, the band rocked on, giving the freezing fans the show of the day on Sunday May 5, 2013. Sevendust is a band that continues to write killer songs and play incredible live shows. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

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Photos By Gary Cawley

It has been awhile since Soilwork played Baltimore, Md., but when they showed up in town on a Tuesday night they had set out on a 55 date tour in 57 days with eight shows remaining on this tour. One might say that this band is a machine. In support of their new double album, "The Living Infinite" they brought supporting acts Hatchet (California) Blackguard (Montreal, Canada) and Jeff Loomis (Ex – Nevermore)

First up was Hatchet who reminded me of an old school thrash metal band from the 80's. Music was good but the singer was not doing it for me. The band was very energetic and was very tight but the crowd didn't really take to what was going on. The band pushed through their set with songs like "Fall From Grace" and Dawn Of The End." But by the end of the show the band was able to win the crowd over especially to the old school metal heads.

Next up was Blackguard. First song into their set one of the guitar players ( I believe it was their lead guitar player Louis Jacques ) was having some issues with his rig but the rest of the band continued to play as he and his tec tried to figure out what the problem was. It took the entire first song but he was back up and running for the next song. Singer Paul "Ablaze" Zinay is one good front man to say the least. Paul is everything a front man needs to be: Strong vocal, demanding and very powerful. The rest of the band is solid and gives you some kick ass in your face music.

As a direct support to Soilwork next up was Jeff Loomis. He came out and gave the audience 45 minutes of just killer shredding guitar! It's kind of hard to watch a band that does not have a vocalist but let me tell you that Jeff was very impressive and had the entire crowd into what he was doing up on stage. Maybe it helped a little that he had Dirk Verbeuren from Soilwork playing the drums for him. Dirk was the drummer on Jeff's second solo album called "Plains of Oblivion" What a treat that was for fans.

Finally, it was time for the head act of the night, "Soilwork" from Heisingborg, Sweden to take the stage. First, let me start off by saying that prior to coming to the show I decided to go online and take a peek at their previous set list to get a feel how the show will start off. Up to now they have opened up their shows with the killer track, "This Momentary Bliss" instead they opened the show with "Parasite Blues" off the new album, "The Living Infinite." From there they went on to play "Average Stalker" (A Predator's Portrait ) and "Spectrum" (The Panic Broadcast) The band seemed to be enjoying themselves very much and with Bjorn (lead vocals) working the crowd it didn't take long for everyone ( and including the band ) to figure out this was going to be a night of head banging their Asses Off!

The rest of the set list was a good mix that covered just about everything you wanted to hear. After a powerful 14 song set the band members exited the stage. Within only seconds the audience started chanting, Soilwork! Soilwork! Soilwork! Here comes Bjorn back on stage asking the crowd, "You Guys Want Two More?" The encore consisted of "Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter" and their classic song "Stabbing The Drama" which ended this awesome night from the Swedish Band Soilwork! Truly a great night from one of the greatest progressive thrash metal bands in the business.

If Soilwork comes to your area or even close you must go and check these guys out. You won't be disappointed!

Soilwork Set list: