Let me start by first saying I loved the whole weekend. I was lucky enough to watch Rock on the Range and talk to some (of you!) really cool people all from the comfort of my apartment. If you missed it and are just finding out, LiveXLive streamed Rock on the Range and I was watching it every day and leading the chat! Talking music, giving the people the knowledge they need, the occasional tech support, and generally talking METAL.
 
It was great! How great? Let me give you the play by play.
 
Friday:
 
The first day! Breakfast burrito in my hand! The scheduled performances tabbed! Oh yeah, I was ready.
When 1:30 PM hit, the chat opened and in came the people ready to join me on the ride.
 
The first act to hit the stream was Machine Gun Kelly which was a great way for the stream to start off. He brought a spectacle to his performance that actually outplayed some of the other bands that night. For that alone, awesome job MGK!  
 
The next to hit the stream was The Fever 333. This was probably up there for my favorite acts of the weekend and the same for a lot of people watching with me. Jason Aalon Butler was a complete animal, running everywhere and climbing on the monster semi-truck while headbanging with such force… I became lightheaded afterwards. Awesome set overall!
 
Later in the night Baltimore’s Turnstile would shake up the stage. I was looking forward to this band the most on Friday, and they did not disappoint. Bringing the same chaotic energy they do from smaller venues to the big stage was what I needed to see at the festival.
 
10 Years might have stolen the night by playing possibly the best rendition of Nirvanas’ Heart Shaped Box. Just sayin.
 
Underoath wrapped up the night with a lot of their classic tracks. Bringing me back to a good ol’ nostalgia high that rekindled my love of post hardcore. Great to see they are back.
 
Saturday:
 
Okay some crazy stuff happened with lightning storms… BUT THAT DID NOT STOP US!  
 
ASKING ALEXANDRIA was sick! Huge fan of the band, and was a huge on preaching their newest album. It's very good if you did not know.
 
After the storm settled, a new one formed… on the stage! (Like what I did there?)
 
From Ashes To New managed to make an impact with the new time frame. Three Days Grace had probably the coolest stage entrance and loudest crowd for “Riot.” Techn9ne brought what only Techn9ne can bring of strange and mysticism. Stone Sour killed it, then again, Corey Taylor could sing me the alphabet and I would be more than satisfied.
 
Then boom! Avenged Sevenfold came on and man that chat blew up!!! Brazil really loves some A7X and I don’t blame them. They played all of my favorite tracks including “A Little Piece of Heaven” (which was my ringtone for 2 years). Then ending with of course, Unholy Confessions. I can’t speak Portuguese, but I think a lot of the fans of Brazil were super happy.
 
Sunday:
 
This day should be renamed to just 'BABYMETAL day.' When Sunday rolled along I was happy to hear that the weather was clear, the line-up was all set, and I had another breakfast burrito, but I knew another wave will come crashing on me.
 
As the day continued, the chat became more and more full of fans. I was moderating the best that I could, just shooting the breeze and helping people with schedules. Again, I could feel the unstoppable wave creeping closer.
 
The bands were all playing stellar sets and the chat was going off. Then I saw twitter:
 

 
“Oh shi-“
 
BABYMETAL’s rabid fanbase showed up in force!
 
Pouring in to see the band, loud praises and thanks for getting the act for the stream. All I could do was hunker down and make sure everybody was enjoying the show. Even in the madness I had a moments to watch the show and fan out a bit. Heck if you didn’t know I even wrote about BABYMETAL for LiveXLive before. INSERT SHAMELESS PLUG : Can We Talk About Babymetal?
 
As Sunday wrapped up with Godsmack, taking me back with old tracks, I was super humbled by the tons of awesome people that thanked me and LiveXLive that put on this stream event. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my weekend any other way. Talking with some great people that came under the same banner of music; what more could I have wanted?
 
So from me and everyone involved from LiveXLive and Slacker Radio would like to thank you! Yes you! For watching the stream over the weekend and I hope to see you again for the next stream. *Big Hug* Now if you would excuse me… I need a burrito.

When Tiësto arrived at EDC Vegas via helicopter, we had no idea he'd brought along a special guest for an emotional tribute. Tiësto devoted almost 15 minutes of his set to honor Avicii, and Aloe Blacc joined him on stage to be a part of the tribute. The two artists performed Avicii's hit "Wake Me Up" and the crowd at EDC definitely felt the love. Watch Tiësto and Aloe's arrivals now.

We’ve talked about it before – there are a million reasons to love Kelly Clarkson. And now there’s one more. She used her platform as a celebrity and the host of Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards to call for action on ending gun violence.

Fighting back tears, Kelly says that producers encouraged her to send prayers to families and victims of Friday’s school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, which she agreed with. But they also wanted her to hold a moment of silence, which is where she drew the line.

A full transcript of Kelly’s speech is below:

"Before we start tonight’s show, there’s something I’d like to… this is gonna be so hard. There’s something I’d like to say about the tragedy Friday at Santa Fe High School. I’m a Texas girl, and my home state has had so much heartbreak over this past year. And once again, y’all, we’re grieving for more kids that have died for just an absolute no reason at all.

"Tonight they wanted me to say that obviously, we want to pray for all the victims, we want to pray for their families. But they also wanted me to do a moment of silence. And I’m so sick of moments of silence. It’s not working. Like, Obviously. So why don’t we not do a moment of silence? Why don’t we do a moment of action? Why don't we do a moment of change? Why don't we change what’s happening, because it’s horrible? Mamas and daddies should be able to send their kids to school, to church, to movie theaters, to clubs… you should be able to live your life without that kind of fear. So we need to do better. We need to do better because as people we’re failing our children, we’re failing our communities, we’re failing their families. I can’t imagine, I have four children… I cannot imagine getting that phone call or that knock on the door. So instead of a moment of silence, I want to respect them and honor them, with tonight y'all, in your community, where you live, your friends. everybody. Let's have a moment of action. Let's have a moment of change."