COLUMBUS — One of the largest rock ‘n’ roll festivals in the entire country will be in many Ohioans’ back yard this spring. Here’s your definitive guide to Sonic Temple Music & Arts Festival in terms of survival, overview and low key bands to check out.

Obviously, you couldn’t ask for a better headliner for not one, but two nights playing two different sets than Metallica.

Whether or not you put them as your metal GOAT, they are the most popular and successful metal band in the history of music. Let’s not get into a debate, we all know Master of Puppets is the best album. 

Headliners: Metallica (two nights, no repeats), Korn, Linkin Park, Bad Omens, Rob Zombie, Incubus, Alice In Chains, Three Days Grace (with Adam Gontier), Alice Cooper, I Prevail and Chevelle. 

Dates: May 8 to 11.

Location: Historic Crew Stadium, One Black and Gold Blvd, Columbus, Ohio 43211. (Glory to Columbus, the Crew “is the greatest team the world has ever seen.”)

Full lineup: https://sonictemplefestival.com/lineup/

Parking: Traditionally organizers have funneled all official event parking through 17th street, between Summit and I-71. If you really want to go but money is tight, here’s a couple secret spots: Canal St. between 17th and 11th. If you don’t mind walking, there are options on 11th. Scope out all along Summit and the 10s of offshoot roads as you are essentially on the cusp of student housing for The Ohio State University.

Passes: One-day starting at $149.99, 2-day passes are currently sold out on the main Sonic site, 4-day begin at $359.99. There’s also a plethora, yes, I used that word, of VIP, suite, GA vs stadium seats, “epic rock royalty reserved,” owner’s club and if you are really awesome, there’s the double ticket for Sonic and Mansfield’s own, Inkcarceration.   

Secret shade spots: Northeast corner of the stadium, under the cement stairs. Also check the tree grove in the southeast corner, and on the east side wedged beside the Performance Center and across from the restrooms on the ground floor. 

With over 100 bands spanning four days, it would be a heavy lift to preview them all. But most rock ‘n’ roll and metal fans will have a list of “must-see acts” for Sonic.

But here are a couple that may not be on your radar. 

India is going for the trifecta: delicious curry gold, action-movie amazement in Bollywood productions and now changing the sound of metal with the band, NuDelhi. The audio oration is like if the movie RRR became a metal group. 

GWAR’s lead singer, The Bersreker Blothar, chatted with me about what to expect from their set at Sonic Temple:

“It’s like going to watch a crappy horror movie except you get blood sprayed all over you. And you can watch us bring people out and put them down like rabid dogs.” 

Source Media did a 15-minute interview with GWAR where they talked about “40 shocking years,” their origin story of how they came to planet Earth, the early albums, musical influences and the infamous Taco Land show in Texas. That interview will be published March 22 on Richland Source.

Sonic has a great blend of generational music, like many of us that grew up listening to Ministry tell us how Jesus built their hotrod, the perfect suicide shot from a congressman from Filter and almost every ’90s kid has the high hat hit sequence of Korn’s Blind in their head followed by the legendary question all metal fans get asked, “Are you ready?”

Movie stars will also grace the state fairgrounds of Ohio when Wayne’s World actor Alice Cooper will be one of the Friday headliners.

For real though, Cooper has been a true metal mainstay for decades and as the legend goes, he passed around a cup and had everyone in the audience spit in it. Then it was human-conveyor-belt passed back to the stage where he allegedly gulped the whole thing down. Yummy! 

Cannibal Corpse was in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, when Ace was asking a question and the a fan was headbanging and Ace took that as a yes response. 

Rob Zombie has his own movie universe with The House of 1,000 Courpses and the Devil’s Rejects and his wife won’t stop calling me so that’s getting a little awkward. 

The “all I wanted was a Pepsi” punk rock legendary quote will manifest in performance form when Suicidal Tendencies play on Friday. 

Possibly the best thrash mosh song of all time is The Saddest Day by Converge, and many dilapidated apartments have been further destroyed due to how that song incites so much violence. 

Jimmy Eat World is not metal at all but Sonic does a solid job at bringing in some punk and magnificent emo and indie bands to offset the dreads and patches and everyone wearing black.

You have two options on a Sunday morning, after a hard night of partying, it’s either breakfast with the Beatles or the Jimmy Eat World record, Static Prevails all all way through. 

In the same vain and in shackles, Alice In Chains will help close out things on Sunday. RIP Layne Staley but one should still expect an amazing show. Do you know Don’t Follow is a top 50 song of all time? 

Ohio will be, as it always has been, the “heart of rock ‘n’ roll” in 2025.

Past Sonic and future Sonic coverage can be found here: https://www.richlandsource.com/tag/sonic-temple-art-music-festival/

Digital Marketing Director for Source Brand Solutions / Source Media. Also I write and climb mountains. Wine is cool.