M'Lou Elkins
ROCK LANSING
Adado Riverfront Park – 5/10/25
Lines of Loyalty// Heartsick // Shallow Side // Conquer Divide // Crobot // Adelitas Way // Evan’s Blue // Ayron Jones // Saliva
©David Jones
On Saturday, May 10, 2025, Rock Lansing returned to Adado Riverfront Park in Michigan’s capital city for a full day of rock and metal mayhem. The festival featured a diverse lineup of national, regional, and local acts across two alternating stages, allowing fans to experience continuous live music without overlap. Headlined by Saliva, the event also showcased performances by Ayron Jones, Evans Blue, Adelitas Way, Crobot, Conquer Divide, Shallow Side, Heartsick, and more. The day kicked off with the East Lansing School of Rock and included emerging talents like Mr. Denton on Doomsday, Ritual Suns, and Riding with Killers. With food trucks, a scenic riverfront setting, and a community of passionate fans, Rock Lansing 2025 delivered an unforgettable celebration of rock music in the heart of downtown Lansing. The layout was simple; there was a small, grassy area between the stages, with vendors on the perimeter and one stage on either side. The park was nestled on the Grand River, giving some picturesque views of nature to escape from the searing heat that burned through the sky.
The first band I saw was Lines of Loyalty. They always have a great stage presence and extremely energetic songs designed to get people moving and headbanging all over the place. Their music is not only energetic and fun, but also deeply personal. Lyrics from tracks such as “My Addiction,” which is about addiction, as well as “Hurts to be Humans,” which refers to the human condition, are both deeply felt banger songs. They’re an international touring band and have toured with acts such as Static X and Sevendust, and they were just an all-around good time.
Check out the Lines of Loyalty photo gallery below:
Heartsick are hometown heroes to Lansing. They’re a local band, but they’ve managed to expand outside that local space. Frontman Alfonso always gives 100% to his performances, and the music is always heavy; a combination of metalcore and hardcore. Their drummer, Barak, is an absolute beast behind the kit, coupled with the riffs from both Waylon Fox on the bass and Jerred Pruneau on lead guitar, this band has it all. Not to mention Alfonso’s unmatched energy as a vocalist. He knows how to get the crowd hyped, and he did so at Rock Lansing. He’s always interacting with the crowd, jumping into the thrashing mass of bodies in the middle of the pit, and he enjoys a good crowd surf, routinely jumping onto the crowd and letting the people hoist him up. The songwriting is also impeccable with tracks such as “Where the Trees Touch the Song,” which is about his son, and “Event Horizon,” which he has said is based on the movie. They ended their set with “Animal Instinct,” and Alfonso dove into the crowd. One of the best bands coming out of Lansing right now.
Check out the Heartsick photo gallery below:
Shallow Side was amazing all the way around. A band with roots in the Deep South, they bring a southern rock and roll flair to the Midwest. Especially since their vocalist, Eric, now resides in Michigan. This is a band that’s just pure rock and roll; nothing more, nothing less. Now they do have their heavier side with a couple of tracks that feature breakdowns, which would be good to mosh to, but more often than not, they have one mission: to rock your socks off. And boy do they. They had the crowd jumping, headbanging, and singing along to the lyrics of some of their catchiest songs, especially their cover of “Renegade” by Styx. Their energy was intense, encapsulated in a stunning performance that I won’t soon forget.
Check out the Shallow Side photo gallery below:
Conquer Divide was extremely heavy and incredibly satisfying. For those who are a fan of heavy, downtuned riffs, breakdowns, screams, and catchy hooks, Conquer Divide is for you. From the opening chords of their first song, “Atonement,” to the final note of their last track, “welcome2paradise,” the crowd for this band went nuts; bodies thrashing around, people going absolutely wild for these ladies. Their vocalist, Izzy, has a great vocal range; it was insane how she could go from such pretty, melodic singing to harsh screaming with the snap of a finger. That doesn’t downplay the impressive talent of the rest of the band either, who had a mindblowing performance at the midway point throughout the day. They even brought out Tyler Ennis from Of Virtue for their track “Bad Dreams,” which was stellar. Keato from Michigan’s own Accuser of the Brethren also joined Conquer Divide on a track as well. They were a great band to watch.
Check out the Conquer Divide photo gallery below:
Now, talk about energy… Crobot brought it. Hailing from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Crobot is a hard rock band that was formed in 2011. It’s composed of their vocalist Brandon Yeagley, their lead guitarist Chris Bishop, Dan Ryan the drummer, and Pat Seals the bassist. Crobot had the most energetic set of the day, beginning with set opener “Dizzy” and ending with “Low Life.”. From crazy, in your face hard rock riffs, to more solemn blues notes that Crobot is known for, they absolutely blew everyone away as they ripped through 11 tracks. Brandon is a madman. He jumped and leaped around the stage and exhibited an energy that all bands should aspire to. They make music that makes people wanna jump around and dance, and have a great time.
Check out the Crobot photo gallery below:
Adelitas Way was a surprising band for me. I hadn’t listened to them as much, aside from a few songs, but I knew their songs dealt a lot with positivity and mental health. They absolutely blew me away. Again, just a pure, adrenaline-fueled rock band from beginning to end. Songs filled with positive, uplifting, and inspiring lyrics which is always welcome in rock music. Songs like “Ready for War (Pray for Peace)” and “What it Takes” contain examples of some of their positive, inspiring lyrics. The latter is about following your dreams and having what it takes to win, and the former is about getting yourself ready for battle if you ever need to, but using that as a last resort. Catchy hooks, loud riffs, and frenetic drumming complete this trifecta that is Adelitas Way.
Check out the Adelitas Way photo gallery below:
Evan’s Blue was a surprise for me as well. They’re a Canadian band that had broken up for a while but recently reunited. Founded in 2005, they ran their course until 2016 when they broke up. In 2025, they reunited with all of the original members. They were phenomenal here at Rock Lansing, especially for not having been on the stage in so long, and are an extremely underrated band in my humble opinion. Their vocalist, Dan Chandler, has an excellent vocal range and some pretty gnarly screams. The band is a bit heavier, and by the end of their six-song set that wrapped up with “Sick of It,” they had the crowd screaming the words to the songs and jumping around, banging their head.
Check out the Evan’s Blue photo gallery below:
Ayron Jones was nothing short of mind-blowing. Hailing from Seattle, his unique blend of grunge, rock, hip hop, and soul, elevates this genre-bending band. His love of music is very evident in his performance, which was stellar on every level. Ayron is most known as a guitarist, and he is amazingly gifted at it. His riffs are clean, cool, and calculated, and you can tell he’s an expert at playing the guitar. The band he surrounds himself with is great, too. The drumming is on-point and the bass notes boomed through the speakers, rattling your eardrums whenever you walked passed. His voice has soul and funk inspirations to it, and the beat of the music gets people on their feet and wanting to dance.
Check out the Ayron Jones photo gallery below:
Saliva is a nu-metal band that has been around since 1996. Josey Scott was the original vocalist of the band, but when he left, Bobby Amaru took over, and he’s incredibly versatile. His rapping ability is on point, and he captures the essence of Saliva, even though Josey was the original vocalist. Bobby stepped into those shoes incredibly well. At this point in the night, it had gotten cold; the sun slid down below the horizon, and a chilly wind blew. But that didn’t deter hundreds of people from singing along and dancing to the stylings of Saliva as Bobby ripped the vocals, Sammi went crazy on the drums, and Brad Stewart went hard on the bass. The songs are lively and familiar, songs that people have listened to through the many incarnations of the band. Notable tracks played during their 12-song set were the 3 Doors Down cover “Here Without You” and “Doperide” with snippets of “In the Air Tonight”, “Another Brick in the Wall” and “Give It Away.”
Check out the Saliva photo gallery below:
With two alternating stages, scenic views, and a strong community turnout of all ages, Rock Lansing reaffirmed its place as a must-attend celebration of hard rock and metal in Michigan’s capital and a cornerstone event in Michigan’s live music calendar. Fans left buzzing with adrenaline, already anticipating the festival’s return.
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