DAVID LEE ROTH, ACCEPT, WINGER, SLAUGHTER Headline M3 Day 2! – Columbia, MD – 5/3/25

Day 2 of the 16th anniversary of M3 Rock Festival was poised to be stellar as David Lee Roth was the headliner for the day. Diamond Dave had not performed live in five years, so the fans were stoked for his return. There were showers about, but overall, it ended up being a great day for this reunion of friends and music.

With everyone tired from the festivities the night before, they trickled into the venue to get the day started with The Soundcheck Rock Academy Band called Kill the Darkness.

Kill The Darkness is comprised of Robert Novak on guitar, Riley “Scott” Payne on bass, Alex Magno on vocals, and Riley Postma on drums. This is the second year this band got to grace the stage at M3, and they played a heavy set of originals for the fans lucky enough to be in attendance. This next generation of heavy rockers is keeping the future of heavy metal alive!

Red Voodoo was up next bringing their brand of rock from Northern California to the east coast and played a short 35-minute set comprised of mostly originals. Lead by charismatic frontman Dino Wild wearing a red sleeveless shirt and red pants, and a vocal ability to match its brightness.

They were excited to play their first festival and were here supporting their self-titled ep. According to Sammy Hagar, “These guys are the new Montrose and the future of rock n roll today.” With Davin Loiler on lead guitar, Andrew “Rooster” Edwards on bass, and Richie Moreno on drums, this up-and-coming rock band has a goal to “bring rock and roll back to the forefront of modern music”. Their 8-song set included songs like Hourglass, Heart of Stone, Keep on Chasin’, and Mystery Girl.

Mark Strigl, Stash, and Tommy London came out to introduce local rock legends, Child’s Play to a crowd that was finally filling in on a day that ended up bringing us decent weather. Lead by John Allen on vocals (former drummer of the band), they hit the stage with “Good Ol’ Rock and Roll“.

John continued through a few more songs before original vocalist Larry Hinshaw joined in for several songs while John hopped back on the drums. Larry sang fan favorite, “Rat Race” before John came back up front to do a vocal duet with him on the song “Wind” and ended the set with “Day After Night“.

Former Guns N Roses drummer Steven Adler has a big following and had the pavilion area filled in as he hit the stage with “Nighttrain“. With the crowd on their feet, Michael Thomas ripped the guitar leads of Slash, while Alistair James looked like a rock star on the rhythm guitar. But, if you have never seen Adler’s band, you have to give them a listen as vocalist Ari Kamin belts out all the screams of Axl Rose with ease.

At one point the crowd started chanting, “Adler, Adler, Adler” and Steven responded by making the heart shape with his hands against his chest. I think the only person that smiled more than Steven was Diamond Dave, but we’ll get into that later. Adler ripped through a 9-song set of Guns N Roses hits ending the set to a standing ovation after “Paradise City“.

Slaughter always brings their A-game to the stage and this performance was no exception. Mark brought his unmistakable melodic voice to Maryland singing all their hits like “Fly to the Angels“, “Spend My Life“, and “Up All Night“. Original member Dana Strum and longtime member Jeff Blando help this band run like a well-oiled machine. And on drums, Jordan Cannata brings it to another level with his showmanship. He is in my list of top 5 favorite drummers.

Tonight’s set was pretty par for the course, but also included the song “Unknown Destination” off of their 1995 Fear No Evil album which doesn’t get played all the time. The crowd was on their feet for most of the set and had even more energy when they ended the set with “Up All Night” and went into a snippet of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again“. At the end of the set Dana invited a young fan wearing a Slaughter shirt onto the stage for a minute. He was smiling ear to ear.

Winger always puts on a great show and has lots of experience doing it, as they are one of the few bands of the era that still has all of its original members. They have announced that this will be their farewell tour. Winger hit the stage with “Stick the Knife in and Twist”, off of their most recent album, Seven.

These guys deserve way more credit than they are given. Though they had a number of hits, they were right at the end of the hair metal era. If they would have come out a few years earlier, they would have been huge. Reb Beach slays it on guitar, and Paul Taylor hits the keys as well as the guitar. Rod Morgenstein was tucked deep behind the drums keeping it going like a metronome. The last time I saw Winger, John Roth was absent as he was on tour with Starship, but he is back with a vengeance. They played all of the fan favorites and ended the set with “Madaline” to a pavilion area of fans on their feet and singing every word.

Up next was German Heavy Metal Band, Accept, another band with three guitarists. Wielding only flying V guitars, and lots of synchronized movements on stage these guys are true performers in every sense of the word. Interacting with each other throughout the set and having the times of their life doing it. Wolf Hoffmann is the only original member still in the band and he has performed on all of their albums. Alongside Philip Shouse and Uwe Lulis, these three bad ass guitarists will melt your ears off.

With an abbreviated setlist from what they are used to, they still got to hit on all the songs that get the crowd pumping fists and chanting along. They are currently supporting their most recent album, Humanoid, starting the set with “The Reckoning” and “Humanoid” before moving on to “Restless and Wild” of their fourth studio album of the same name.

Mark Tornillo rocks your ears with his raspy screams throughout the night. He has been singing for Accept since 2009. Martin Motnik rocks the bass like a madman, playing it up for the fans throughout the night. Drummer Chris Williams is another on my list of favorites, keeping you entertained from the minute he hits the stage.

 

One of my favorite anthems is “Princess of The Dawn“. This song really gets every fan singing along. Then during “Fast as a Shark” they break out the blow-up shark for the fans to bounce around during the song. Funny thing was, the first fan caught it and hugged it, like he thought he could keep it, until the person next to him made him give it up so everyone could enjoy it through the song.  They ended the set with the obligatory “Balls to The Wall”. They were probably my favorite band of the day, and I think many would concur.

Diamond Dave is Back!! David Lee Roth was the most anticipated artist of the weekend for many. As he has not performed in five years, everyone was interested to see what he would come up with.

He took the stage with a huge smile and a set full of Van Halen classics. With a nice sized drum riser for Francis Valentino to rock the kit to all of our favorite tunes, and a platform off to the left for the four backup singers. Ryan Wheeler and Al Estrada did our Van Halen classics justice. Danny Wagner rocked the keyboards. With a stage full of talent, Dave took the spotlight, performing like the rockstar we all know and love.

Dave hit the stage with “Panama” and the crowd was on their feet dancing and singing along. Dave looked in great shape with colorful tatted half-sleeves, donned completely in leather pants and leather jacket.  You could tell he was back in his happy place. He performed 16 Van Halen tunes and held his own. They ended the night with Van Halen’s biggest hit song, “Jump“.

I really enjoyed seeing Roth back on stage and out where he loves to be and singing the songs he loves. Although the fans seem split on their opinions of the performance, I saw very few people leave early, and almost all of the fans were dancing and singing along. Almost every person was on their feet. My opinion is that his vocals aren’t what they were years ago, but not many people his age can sing like they used to. (*Editors Note: His Vocals years ago weren’t that great either) And, so what, it’s David Lee Roth and he is on fire! He’s not using tracks, and he’s putting his heart into his performance and loving it. With all the talent on stage along with his radiant smile and personality, it’s worth it to go enjoy what may be your last DLR concert.

(Although, he just announced a tour starting in California in July and running through September. I’m not sure if that is complete or if more dates will be added.)

Day 2 of M3 was now in the books and everyone went back to their hotels, or to the after-party at the lake house to party some more.