Date: May 18th, 2025
Bands: Tim Montana, Saliva, Lit, Fuel, Dorothy, Night Ranger, Alice Cooper, Shinedown, Bret Michaels, Three Days Grace, Nickelback

Day 2 of Boardwalk Rock featured a stacked lineup including Nickelback (I didn’t see them), Three Days Grace, Bret Michaels of Poison, Shinedown, Night Ranger, Dorothy, Fuel, Lit, Saliva, and the artist I’ve been waiting over 40 years to see live — Alice Cooper!

I switched up my strategy for Day 2 and packed lighter. No rain gear this time since the weather was perfect. I wore slip-on Vans, which handle the sand better than New Balance shoes, and opted for a backpack instead of a shoulder bag. Overall, I managed much better than Day 1. I was still sore by the end of the day from all the walking, but it was more tolerable. Thankfully, I didn’t hit traffic or have to deal with crowds at the West Ocean City Park & Ride. I hopped on the bus quickly — my feet thanked me for that.

Tim Montana kicked things off with a country/hard rock sound. Then Saliva came on and blew the doors open. Brandon Amaru has been their vocalist since 2012, and they wrapped their set with their biggest hit, “Click Click Boom.” Bassist Brad Stewart, formerly of Shinedown, is in the band now. They encouraged crowd surfing to get the energy up, and that quickly worked…the bouncers were busy right away.

Next was Lit, best known for “My Own Worst Enemy.” I also remember their “Miserable” video, the one where the band performs on Pamela Anderson. What a pitch that must’ve been in 1999:

Lit: So we have this concept for a video — we play on Pamela Anderson.
Music Exec: Like… she’s in the video as a cameo or…?
Lit: Noooo, more like miniature versions of us performing on her body while she lounges in skimpy clothes.
Music Exec: Sold!

After Lit came Fuel, who played hits like “Shimmer” and “Hemorrhage.” Guitarist Carl Bell remains the mainstay of the band, with Aaron Scott now on vocals. They sounded solid. I checked out a few songs by Crossfade after that and grabbed some water. The VIP lounge workers were trying to get people to dance for free water, so after the first time, I just started dancing up without being asked — they seemed to enjoy that. They got to see me doing the running man, skankin’, moshing, and breakdancing.

Next on the Bolt Stage was Dorothy, fronted by the powerful Dorothy Martin, alongside drummer Jake Hayden, guitarist Sam Bam Koltun, and bassist Eliot Lorango. I hadn’t heard of them before, but I was impressed. Dorothy is a strong vocalist and frontwoman. It was really windy, especially on this end of Ocean City and she kept trying to hold her hair back. They opened with “Down to the Bottom” and played songs like “BOES,” “After Midnight,” and “Tombstone Town.”

I chose Night Ranger over Candlebox next, mostly because I knew more songs by them. Good choice too, because they were a blast to photograph. Their fans were die-hard, holding up signs asking for drumsticks and guitar picks. I managed to catch a drumstick and gave it to a fan, which made a few others less than thrilled with me. They played “You Can Still Rock in America,” some Damn Yankees songs (since Jack Blades was in both bands), and classics like “When You Close Your Eyes,” “Sister Christian,” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.”

Then came the moment I’d waited decades for — Alice Cooper! I used to stay up late to watch him host Headbanger’s Ball on MTV and even remember his Muppet Show appearance. He was the first artist I ever collected every single album from (on cassette, no less) — even the out-of-print ones, until my brother’s idiot friends stole them. Somehow, I never got to see him live until now.

Alice Cooper was the most accommodating act for photographers, giving us four songs instead of the standard three. His performance lived up to all the hype, and I was yelling “Lock Me Up” as he hit the stage. Guitarist Nita Strauss was incredible to watch. He played songs like “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen,” and “Under My Wheels.” After my time in the photo pit, I stuck around to see favorites like “Poison” and “Go to Hell.” Sadly, he didn’t play my all-time favorite, “I Never Cry,” but this festival probably wasn’t the place for too many ballads. Towards the end of the set, Nita and the other guitarists tore into solos — that’s when I made my way over to catch Shinedown.

It became clear that Shinedown was the band everyone was there for — people were pouring in to see them. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with their music. I couldn’t even tell you what songs they played. Their intro was… weird: guys in masks, someone dancing with a giant TV on their head to Peter Gabriel. I just stood there thinking, What the hell is happening right now? That said, they put on a killer show with pyro, fireworks, and high production value.

I wanted to catch Bret Michaels, but he was making photographers shoot from the soundboard — and I’m usually anti-soundboard. I did catch some of his set after watching part of Shinedown’s. He played a bunch of Poison songs, brought veterans on stage, and wrapped with “Nothin’ But a Good Time.”

My final act of the night was Three Days Grace, another band I didn’t know much about. Some fellow photographers explained they now have two singers from different eras of the band, which I thought was pretty cool. It was dark by then, and the lighting was fun. The crowd clearly loved them.

Boardwalk Rock was a sold-out, two-day success — an excellent way to kick off the summer season. Much like Oceans Calling and Country Calling are perfect closers for the season, this was a great opener. Beautiful weather, great music — I’m already looking forward to seeing who’s on the lineup next year.