Rock am Ring and Rock im Park

Rock am Ring and Rock im Park
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park
Genre	Rock; Metal; Punk; Indie; Alternative Rock
Dates	usually Pentecost weekend, but may vary from year to year, simultaneously with Rock in Park; next: 6-8 June 2008
Location(s)	Nürburgring, Germany
Years active	1985 - present
Website	www.rock-am-ring.com

The Rock am Ring (Rock at the Ring) and Rock im Park festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually in Germany. While Rock am Ring takes place at the Nürburgring racetrack in the west of Germany, Rock im Park takes place in and around the Frankenstadion in Nürnberg, in the south east of Germany.

Both festivals are usually regarded as one event with an identical lineup for both festivals. All artists perform one day at Nürburgring and another day at Nürnberg during the three day event.

Together Rock im Park and Rock am Ring are the largest music festivals in Germany and one of the largest in the world with a combined attendance of 150,000 people in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

2008 festival

The 2008 festival will take place on 6-8 June 2008.

First batch of released bands (December 6, 2007):

Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Die Toten Hosen, Motörhead, Bullet For My Valentine, In Flames, Nightwish, Babyshambles, Dimmu Borgir, Sportfreunde Stiller and The Hellacopters.^[1]

Second batch of released bands (January 30, 2008):

Incubus, The Prodigy, HIM, Fettes Brot, Disturbed, Simple Plan, Kate Nash, Cavalera Conspiracy, Justice, Bad Religion, and Roisin Murphy.

2007 festival

Rock am Ring/Rock im Park 2007 took place from the 1-3 June 2007 with the following lineup:

Headlining: Linkin Park, Smashing Pumpkins, Die Ärzte

First batch of released bands:

Slayer, The White Stripes, Korn, Evanescence, Good Charlotte, Velvet Revolver, Muse, Beatsteaks, Billy Talent, Mando Diao, Wir sind Helden, Down, Dave Matthews Band, The Hives, Arctic Monkeys, My Chemical Romance, Kaiser Chiefs, Jan Delay & Disko No. 1, MIA., The Kooks, Wolfmother, Stone Sour, 30 Seconds to Mars,The Bloodhound Gang.

Second batch of released bands:

Amy Winehouse (withdrew from the event), As I Lay Dying, Bloodsimple, Breed 77, The Cat Empire, Chimaira, The Cribs, Fair to Midland, Disco Ensemble, Enter Shikari, The Fratellis, Funeral for a Friend, Ghosts, Gogol Bordello, Good Charlotte, The Higher, Hinder, Killswitch Engage, Lamb Of God, Little Man Tate, Machine Head, Maxïmo Park, McQueen, Megadeth, Mr Hudson & The Library, Paolo Nutini, Papa Roach (cancelled Rock im Park performance due to vocal problems), Razorlight, Scissor Sisters, Silverstein, The Sounds, Sugarplum Fairy, Tele, Type O Negative, Under the Influence of Giants, The Used, Zoot Woman

Third batch of released bands:

Aiden, Miasma, Charlotte Hatherley, DevilDriver, Down Below, DragonForce, Fair to Midland, Finley, Gallows, Groove Armada, Head Automatica, In This Moment, Kilian, Lez Zeppelin, The Long Blondes (Rock im Park only), Lost Alone, Mute Math, Ohrbooten, One Fine Day, Paramore, Pohlmann, Revolverheld, Saosin, Smoke Blow, Sunrise Avenue, Turbostaat, The Last Exit to Anywhere

History

Rock am Ring was originally planned as a one-time festival celebrating the inauguration of a newer, shorter version of the track in 1985, but due to its commercial success (with 75,000 audience members), it was decided to make the concert an annual event. However, after a dip in attendance for the 1988 event, the festival was put on hiatus for two years.

In 1991, the festival returned with a new concept: as well as featuring well-known artists, event organizers present lesser known up-and-coming bands to the public. Some of the little-known artists who got their start at Rock am Ring and have gone on to achieve commercial success include INXS and Alanis Morissette.

In 1993, Rock im Park took place for the first time in Vienna. For the 1994 event, Rock im Park moved to the disused Munich-Riem airport, and the following year to Munich's Olympiastadion, where it found a home for the 1995 and 1996 event. Since 1997, Rock im Park is held at the Frankenstadion or the surrounding area in Nürnberg.

The 2007 festival was used in a science experiment to test the effects of large bodies of people simultaneously jumping. The experiment data was used to calculate the result if the entire Chinese population were to jump in unison. The experiment concluded no significant results would come from the theoretical event.^[2]