Despite storms, music fest boosted Daytona hotels; some fans not as happy

DAYTONA Beach — Despite significant thunderstorms that left lots of supporters disgruntled after two of the event’s headlining functions had been knocked off the plan, the Welcome to Rockville music competition nevertheless earned rave assessments on Monday from area hoteliers.

“We like the crowds that we get for this party,” said Rob Burnetti, standard supervisor of the 212-home Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach front. “I love what the management of that occasion has completed. I think they’ve completed an awesome task for the shorter total of time they have been in Daytona Seaside.”

The Shores Resort & Spa was amid quite a few Daytona Seaside-space houses that was sold-out or near-ability through the four-day significant-metallic songs festival that concluded its usually rain-soaked run Sunday at Daytona Intercontinental Speedway.

The festival’s Los Angeles-primarily based promoter, Danny Wimmer Presents, has announced that Welcome to Rockville will return to the Speedway for its third consecutive calendar year May possibly 18-21, 2023.

Before the rains arrived: Bang your head! Crowds pour in for Welcome to Rockville at Daytona Global Speedway

Enthusiasts prepared to rock: Daytona, are you ready to Rockville? This is what to assume for music fest’s second 12 months

Lodge professionals cheered that news.

“On Friday and Saturday, we experienced sellouts, and we were being just about marketed-out on Thursday and Sunday,” Burnetti claimed. “We’re excited to have it coming back up coming year.”

Rockville enthusiasts also generated huge company at resorts owned and operated by Ormond Seashore-based Elite Hospitality Inc., explained Manoj Bhoola, president and CEO.

Elite’s roster of place inns consists of three houses around the Speedway — the Ideal Western Furthermore Worldwide Speedway Hampton Inn by Hilton Daytona Speedway Airport and the Hilton Back garden Inn at Daytona Seashore International Airport — as very well as the Ormond Seaside Finest Western Castillo Del Sol.

“(The) Rockville occasion was quite thriving for our motels, dining places and bars close to the Speedway,” Bhoola stated. “Although the competition was influenced by thunderstorms, the party patrons designed the most of paying out their time with like-minded prospects by investing more time in our lobbies, which include things like local community tables and regions to socialize with other hotel clienteles.

Story carries on

“They told us that they were being in a position to make new pals that take pleasure in that genre of audio and will definitely be back again next year,” he stated.

A comparable tale was advised by other hotel supervisors, who generally prolonged several hours at resort restaurants and bars to accommodate followers who encountered disheartening weather delays at the function that resulted in performances being halted early on Friday and Saturday prior to the headliners on those people respective evenings, Korn and Guns N’ Roses, could acquire the phase.

“We did extend all of our food and beverage stores each night time to late-evening several hours for the Rockville attendees who were being working with the weather conditions challenges at the Speedway,” claimed Jim Berkley, general supervisor of the 744-home Hilton Daytona Seashore Oceanfront Vacation resort, the area’s largest hotel.

The Hilton was “sold out 100%” throughout the 4 times of the occasion, “with significant fee advancement,” Berkley reported. “We had been extremely joyful with the success.”

Thunderstorms disrupted Rockville schedules

The very same often couldn’t be reported for rock lovers who coped with a series of evacuations and re-openings of the Speedway’s infield as a parade of intense thunderstorms pummeled the track for several hours on Friday and Saturday.

Although the festival concluded with no weather interference on Sunday, capped by a performance by closing-evening headliner Nine Inch Nails, the 2022 edition of Welcome to Rockville in the end will be remembered for the influence of thunderstorms that marred about 50 % of the 4-day event.

How the weekend unfolded: Welcome to Rockville halted Saturday by storms in Daytona

Immediately after the competition was lower quick for the second consecutive day on Saturday, there were problems from lovers on the Welcome to Rockville Fb site about congestion in the parking tons and in the concourse of the Speedway grandstand, as effectively as requires for refunds on tickets bought.

A Fb remark from Tara Munoz, an attendee from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, reflected the sentiments of quite a few fans.

“We notice the workers doesn’t command the weather, but the lack of organizing is pretty evident,” Munoz wrote. “Only 1 parking entrance open up and only 2 gates open up to enter. We stood in line to get in for so long that a second round of storms came just before we even received back in.

“I’ve been to in excess of 300 live shows and festivals and hardly ever expert something as poor as this. Danny Wimmer Presents and Welcome to Rockville need to be ashamed!”

In addition to Guns N’ Roses, the Saturday storms also knocked other bands off the schedule in the course of the working day, as the promoter scrambled to re-established the lineup amid the critical temperature. The list included Bush, Rise From, Dirty Honey, Alexisonfire, Ill of It All and Saul.

Together with Korn, the Friday rain delays and present cancellation also nixed sets by well-liked bands which includes Skillet, Underoath and Breaking Benjamin. That afternoon, it also was announced that Megadeth would not be earning its overall performance thanks to “travel delays.”

Nor did Welcome to Rockville unfold with out surprising problems for Ivan Moody, lead singer of Five Finger Dying Punch. He was taken to an place hospital for cure right after remaining unintentionally shot in the eye throughout the band’s Thursday performance by a single of the on-phase laser lights that had been part of the band’s creation, according to Loudwire.com.

“One of the lasers kicked backwards, ’cause I tripped in essence about it, and it shot me in the eye,” Moody recounted in a because-deleted Instagram put up transcribed by Blabbermouth.web. “And these matters are like … they in essence have the energy of a minimal supernova they are truly lousy.”

Refunds not in playing cards for dissatisfied lovers

While Rockville attendees who posted on the event’s Facebook Webpage clamored for refunds on ticket purchases, which is not in the playing cards, in accordance to the event’s site, welcometorockville.com.

On the internet, festivalgoers are advised that though Welcome to Rockville is “held rain or glow,” the celebration also “may be delayed and/or canceled and the competition grounds may perhaps be evacuated if inclement or extreme climate poses a menace to patron and personnel security.”

In this sort of conditions, “no refunds or exchanges will be presented as a final result of temperature disorders and no refunds or exchanges will be supplied for inclement or critical climate that necessitates an evacuation, hold off or cancellation in component or total of the occasion.”

Reps for Danny Wimmer Provides ended up touring on Monday and could not be attained to remark on no matter whether the refund plan could be revisited or regardless of whether thought could possibly be supplied to going the day of the 2023 function to superior avoid the prospective for storms.

Lodge professionals on Monday documented that any enthusiast frustrations with the bad climate weren’t obvious amongst Rockville friends.

“This was a wonderful crowd, and they had been all extremely pleased with us,” reported Deborah Bailey, general manager of the 64-place High-quality Inn Daytona Speedway, just across the street from the monitor. The resort was bought-out by means of most of the celebration, she reported. “We experienced a good weekend, apart from for the rain.”

This posting at first appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Welcome to Rockville created major organization for Daytona Beach front resorts