Pain in the Grass 2016
White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, WA
08.21.16

Seattle’s premier rock station 99.9 KISW always annually outdoes themselves with their “Pain in the Grass” festival, and the 2016 line up was one of the best to date. This big summer tour packaged Distured, Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge and Saint Astonia with Anthrax, Pop Evil, Stitched Up Heart and Seattle’s own Windowpane for a fun and diverse main stage lineup.

This year they had a second stage sponsored by “Another Century” and showcased many new and up and coming bands. Their many great performances kept the area packed. Most of the day was spent running back and forth, trying to catch all the great bands on each stage. Sometimes the choice was difficult, as each artist brought something special and worth seeing.

Some notable highlights of the festival came about with band collaborations. Mike Mushok (Saint Astonia) guested on stage with Alter Bridge. Then Alter Bridges’ Myles Kennedy sang “Sound Of Silence” with Disturbed. The entire amphitheatre lit up with cell phone lights, as the song has been a huge hit for the band and in heavy rotation.

Disturbed also brought out Saint Astonia’s Cory Lowery (bass), Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti (Guitar), and special surprise guest, Seattle’s own Geoff Tate to help them perform “Who Taught You How TO Hate.” Disturbed definitely brought the heat to the close of Pain 2016. They had so much pyro and flames on stage it warmed up the cooler evening.

Overall, a fun day of music flew by in what seemed like minutes. 15 bands, 2 stages and lots of great songs. What more can any hard rock fan ask for?

Main Stage

Windowpane
Stitched Up Heart
Pop Evil
Saint Astonia
Alter Bridge
Anthrax
Breaking Benjamin
Disturbed

Another Century Stage

The Black Moods
Painted Wives
Radkey
Righteous Vendetta
9Electric
Gemini Syndrome
Butcher Babies

Review and photos by Neil Lim Sang

Pain in the Grass 2016