Rock the Universe

Rock the Universe is an annual Christian rock festival that takes place at Universal Studios Florida. It started in 1999, and it normally takes place in the first or second week of September.

The festival has had three main stages over the years. One is "The Yard Stage", also known as "The Boneyard Stage", which is located on the edge of the park in between the Jimmy Neutron and Twister attractions. It is the largest of the stages, but it was used for the last time at Rock the Universe 2008, as the section will be turned into the entrance for the Rip, Ride, and Rock It roller coaster. The stage always faced outward toward the park except for 2008, where it was up against the building that houses the Jimmy Neutron ride, and facing the building that houses Twister, as a wall had been put it where it used to be to prepare for the construction. Another stage is "The Hollywood Stage", which is by the Central Park area and the lake, close to the middle of the park. It faces Mel's Diner. The third stage is "The Praise and Worship Stage", which is located in the Animal Planet Theater, though it has not been in use in the past couple of years.

The bands that have appeared the most are the Newsboys and Relient K at seven appearances; Third Day, Skillet, and Jars of Clay at six appearances; Audio Adrenaline at five appearances; and GRITS at four appearances. TobyMac has appeared four times as a solo artist, but also appeared twice with dc Talk, which means 2007 was his sixth visit to the Christian rock festival.

The schedule for the 2008 festival was announced in March 2008.

Rock the Universe is one of three Christian rock festivals held in Florida each year, and all three are held around the Orlando area. One of the other festivals is Cornerstone Florida, a spinoff of the original Cornerstone Festival, and the Florida version is held in May. The other Florida festival is Night of Joy, which is held at Walt Disney World, on the same nights as Rock the Universe. The two festivals are both successful, despite the matching dates, and the main part of the differences comes from what bands the two festivals book. Many bands tend to switch between the two festivals anyway though.

The festival is a member of the Christian Festival Association.

killet and Rock the Universe

The festival has been given much support by both the fans and the bands who play it. John Cooper of Skillet has said on numerous occasions that it is his favorite show to play each year, and had already expressed his desire to return in 2008 at the 2007 festival. [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/concerts/RockTheUniverse07.asp] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtaYeF12pqo] [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/default.asp]

Cooper spoke at Rock the Universe 2007 about how their guitarist Ben Kasica had been very sick and almost missed the show, and he went into detail on the subject of Kasica and Rock the Universe in an interview. Jesus Freak Hideout [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/default.asp] reported on this, saying, "A serious illness set back a member of Skillet recently. Frontman John Cooper writes, "Our guitar player, Ben, has had several weeks of feeling ill. We took him to the emergency room late one night on the road and he was diagnosed with strep throat. We had a show that night, and after a shot and some medication, he played the show at a festival called Enfuego... The next week Ben seemed to get worse and we had to take him to the emergency room again where they were confused of what he actually had. As it turned out Ben was going to have to have immediate removal of his tonsils because of the swelling and bleeding he was experiencing. I thought we would have to cancel some shows since we would be leaving that same night to go to Florida. The biggest bummer was that we would have to miss "Rock the Universe" at Universal Studios, which is one of my all time favorite shows we have ever played. So, we sat up all night and taught our guitar tech Sean some guitar parts so we could do the shows. We slept for a total of ZERO hours and then drove to the airport to fly to Miami! Nothing can stop Skillet from the rock show baby! We played 6 songs with Sean on guitar. Then something happened that I hope never happens again: I had to play guitar for 4 songs because we did not have time to teach them to Sean. I stink on the guitar! It was the first time in 11 years that I have played guitar on stage and it was uncomfortable! But, it wasn't too bad because the show was rockin'!! Then, amazingly enough, the doctor postponed Ben's surgery a day because Ben was too weak to have it. Then he woke up the next day feeling 100% better and the doctor released him to fly down and meet us in Orlando for "Rock the Universe"!" On the lighter side, Cooper also noted, "Lori has been proposed to a lot on the road at shows. However, if I am not mistaken the one this year in Orlando was the first guy who actually brought a ring! We were signing some autographs, and the next thing I know there is a guy on one knee, holding up a ring!!"

John Cooper mentioned his love for Rock the Universe once again at the 2008 festival.

Lineups by Year

2008

Friday, September 5:

The Boneyard Stage:

*Switchfoot
*Relient K
*GRITS
*New Method

Hollywood Stage:

*Newsboys
*Skillet
*Group 1 Crew

Saturday, September 6:

The Boneyard Stage:

*Third Day
*Jars of Clay
*Stellar Kart
*Special D

Hollywood Stage:

*Jeremy Camp
*Leeland
*This Beautiful Republic

2007

Friday, September 7:

*Casting Crowns
*MercyMe
*Jars of Clay
*GRITS
*Hawk Nelson
*Family Force 5
*John Waller
*Echoing Angels

Saturday, September 8:

*Relient K
*Jeremy Camp
*TobyMac
*Skillet
*The Afters
*Pocket Full of Rocks
*Robert Pierre

Special Appearances and Speakers:

*Bethany Hamilton (Friday and Saturday)
*Daren Streblow (Friday and Saturday)
*David Nasser (Friday)
*Dr. Jay Strack (Saturday)
*Brent Crowe (Saturday)
*Chris Peck (Sunday)

2006

Friday, September 8:

*Relient K
*Newsboys
*Kutless
*MxPx
*GRITS
*Skillet
*Krystal Meyers
*Pocket Full of Rocks
*Monday Morning
*Andrea Webber

Saturday, September 9:

*Third Day
*Audio Adrenaline
*Superchick
*DecembeRadio
*Day of Fire
*RED
*Al Denson
*Carl Cartee

2005

Friday, September 9:

*Michael W. Smith
*Jars of Clay
*David Crowder Band
*Building 429
*Day of Fire
*12 Stones
*Shane & Shane
*Andy Chrisman
*Circleside

Saturday, September 10:

*Relient K
*Third Day
*Chris Tomlin
*Skillet
*Pillar
*GRITS
*Joel Engle
*Monk & Neagle
*Hyper Static Union
*Kainos

2004

Friday, September 10:

*Relient K
*Newsboys
*MercyMe
*Paul Colman
*KJ-52
*John Reuben
*Building 429
*Barlow Girl
*Chris Tomlin
*Paul Clark & Mission Road
*Seven Places

Saturday, September 11:

*Audio Adrenaline
*TobyMac
*ZOEgirl
*Kutless
*Casting Crowns
*Rock & Roll Worship Circus
*Everlife
*Jeff Adams
*David Crowder Band
*Shane & Shane
*Telecast

2003

Friday, September 5:

*Third Day
*Pillar
*Bleach
*TobyMac
*Superchick
*Kristy Starling
*Souljahz
*Big Dismal
*Taylor

Saturday, September 6:

*Audio Adrenaline
*Newsboys
*Skillet
*MercyMe
*Paul Colman
*The Elms
*Across the Sky
*Justifide

2002

Friday, September 6:

*Jars of Clay
*Newsboys
*The O.C. Supertones
*Relient K
*Jennifer Knapp
*Contagious
*By the Tree
*Ali Rogers

Saturday, September 7:

*Third Day
*Rebecca St. James
*TobyMac
*Five Iron Frenzy
*Out of Eden
*True Vibe
*Paul Colman
*Daily Planet
*Sarah Sadler

2001

Friday, September 7:

*dc Talk
*Audio Adrenaline
*Skillet
*Relient K
*SONICFLOOd
*Scarecrow & Tinmen

Saturday, September 8:

*P.O.D.
*Newsboys
*Nicole C. Mullen
*PAX217
*Caedmon's Call
*Earthsuit

2000

Friday, September 8:

*The O.C. Supertones
*Jars of Clay
*Big Tent Revival
*Jennifer Knapp
*Contagious
*Rachael Lampa
*Crystal Lewis
*FFH
*Vinyl

Saturday, September 9:

*Audio Adrenaline
*Third Day
*Sixpence None the Richer
*Rebecca St. James
*Switchfoot
*F.O.M.
*The W's
*broken

1999

Friday, September 10:

*dc Talk
*Jars of Clay
*All Star United
*Burlap to Cashmere
*Waterdeep
*Mukala

Saturday, September 11:

*Newsboys
*The O.C. Supertones
*Satellite Soul
*4HIM
*Caedmon's Call
*Scarecrow & Tinmen

External links

* [http://www.rocktheuniverse.com/ Official Rock the Universe Site]