What ‘Welcome To Rockville’s’ Lineup Hints At For Rock & Metal In 2023

The first of Danny Wimmer Presents’ Summer Festival lineups was revealed today and it’s already looking like another massive year for the festival brand, and quite possibly the rock genre at large.

“We are so excited to be bringing this fantastic lineup to Welcome To Rockville,” says Danny Wimmer, Founder of Danny Wimmer Presents. “Our fans have been wanting Pantera and along with one of Avenged Sevenfold’s first live shows in five years, crowd favorite Slipknot, AND one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Tool, we are delivering a jam-packed weekend to the ‘The World Center of Rock.’ Can’t wait to see everyone in May!”

Between Thursday’s and Sunday’s lineup, the number of bands DWP has booked to perform 2023’s Welcome To Rockville is truly staggering. Not only that but it’s incredible to see DWP continue to book top notch lineups year after year, regardless of the fact that some of these bands are returning veterans of the DWP festival circuit. However, within this year’s lineup there may be some indications about what next year has in store for rock and metal music, particularly with regards to new album releases and summer tours. That being said, most of these talking points are all speculation but certainly not outside of the realm of possibilities.

New Albums From Queens of the Stone Age & Avenged Sevenfold

Starting with what’s practically confirmed at this point, Avenged Sevenfold and Queens of the Stone Age both have new records dropping next year. Avenged Sevenfold has been rather open about the recording process for their upcoming eighth studio album, and they recently showcased that their new music was in it’s final production stages. As for Queens of the Stone Age, the desert rockers have since confirmed they’re expecting a new album very soon as well, which makes sense given the band’s track record of taking 3-5 years between album cycles. Of course both of these bands are scheduled to play Welcome to Rockville in May, and it’s likely incoordination with their new record releases.

Tool 10,000 Days Reissue & Tour with Deftones?

It’s entirely possible that Tool could be doing just a few one off performance next summer and there’s nothing more to it than that, but given the recent news with the band’s 10,000 Days inspired skull statue, Tool may be planning something further for their 2006 classic. For one, getting the band’s music via vinyl format has been notoriously difficult and the band also hasn’t released vinyl masters for all their discography. Considering the band dropped a vinyl deluxe edition for Fear Inoculum this year, maybe they’re teasing something similar for 10,000 Days, and better yet a complete reissue tour?

Maybe it’s a stretch, but seeing Tool and Deftones booked together on the same date for Rockville could be indicative of some greater plans. Obviously this could just be a coincidence or better yet a booking decision based on the fact that both these acts pull from the same rock crowd. However, at the same time this is exactly why a Tool & Deftones tour doesn’t sound impossible. At the very least maybe Sunday night at Rockville will see Tool’s Maynard James Keenan joining Deftones for a play through of “Passenger.”

2023 Spring Pantera Tour With Sepultura?

The Pantera reunion might be the biggest headliner booked for 2023’s Welcome to Rockville as well as a number of U.S. summer rock festivals. Consequently, this could indicate that the band isn’t planning to tour around these summer festival dates in order to draw more demand to festival tickets. The band is also scheduled to hit the road with Metallica from August to November of next year, so any plans the band has for a headline tour would likely have to be for early spring 2023. That being said, Welcome to Rockville does fall in the Mid-Spring territory and seeing that Pantera is booked on the same date as Sepultura, who not only share a strong history with Pantera but also recently shared the stage together in South America, it’s possible that both Pantera and Sepultura have plans to tour together. It certainly would be a ‘classic’ tour package considering Pantera initially brought out Sepultura for their Far Beyond Driven tour in 1994.