Rock in Rio 2015 Begins Second Weekend in Rio de Janeiro

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Beginning at 2PM on Thursday, September 24th the gates of Rio de Janeiro’s Cidade do Rock (City of Rock) in Barra da Tijuca will open to welcome fans for the first day of the second and final weekend of the 2015 Rock in Rio music festival.

Once on festival grounds, fans will gain access to shops, rides including the ferris wheel, roller coaster, zip line, and the X-treme ride, and Rock in Rio’s five stages of live entertainment.

Headlining the night tonight on the festival’s main stage, the Palco Mundo (World Stage), will be American rock band System of a Down. Fronted by Serj Tankian with members, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan, the band is one of the most talked-about attractions of this edition of the festival.

System of a Down is well known for lively shows and for Tankian’s strong stage presence. Formed in 1995, they first played Brazil in 2006 and performed as part of the Rock in Rio lineup in 2011.

Additionally performing tonight on the festival’s main stage, will be CPM22, Hollywood Vampires, and Queens of the Stone Age, who performed as part of the 2013 lineup for Lollapalooza Brasil in São Paulo.

Playing on the Palco Sunset (Sunset Stage) before the performers take to the World Stage tonight, will be Project 46 with John Wayne, Hallestorm, Lamb of God and American alternative metal band, Deftones.

Performing on the Eletrônica stage will be 2Attack, Anderson Noise, Mau Mau, Renato Cohen, Dave Clarke and US DJ, Carl Craig, one of the most important DJs and producers of the Detroit techno scene.

Additionally Age of Artemis, About2Crash and Eminence will perform in the Rock Street section of the festival during the day and night and the Rock in Rio Dance Crew, Reflexo Urbano, and DJ Bruno X will perform and spin on the Street Dance stage.

The lineup for the remaining days of the festival includes Slipknot, Faith No More, Mastodon, De La Tierra, Steve Vai with Camerata Florianópolis, and Nightwish with Tony Kakko, Alok, and Felguk on the 25th; Sérgio Mendes with Carlinhos Brown, Angelique Kidjo, Lulu Santos, Sam Smith, and Rihanna on the 26th; and Al Jarreau, AlunaGeorge, A-Ha and Katy Perry on the festival’s final day.

This edition of Rock in Rio opened last weekend on Friday, September 18th. It is the sixth edition hosted in Rio de Janeiro since the festival begin in the city in 1985. Organizers estimated that approximately 255,000 people attended the first three days of the festival which included 30th-anniversary celebrations and tributes and performances by Queen with Adam Lambert, Metallica, Rod Stewart, Seal, Baby do Brasil, Korn, John Legend, Paralamas do Successo and Elton John among others.

Cidade do Rock will once again be open from 2PM to 3AM on each of the remaining four days of events. With forecasts of high temperatures for this weekend, Rock in Rio organizers send out notices reminding attendees of the importance of water and sunscreen during the festival. While it is prohibited to enter the grounds with bottles, water bottles without caps are allowed, as is sunscreen. There will also be water stations within the Cidade do Rock.

Public transportation and the Rock in Rio buses will again be the only way to arrive at the festival. The parking bans will begin at 7AM and continuing until 5AM on each remaining day of the festival. For those who did not purchase a RioCard bus pass, the BRT tickets are R$6.80 – R$7.80 (round trip). Passengers can board those buses at the Alvorada Terminal in Barra da Tijuca.

For more information about traveling to and from the festival, getting around inside Cidade do Rock and the things to see and do there including the complete program of events during the remaining days of events, see the official Rock in Rio website.