10 Best Moments of Rock on the Range

BEST SELF-EMPOWERING PEP TALK: BLACK VEIL BRIDES

It's almost too easy to bag on Black Veil Brides. The androgynous Cincinnati five-piece slather on goth makeup with blood splatters and death-gray tints, wear corny leathers, and shape their jet-black hair into super-stylized swoops, with the finished product resembling an '80s jock-metal band like Poison turned hardcore zombie punks. But while their uber-dolled-up aesthetic is bound to turn some strangers off, Brides vocalist Andy Biersack doesn't care -- he preaches a message of empowerment and acceptance, packaged in the heavy riffs and shrieking of tracks like "Sweet Blasphemy," "Knives and Pens," and "Fallen Angels," a single from their just-released second album, Set the World on Fire. He reminded the crowd that they didn't need anyone's approval -- "Who cares if people don't like you?" -- to a wave of cheers. "The next time somebody fucks with you," advised Biersack, "I want you to say, 'Fuck you, motherfucker.'" Soon after, he launched another interesting approach to hype his band: "We don't give a shit if you don't like our music, but if you believe in yourself, we want to see your fists in the air."

Spin.com

Via Jinxx