Boom Boom on the Boardwalk: Black Stone Cherry Rocks Ocean City

By Dave Parsons

You could feel the energy still in the air from the day before.  The lightning stage at the inaugural Boardwalk Rock festival may have been the best view any artist could dream about.   An open-air stage, a crowd milling around of 50,000 or so people, and just beyond the last person listening, is the Atlantic Ocean. 

Faithful fans of Black Stone Cherry claimed the barrier as soon as the gates opened.  They exchanged stories, some of them were from England, and they came to see these Kentucky boys rock Ocean City’s Beach Inlet.

And, rock it they did as front man Chris Robertson lifted his guitar and launched into the chugging groove of  Me and Mary Jane. That first chord cut through the early afternoon buzz and calm, went out the window, and the show was on.

Hailing from Edmonton, Kentucky, in 2001, Black Stone Cherry brings a soulful twist to Southern hard rock. They got attention in 2006 with their debut and broke open doors in 2011 with Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Their songs merge blues-rock swagger and roots mixed with grit. Over 7 studio albums, they’ve remained fiercely independent and defiant. Their songs echo real-life stuff of small-town hopes, heartbreaks, and late nights.

The show had nice pacing, with the guys in the band making eye contact and throwing picks to the crowd. The energy rose when the song Like I Roll started, and the crowd grew in size with each passing moment.  This is the reason newer bands play festivals.  They get to play for an audience who would not come to see them otherwise. This particular song seemed to fit a lot of the audience’s personality. The song is a testament to personal identity of being unfiltered, unapologetic, and unchained.  Ain’t got much, but I got soul….  Robertson sang, and every broke dreamer and blue-collar soul in the crowd sang it right back. And boy, did they believe him.

They came right back with White Trash Millionaire, and Robertson leaned into the lyrics.  I don’t look too rich, but I’ve been paid!   It was the kind of moment where you saw fists fly into the air not in protest, but in pride. The song has always been an anthem, a middle finger to money and power and greed, and a celebration of the working class. And the Ocean City crowd was celebrating.

Every band needs a closer that brings the show to a culmination. Blame It on the Boom Boom is exactly that. Black Stone Cherry’s brand of Southern rock is a little less Confederate nostalgia and more emotional horsepower.  And, on this day in Ocean City, they weren’t trying to fit into a modern mold or impress critics with clever setlist tricks. They just played the six songs that still breathe fire, and they did it like they had nowhere else to be.  On a day of a full, heavy-weight schedule yet to come, Black Stone Cherry put Ocean City on notice that they had come to play.

Setlist – Black Stone Cherry, Boardwalk Rock, May 18, 2025

1. Me and Mary Jane
2. Again
3. In My Blood
4. Like I Roll
5. White Trash Millionaire
6. Blame It on the Boom Boom