CLEVELAND Ohio The concept of an outdoor New Year's Eve party in Cleveland still seems a bit odd.
But that didn't stop Ohio Homecoming and its team of sponsors and organizers from putting on Cleveland Rocks New Year's Eve for the second straight year. And to be fair they did a solid job.
Last year's Cleveland Rocks New Year's Eve in Public Square had its growing pains. There was some confusion over the start time and a delay in getting attendees through metal detectors and into the event.
This year's party held at Mall B ran much smoother. Again a large number of people were lined up as the gates opened at 8 p.m. Most of them were Machine Gun Kelly fans. The Cleveland hip hop star co headlined Cleveland Rocks New Year's Eve with DJ E V.
Like last year it was very cold. Temperatures dropped below the 20 degree mark with a wind chill below 10 degrees.
Yet the night began with a laid back vibe thanks to Cleveland reggae artist Carlos Jones The PLUS Band. Fans had their choice of standing in front of the stage near the row of food trucks or in a beer garden.
There was also a VIP lounge at the atrium for the Global Center for Health Innovation. VIP tickets sold out early Wednesday. Roughly 1 000 people filled the indoor facility.
At 10 30 p.m. the moment everyone was waiting for arrived. Machine Gun Kelly appeared as fans rushed towards the stage. MGK was in fine form breezing through some of his most popular songs such as See My Tears.
The night's most exciting (and controversial) occurred when MGK invited fans to hop the barricades in front of the stage. It was slight pandemonium as fans wound up on the edge of the stage singing right along with MGK and his live band.
MGK ended his set by taking his shirt off and diving into the crowd. Fans went crazy.
However not everyone was impressed. The fire department shut the event down for little while afterwards demanding the barricades be put back up. The crowd booed but eventually obliged.
The party resumed with DJ E V whose set was a bit of a letdown compared to MGK's high energy performance. Fans lack of familiarity with E V's new music including his single Zombie didn't help.
Thankfully MGK reappeared on stage to re energize the crowd. E V and MGK performed their song Good Time before debuting MGK's new single Till I Die (The official version drops next week).
This is the only city I know that would come out and party like it's 60 degrees out MGK said before apologizing for the barricade coming down.
All was forgiven.
It was anticipated that more than 20 000 people might show up to Wednesday's night's celebration. That didn't happen. But the crowd probably approached about close to 10 000 once the Cleveland Cavaliers game let out.
The night concluded with DJ EV and the folks from WOIO Channel 19 counting things down. Cue the fireworks. Welcome to 2015.
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