VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater did not ease into its 30th season Tuesday night. It kicked the doors open.
Godsmack brought The Rise of Rock World Tour 2026 to Virginia Beach on May 12, opening the venue’s anniversary season with a blast of hard rock, a crowd built for volume and the kind of summer-night spectacle that has kept fans coming back to the outdoor amphitheater for three decades.
Before the night fully belonged to the guitars, the venue celebrated its milestone moment.
Cindy Steinbach was welcomed as the amphitheater’s 8 millionth guest, turning what could have been a routine trip through the gates into a once-in-30-seasons celebration. She received a pair of reserved seats to select shows, with VIP parking and VIP club passes, along with 30 balloons and gift cards from venue partners, including breweries, a cupcake shop, a tattoo parlor and others.
She also received a large commemorative ticket printed with her name. Steinbach told venue staff she planned on “hanging it in her house.”
That gave opening night a human beat before Godsmack, Stone Temple Pilots and Dorothy turned the amphitheater into a full-throttle hard rock playground.
Dorothy opened the night with a little blues-stained hard rock. Fronted by Dorothy Martin, the Los Angeles band broke through in the mid-2010s with a heavy, old-school sound and has stayed in that lane across releases including “Rockisdead,” “Gifts From the Holy Ghost” and “The Way,” a 2025 Roc Nation album that included the Slash-assisted single “Tombstone Town.”
Stone Temple Pilots brought the deeper history to the bill. The San Diego band came out of the early ’90s alternative-rock boom with “Core,” the 1992 debut that produced “Plush,” “Creep,” “Wicked Garden” and “Sex Type Thing,” before following with “Purple” in 1994. “Plush” won the Grammy Award for best hard rock performance, and the band remains one of the era’s most recognizable acts, now performing with Jeff Gutt on lead vocals alongside founding members Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz.