July 29 – Mayhem Festival
We'd been looking forward to this event since it was announced. I was anticipating seeing Disturbed, Mastodon, Five Finger Death Punch, The Red Chord, and seeing Black Tide again (they were in town a few months ago with Avenged Sevenfold) as well.
Unfortunately, due to work schedules and miscellany, we didn't arrive until just before Mastodon took the stage, so we'd already missed FFDP, The Red Chord, and Black Tide. Next time, or in similar festivals, I'd like to see the side stages start later in the day and continue later into the night.
Mastodon played a great set that would have made Slayer throw up the horns. No effects, no video monitors, no strobes, no pyro - merely musicians, instruments, and metal.
After Mastodon departed the stage, we grabbed a couple of beers (it was a hot, humid evening) and headed to the side stages to see Underoath and/or Machine Head, only to be notified that no alcohol was permitted in the vicinity of the side stages - d'oh! So we walked around the concession area and drank our drinks; by the time we finished them, DragonForce was about to take the stage. (There was supposed to be an hour between Mastodon's set and theirs, but there couldn't have been - I barely had time to finish my $11 beer!)
DragonForce was ... Dragonforce. Although their brand of power metal is a bit too shrill for my musical taste, they definitely put on an entertaining show. They really got the crowd involved; the singer even ran back through the seats and gave some love (not physically, perverts) to the fans on the lawn. Before performing their last song,
Through the Fire and Flames: "This is the song that made Guitar Hero III famous!"
Both of the side stages were shut down by this point, so there was nothing to do but people-watch and wait for Disturbed to come on. The most amusing tshirt I saw: "I AM THE GOD OF FUCK."
Disturbed put on a fantastic show; they really tore the roof off the amphitheatre. The crowd energy was amazing; there literally were ten thousand fists in the air, and then some.
I enjoyed the song lineup; in my opinion, it was a good mixture of new stuff from Indestructible and old favorites. My only replacement would have beenTen Thousand Fists for Land of Confusion. For me, Disturbed's performance was the highlight of the festival.
On the other hand, I found Slipknot's show underwhelming. Before I continue, let me disclaim: I am not an avid fan of Slipknot's music.
The back, top, and sides of the stage were completely loaded with strobes, so much so that it was nearly impossible to see the band (or anything, really) during the songs. It was unpleasantly distracting, and my impression of the effect was that it was reminiscent of listening to a CD with visualization software, rather than attending a live show.
Additionally, vocalist Corey Taylor found it necessary to make an uninspired and self-aggrandizing speech prior to each song.
The performance itself was energetic, although Taylor seemed frustrated at some points by the semi-lackluster enthusiasm of the crowd - in contrast to Disturbed's performance, there seemed to be less activity in the pit, and there were a fair number of people in the reserved area seated, as well as a sizable number leaving at any given time.
My summary of the experience: more strobe, more pyro, more costumes, more speeches, more drummers ... less substance.
Overall, the Mayhem Festival was a great set of rock and metal shows, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We'd been looking forward to this event since it was announced. I was anticipating seeing Disturbed, Mastodon, Five Finger Death Punch, The Red Chord, and seeing Black Tide again (they were in town a few months ago with Avenged Sevenfold) as well.
Unfortunately, due to work schedules and miscellany, we didn't arrive until just before Mastodon took the stage, so we'd already missed FFDP, The Red Chord, and Black Tide. Next time, or in similar festivals, I'd like to see the side stages start later in the day and continue later into the night.
Mastodon played a great set that would have made Slayer throw up the horns. No effects, no video monitors, no strobes, no pyro - merely musicians, instruments, and metal.
After Mastodon departed the stage, we grabbed a couple of beers (it was a hot, humid evening) and headed to the side stages to see Underoath and/or Machine Head, only to be notified that no alcohol was permitted in the vicinity of the side stages - d'oh! So we walked around the concession area and drank our drinks; by the time we finished them, DragonForce was about to take the stage. (There was supposed to be an hour between Mastodon's set and theirs, but there couldn't have been - I barely had time to finish my $11 beer!)
DragonForce was ... Dragonforce. Although their brand of power metal is a bit too shrill for my musical taste, they definitely put on an entertaining show. They really got the crowd involved; the singer even ran back through the seats and gave some love (not physically, perverts) to the fans on the lawn. Before performing their last song,
Through the Fire and Flames: "This is the song that made Guitar Hero III famous!"Both of the side stages were shut down by this point, so there was nothing to do but people-watch and wait for Disturbed to come on. The most amusing tshirt I saw: "I AM THE GOD OF FUCK."
Disturbed put on a fantastic show; they really tore the roof off the amphitheatre. The crowd energy was amazing; there literally were ten thousand fists in the air, and then some.
I enjoyed the song lineup; in my opinion, it was a good mixture of new stuff from Indestructible and old favorites. My only replacement would have been
Ten Thousand Fists for Land of Confusion. For me, Disturbed's performance was the highlight of the festival.On the other hand, I found Slipknot's show underwhelming. Before I continue, let me disclaim: I am not an avid fan of Slipknot's music.
The back, top, and sides of the stage were completely loaded with strobes, so much so that it was nearly impossible to see the band (or anything, really) during the songs. It was unpleasantly distracting, and my impression of the effect was that it was reminiscent of listening to a CD with visualization software, rather than attending a live show.
Additionally, vocalist Corey Taylor found it necessary to make an uninspired and self-aggrandizing speech prior to each song.
The performance itself was energetic, although Taylor seemed frustrated at some points by the semi-lackluster enthusiasm of the crowd - in contrast to Disturbed's performance, there seemed to be less activity in the pit, and there were a fair number of people in the reserved area seated, as well as a sizable number leaving at any given time.
My summary of the experience: more strobe, more pyro, more costumes, more speeches, more drummers ... less substance.
Overall, the Mayhem Festival was a great set of rock and metal shows, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
