Photo by: Damien Mitchell
This past Sunday (August 5th), the fifth edition of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival came to a conclusion in Hartford, Connecticut. As it is typical, the New England Metallers know how to have a good time and never let anything (specially bad weather) get in the way of their appointment with Heavy Music. It was really cool to see so many generations of music both on and off stage, gathered together in unity! This is ultimately what Mayhem Fest represents.
When we arrived to the venue around 12:30 PM, a rabid pack of fans was waiting patiently to enter the mayhem and as soon as the gates of the Comcast Theatre (one of the largest amphitheaters in the U.S.), the crowd roared inside and ignited the party!
As it is known already, Mayhem Fest is divided into a two part event: part 1 of the event takes place at the second stages (sponsored this year by:
Jägermeister and Sumerian records), while part 2 of the event takes in the main concert pavilion (which holds 30,000 people).
During the first half of the day, the fans get very intimate sets with some of the veterans and rookies of Heavy Music! The action takes place in the second stages, which are constantly rotating artists so that there is always a band playing live (not even a minute of silence). Some of the highlights of the second stages were the performances of ANTHRAX (who used the rain as their fuel for worshiping music), AS I LAY DYING, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and WHITECHAPEL (who are to blame for starting one of the most intense thunderstorms of the entire festival).
Once ANTHRAX finished their set with their classic song "I Am The Law", which featured SLIPKNOT's singer Corey Taylor on the first chorus, it was time for the fans to grab yet another cold beer and take over the main concert pavilion. This is when we realized how many people were present at the last chapter of this year's Mayhem Fest!
While ASKING ALEXANDRIA has been growing fast and has become a very well known band around the world, they still need a lot more experience in order to handle such a massive audience. Nevertheless, they managed to warm up some ear buds for the legendary Rock N' Roll band
MOTÖRHEAD!
Once LEMMY took center stage, the party was definitely on. After all, the infamous frontman is not only known for his rocking skills but he is also an avid fan of Jack Daniel's. Something that really surprised us was to see many attendees sitting down still as if they were watching a Justin Bieber concert. Perhaps is was the generational pulley that we mentioned above?
The MOTÖRHEAD boys rocked through many classic songs like "Ace Of Spades", "Overkill" and "Killed By Death", as well as through a few of their NEW songs from their latest album 'The World Is Yours'!
A few minutes passed 8 PM, the white curtain was brought down and the crowd started going insane. Why? Well, everyone knows that the white curtain is synonymous to SLAYER letting you know that this will be the only peaceful moment you will have for the next hour or so. As soon as they started their epic set, the fans that were stalled during MOTÖRHEAD's set finally came to life and started losing their minds!
Blasting through songs from their massive catalog, the worlds mightiest band had no problem delivering the Metallic goods to thousands of maniacs, who literally lost their minds when songs like "Angel Of Death", "Raining Blood", "Seasons In The Abyss" and "South Of Heaven" were being blasted at full volume... Holy shit, SLAYER is loud!
There are many awesome Heavy Metal bands, but there is only one SLAYER!
Closing the 2012 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival was one of the most evil and theatrical bands today: SLIPKNOT! This is when the crowd went absolutely insane. As we all know, the bands live performances are dangerous and unpredictable. This wasn't an exception at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut.
From the moment the band stepped on stage until they said "good night" one last time at this year's fest, the adrenaline was rushing throughout the entire venue. Security were kept busy by the hundreds of crowd surfers (who lost shows, glasses, wallets, cell phones, and some even lost their minds) and did a phenomenal job at keeping the show rolling smoothly.
For the first time in the many times we have seen SLAYER, there was a band that outperformed them. That band was SLIPKNOT. Was it the fire they have been breathing in since the loss of their bassist Paul Gray? Was it because this was their comeback tour in U.S. soil? We believe it was SLIPKNOT proving that they have plenty of gasoline left for their pyro.
The band performed the following songs:
1: (sic)
2: Eyeless
3: Sulfur
4: Wait and Bleed
5: Before I Forget
6: Disasterpieces
7: Gently
8: Vermilion
9: The Heretic Anthem
10: Psychosocial (dedicated to Paul Gray)
11: Duality (dedicated to Paul Gray)
12: Spit It Out
13: People = Shit
14: Surfacing
Photo by: Damien Mitchell
Photo by: Damien Mitchell
Photo by: Damien Mitchell
Special thanks to: Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, John Reese, Sasha Martyanova, Adrenaline PR, Zulie Alvarez, Luis Drums, Paul Sosa, Damien Mitchell, Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax, Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Whiechapel, Upon A Burning Body and all the fans!
Join the revolution, contribute to our Indiegogo campaign! Click HERE: www.indiegogo.com/hornsup
Related links:
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival
Slipknot
Slayer
Motorhead
