Live-Metal.Net - Concert Reports - Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest 2009

For years, Ozzfest was the summer concert event for U.S metal fans. But with its future questionable at best, the second annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival officially has taken the reins.

It was hot—and I mean chafe your balls hot—but nothing was going to stop thousands of rapid, black-T-shirt-wearing metal fans of all ages from herding into the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va.

The festival's configuration mirrors Ozzfest in many ways—in fact, much of it is identical, just with a different brand name. The Jagermeister stage was in the same parking lot as it was at Ozzfest, but adjacent to it was the Hot Topic Stage, reserved for the extreme metal acts of the day. Near the stages were merch tents for the bands and record labels like Metal Blade, Roadrunner and Prosthetic. Other vendors included Rockstar Energy Drink (where motocross exhibitions, featuring ramp jumping were put on daily), Affliction, Metal Mulisha, Rock Band and Revolver. Most bands had scheduled meet-and-greets at their respective label's booth and other tents throughout the day.

Nine bands played on the side stages, starting in the mid-afternoon, alternating between the Jager and Hot Topic stages. In other words, no two bands overlapped each other. The first two bands I saw were the pummeling noisemongers Job for a Cowboy and metalcore leaders God Forbid. God Forbid put on one of the best shows of the day. Vocalist Byron Davis successfully fired up the large crowd and the response was outstanding. Judging from the mosh pits that went on tirelessly throughout their set, God Forbid's popularity is growing with each album. Their latest, Earthsblood, features the live standout of their set, “War of Attrition.”

For me, Behemoth was the best band of the day, absolutely killing it onstage. Vocalist/guitarist Nergal and company were decked out in their distinctive corpse paint and battle armor, ready to wage their own personal war on Christianity. The band is supporting its monster of a new release, Evangelion, an album that should go down as one of extreme metal's best of all time. Chants of “BE-HE-MOTH!” were heard between every song. Nergal and his bandmates—guitarist Seth and bassist Orion—all fired away on the mics, barking vocals in unison, reproducing the massive layered effects on their studio albums. Standouts included the lead track from Evangelion, “Ov Fire and the Void,” “Conquer” and a fun-loving, yet very-metal cover of Turbonegro's hilarious punk love song, “I Got Erection.” Evil, fist-pumping and heavy as all hell—Behemoth was fucking metal.

BEHEMOTH SET LIST: Slaves Shall Serve, At the Left Hand Ov God, Conquer, Demigo, Ov Fire and the Void,
Chant For Eschaton 200, I Got Erection

Seconds after Behemoth exited the stage, the crowd stampeded next door to watch All That Remains, one of the most successful bands playing the side stages. Phil Labonte is a great frontman, alternating between harsh, clean and black metal vocals. Pulling this off in 95-degree heat couldn't have been easy. The crowd was ready to hear the hits and gave the band a massive welcoming. Moshing and crowd-surfing ensued during “This Calling” and “Six.” The crowd participation intensified for “Forever in Your Hands” when Labonte announced they were filming live for the song's video.

ALL THAT REMAINS SET LIST: This Calling, Chiron, Six, Forever in Your Hands, The Air That I Breathe, Undone, Two Weeks

I was eager to see Trivium, as it had been a few years since last catching them live. Vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy sounded more like a touring veteran, both singing and screaming more convincingly than I've ever seen him.
Trivium has been around for a while now and is a successful band, yet they played this day like they had something to prove. Whatever the reason, they rocked the moshpit into a dusty cloud, so much so that many had to exit the immediate area. Highlights of their set included the latest single from Shogun,“Down from the Sky” and the Ascendancy classic “Rain.”

TRIVIUM SET LIST: The End of Everything, Rain, When All Light Dies, Down From The Sky, Throes Of Perdition, Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

Unfortunately, I didn't catch all of Cannibal Corpse's set due to some mild dehydration, but the crowd seemed hungry for face-ripping, gore-drenched death metal from the living legends—it was good to see from the younger crowd. However, I did happen to hear the most memorable line of the day from vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher: “This one's for the ladies! This is 'Fucked With a Knife!'”

The crowd had now begun its full transition over to the Main Stage. Going from the outside stages inside to the pavilion is like being at two different shows. Sure, it's all metal, but the vibe, atmosphere and sound is completely different—oh, and of course, there are seats. I'm not sure I'll ever prefer a main stage.

Bullet for My Valentine was the opener for this second half of the day. I've never been a huge fan and can't really pinpoint why, but nevertheless, they were decent. My favorite song they played was “Waking the Demon.”

Dressed in faux-tuxedo T-shirts, Killswitch Engage took the stage and played their solid brand of metalcore to an enthusiastic crowd. I've seen them a few times before, but this time they seemed like they were genuinely having a blast—not only their onstage-comedian/guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, but vocalist Howard Jones and the entire band—a testament that hard work and success will make anyone happy. Flames shot up from the back of the stage throughout their set. The loudest response came from their cover of Dio's “Holy Diver,” but “Rose of Sharyn” and “My Curse” were equally as good.

And yes, Adam was wearing his cape.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE SET LIST: My Last Serenade, Reckoning, Fixation on the Darkness, Rose of Sharyn, Starting Over, A Bid Farewell, My Curse, The End of Heartache, Holy Diver

At this point in its career, Slayer could probably come onstage and play nothing but children's tunes and the crowd would still go apeshit, the screams of “Slayer!” being heard all night long. They've long since cemented their place in metal history as one of the forefathers of thrash metal, mainly because of two songs, “Raining Blood” and “South of Heaven,” both of which were played, of course. My favorite Slayer album, Seasons in the Abyss, was well represented with “War Ensemble,” “Dead Skin Mask” and “Born of Fire.” A new song from their upcoming 2009 release, World Painted Blood, was debuted, “Psychopathy Red.” It sounded like something off of 1994's Divine Intervention, in the same vein as “Dittohead.” A large, flaming Slayer logo hung as the backdrop to their apocalyptic 14-song set, igniting as tempos changed and heads banged furiously. What more can I say? Slayer is Slayer: Araya-King-Hanneman-Lombardo. They don't move around or do anything overly exciting onstage, they just fuckin' play, same as they've always done.

Much of the pavilion emptied before Marilyn Manson took the stage, but many fans hung around, as well. This Manson was very different from the one I saw several times a decade ago, touring for Antichrist Superstar (still his best album by far). Has age caught up with him? Is he sick from a life of drugs and alcohol? Whatever the case, Manson repeatedly received oxygen onstage and seemed to gasp for breath on several occasions, often singing while kneeling or squatting. There was no equipment smashing or excessive stage props. For the first time I've ever seen him, he seemed to want to concentrate on the songs. The newer material was average at best, but received a polite applause from the crowd. It was songs like “The Dope Show,” “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” and “Rock Is Dead” that were the standouts of the night.

Sure, Manson is still fun and one of the most notorious and well-known rock stars ever, but after seeing this show, I felt lucky to have seen him several times back in his Antichrist Superstar heyday.

MARILYN MANSON SET LIST: We're from America, Disposable Teens, Little Horn, Irresponsible Hate Anthem, Four Rusted Horse, Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon, The Dope Show, Rock Is Dead, Tourniquet, Sweet Dreams (are made of this), The Beautiful People

This was my first Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival and a memorable one. No more Ozzfest? Who knows, but this tour proves there is still a widespread demand for metal in the United States. In fact, the genre is probably at an all-time high in popularity. So props to Rockstar Energy Drink for sponsoring this festival and bringing us the metal.