It may seem hard to believe, but the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival has been steamrolling its way across America with a solid tour of premier Metal bands for six years now. That sort of history is impressive in its own right but, if the Mountain View stop on this year's tour is any indication of the tour's future, I think it's safe to say that Mayhem has permanently cemented itself as one of the summer's most anticipated tours. Although the 2013 edition features a few bands who have already participated in years past, it did not prevent the day from being anything but a full blown success.
Although Battlecross and Job for a Cowboy put on stellar sets of metal, it was Huntress, Butcher Babies, and the Bay Area's own Machine Head who ruled the Jagermeister stage on this day. Huntress frontwoman Jill Janus proved that she does indeed have the goods (no pun intended) to command a large audience. Supporting their just-released Starbound Beast, the band tore through “Zenith,” “I Want to Fuck You to Death,” and “Blood Sisters” with a shocking ease and grace. The band had a great stage presence, and their performance proved that they will most certainly be primed to take it to the next level by the end of the tour. The Butcher Babies, who also have a new record to support (Goliath, to be released on July 9th), also delivered a solid set of metal, while dueling frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey proved that there is much more to the band than just their beauty. “I Smell a Massacre” and “Axe Wound” sounded amazingly heavy and had the entire crowd banging their heads and throwing the horns up with perfect abandon.
Those aforementioned sets were certainly stellar but, if there was one band who truly conquered the Jagermeister stage on this day, it was the Bay Area's own Machine Head. Even with the Summer sun beating down on them, Robb Flynn, Phil Demmel and Dave McClain, along with new bass player Jared MacEachern, belted out a forty minute set of all-killer, no-filler Machine Head metal. “This is the End,” “Imperium” and “Locust” were all not only heavy as fuck but had the now-packed crowd which filled the entire parking lot whipped up into a metal mosh-pit frenzy. It was a perfect way to end the sets on the stage, and primed the crowd for what was to come over on the main stage.
While the Jagermeister stage definitely (and understandably) commanded some fantastic attention, Thrown Into Exile, Attika 7, and Children of Bodom all put on great sets of their own over on the Musician's Institute Stage. Los Angeles' Thrown Into Exile delivered a very Rob Zombie-meets-Black Sabbath influenced set, while former Bio Hazard frontman Evan Seinfeld (who hit the stage by riding a custom built chopper) and his latest project, Attika 7, tore up the stage with a brutal set of Pantera styled metal. Children of Bodom, who just released their eighth studio record, Halo of Blood, commanded the stage with “Silent Night, Bodom Night,” “Hate Me,” and “Hate Crew Deathroll.” As Machine Head had done on the Jager stage, Children of Bodom got the metal kids ready for the main stage.
Up first on the main stage was Amon Amarth and, although their Viking Ship drum riser may have seemed a bit out of place given that they were playing directly into the sunlight and it was still over ninety degrees outside, they proved that they were indeed the perfect band to start the main stage festivities. Up next was 2008 Mayhem Festival alumni Mastodon, who were probably this reviewer's favorite band of the day. Five Finger Death Punch followed, but it was headliner Rob Zombie that the kids were most fired up to see.
Hitting the stage on a huge skull embellished riser complete with 'ZOMBIE' written across the front, Rob Zombie and his band were on fire from the word go. Opening with "Theme for the Rat Vendor" / “Teenage Nosferatu Pussy” off of his latest release Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, Zombie sounded great, and put on a spectacle that was worthy of the headlining slot on this year's tour.
Photos:
Ground Control Magazine – Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2013 – [Photos]
Artist:
www.rockstarmayhemfest.com/
www.facebook.com/mayhemfest
Tour:
The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Tour continues. For an updated list of shows, click here .
