Mayhemfest Lands at Tinley Park

Rockstar Energy Mayhemfest at Tinley Park, IL
First Midwest Bank Amphitheater, 7/30/2010

Before I begin, I feel I must make a disclaimer about this particular review. Frequently, when I write these types of reviews I am often likened to Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet reciting “Just the facts Ma’am” (perhaps a bit too esoteric a reference). Being truthful, I see this Mayhemfest lineup as a nice bridge of my metal tastes from high school to college to post grad, so there is no way to prevent me from being a bit nostalgic with a tendency to editorialize. To justify my actions I will be weaving a portion of this into my latest Something Wicked column. As for now, please forgive a bit of sentimentality and personal reflections about the day’s festivities.

Mayhemfest was conceived in 2008 as a middle finger touring response to Ozzfest’s one-day-only big event, and featured two mainstay Ozzfest veterans. The obvious question that arose was: Could America find room for two major metal touring festivals? The response was an emphatic yes, because in only three short years this hero-from-nowhere tour has surpassed all of the wildest expectations and is now a viable contender to be the biggest American Heavy Metal Tour. The tour has also made it painfully obvious that headliners pack venues opening bands do not. Bands like Marilyn Manson, Korn, Slayer, and Rob Zombie stationed in a headlining slot bring in a greater draw and generate new excitement that is not possible with Ozzfest as long as the Prince Of Darkness is at the helm of the show every year.

On July 30th, the 3rd annual Rockstar Energy Mayhemfest descended on the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL for an unbridled metal assault. Three stages consisting of an impressive lineup of 13 of today’s top heavy metal acts brought in the masses for a monstrous celebration of heavy music. After being embedded for so long in the Warped Tour crowd, it was refreshing to be led around through the day’s guests and events. The difference is clear. Mayhemfest is a much more directed and focused tour and therefore the experience is more communal. It is packed to the brim with high demand acts and nearly every band on this bill would be considered a legitimate headlining act on first circuit major venues. All of them can sell out the House of Blues, the Palladium, or the Music Box. Hell even the two openers could easily pack in the Glass House. No one breed of music is ever specialized, but a healthy variety is on call to bring in everyone.

The day was divided between 3 stages; KoRn, Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, and Five Finger Death Punch took the main stage, and the 9 other acts shared rotating second stages. Of the nine bands, one of them was the “Jaegermeister Music Guest” – a special guest opener that varies date to date and in the case of Chicago just happened to be Soil. Folks, that’s like winning the lottery of guest appearances. Please note, I’m not saying anything negative about the other guest openers across the country, but Soil is a genuinely awesome Hard-Rock powerhouse and they proved it by setting the day off right and laying out classics like “Breaking Me Down” and “Halo.”

SOIL

Following Soil was the crushing deathcore styles of Winds Of Plague. Easily one of the more extreme bands of the day, Winds Of Plague managed to blend their monstrous sound with an operatic tinge. Songs like “Decimate The Weak,” “One Body Too Many,” and “The Impaler” immediately resounded with the crowd and circle pits were already starting to form.

WINDS OF PLAGUE

The next few hours were an interesting collection of today’s top artists from the genre. Hatebreed and Chimaira led the Jagermeister Stage, and I honestly can’t think of two bands more perfectly suited for this setting with this kind of crowd. While these bands work well in club settings, once outside, they have a stage presence that cannot be matched. Hatebreed is a band born from Toad’s Place, but raised on the open road in fresh air and clear skies. For some reason songs like “Defeatist,” “Live For This,” and “I Will Be Heard” appear much more epic when they are played in an amphitheater parking lot to thousands of screaming fans.

CHIMAIRA

Chimaira is much the same way. With a good repertoire of hits on their side, no amount of stage effects can ever present this band in the same light as a radiant mid-day sun. Conversely, Atreyu closing out on the other stage arguably could have benefited from having a more contained and accommodating venue. This is band that needs the lights, the smoke machine, and even a more unique stage set that they can fall back on. Bands like Hatebreed built themselves up on bare minimal clubs and thrive without elaborate set pieces, but Atreyu have indicated they are gunning for a larger-than-life Rockstar performance and are slowly becoming something akin to a second Avenged Sevenfold. This isn’t to say they were bad, just out of their element.

ATREYU

I have an odd sense that In This Moment will be the next big metallic sensation and in one year’s time we will see an interesting news story coming from them. Maria Brink is becoming a media sweetheart and there’s something really energetic about their performance that drew a lot of press their way. Part of this could be attributed to their label, Century Media, who have both Lacuna Coil and Arch Enemy on their roster, and have had experience marketing metal’s most prominent Valkyries. In This Moment has been working steadily for the past couple of years, hitting every major tour, and clawing their way up to be a staple of the genre. The band has the ability to be both aggressive and exhilarating with a song like “Just Drive,” then seamlessly transition into a solemn but powerful ballad like “Beautiful Tragedy.”

SHADOWS FALL

Now for two bands near and dear to me, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God. Shadows Fall is definitely due for a second wind, and being on this tour definitely resounds the sentiment. I think a couple of years ago they stumbled with their management, got prematurely, or wrongly, bumped up to a major label, and have been trying to keep their heads above water while remaining in the public eye ever since. But witnessing them ounding through classics like “Thoughts Without Words” and “Light That Blinds” proves to me that this band has not changed one bit. Still delivering the same blinding fury they have for years, I can’t help but think this is the story of a couple of guys who are weeding out the loose ends and pulling themselves back up on their own strength.

LAMB OF GOD

Now, Lamb of God, the first band I caught on the main stage, is a slightly different story. Intensity, they got it. Raw Power, they deliver. But the band is going to have to rethink their strategy for this upcoming paradigm shift they are about to embark on. Lamb of God was lost onstage and offered nothing to boost the live experience. I imagine that this is a band that has existed on pure raw energy in a past, but they seemed puny on an empty stage. It felt like Lamb of God in transition. They are either in between a major jump to the next level and larger venues, or this is a group who has gone as far as they can with their comfortable sized outlets. I have a feeling that within the year we’ll have the answer (I got money riding on the former option).

The only flaw I could find in the show was the order of the headliners. Arguably this is the Achilles heel of the tour, but I think there’s a legitimate gripe to be had in this year’s lineup. Last year was the second time both Marilyn Manson and Slayer were both slotted for the headlining position, with Manson closing out the night. It was generally unpopular, and Slayer fans were ravenous, but by and large it made sense. But KoRn and Rob Zombie came up together; in fact, Zombie paved the way for KoRn to emerge. I guess seniority isn’t always the determining factor, but in this case I can’t really see popularity being a better justification either. KoRn has more albums. Zombie has more movies and a White Zombie catalogue to fall back on.

KORN

My main problem with the main stage was that KoRn’s set felt static and dry compared to Zombie’s imaginative dreamscape. To be fair, KoRn gave a fairly impressive performance, with unforgettable classics that fans have loved for over a decade, and you have to made of stone not to sing along to them. KoRn built their set to resemble the cover of their new album, Oildale, which best as I can discern is a darker and seedier take on their hometown of Bakersfield, CA. Clearly somebody threw money at them to build an elaborate set. Oil towers and pumps were placed in the backdrop. Fire shot out of oil drums placed around the drummer and strobe lights highlighted the band and the crowd. It was big and expensive but for as showy as it was, there wasn’t much to it. The oil pumps bobbed up and down throughout the entire set, and there was barely any fire after song five. This is it? Money at your disposal, grips and artists ready to build you anything you can imagine… and you choose Bakersfield? The end result was a lot of money spent for an under whelmed effect.

ROB ZOMBIE

CONVERSELY, Rob Zombie changes his set every other song and brings out a new giant robot every third. Rob Zombie’s brilliance is in his performance. For a guy whose band lineup has changed drastically over the years, the one constant, the fifth band member, has always been his own set. His set is a breathing, evolving entity unto itself. When I was 15 I saw him arrive on stage through the doors that just happened to be a giant demon head. I’m now 24, and nearly a decade later I’m watching him make a grand entrance coming through the doors of a giant robot’s chest. Making reference to the time I saw him on the Sinister Urge Tour is perfect as well, because this is on par with the best I’ve seen him in years. When I look at him now I clearly see a metal icon and someone whose vision has changed the metal landscape forever. Fans come out to hear the classic lineup of “Superbeast,” “More Human Than Human,” and “Living Dead Girl” while giant haunted robots battle behind him. During one song, his iconic creation Iron Head comes up onstage and dances with him. During “Mars Needs Women,” girls from the crowd get up onstage, take their tops off and dance (at which point they were immediately ushered off stage by security). The point I’m making is how do you top that? You don’t, it’s checkmate.

Check out the Rockstar Energy Mayhemfest photo galleries.

Tags: Chimaira, Hatebreed, Korn, Lamb of God, mayhemfest, rob zombie