Metal is alive and well at Mayhem festival
by Jim Louvau - Jul. 19, 2008 01:22 PM
Special for azcentral.com


Slipknot performs at the Rockstar Mayhem festival on Friday, July 18 at Cricket Wireless Pavilion.

The inaugural edition of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival made it’s first ever stop to the Cricket Wireless Pavilion Friday. Even though the title of the festival was brand new to fans, it felt very similar to Ozzfest (which was reduced to one show this summer) with headliners Slipknot and Disturbed on the bill. Scorching temperatures and steep ticket prices didn’t keep fans from making it out to see the all day metal fest that featured 3 stages of madness from around the globe.

Australia’s Airbourne decided to leave the doom and gloom for the other acts on the tour as they brought the party with them all the way from down under with rock anthems like Stand up For Rock ‘N’ Roll and Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast. These guys have obviously spent much of their child examining every lick AC/DC ever laid down but their energy onstage was infectious. Singer Joel O'Keeffe looked like a young version of Metallica's James Hetfield with his shaggy hair, lack of t-shirt, and metal wrist-cuffs as he moved around the Jagermeister stage. These guys may have looked and sounded a bit like a novelty act, but by the end of their short set the crowd was sold.
The female-fronted hardcore band Walls of Jericho hit the stage providing a healthy dose of brutality. Lead singer Candace Kucsulain stomped around the stage and wasted no time proving she could bring the metal just as hard as any of the male singers. They were the perfect band to play right before 2nd stage headliners Machine Head. Robert Flynn and co took their festival experience and translated it into a bone-crushing set featuring songs from their latest release The Blackening.

After a dull opening set by main stage openers Mastodon, the English power metal band DragonForce was ready to save the day. Master shredder Herman Li treated fans to the most intricate display of axe handling most of them had ever seen from the looks on their faces. Watching DragonForce makes you feel like you are actually "slaying the dragon" when you hear lead singer ZP Theart hit the high notes in their songs. These guys are definitely a bit cheesy and over the top but they can suck you in with their dueling guitar solos and incredible musicianship. They debuted their new single Heroes of Our Time and ended their set with the Guitar Hero III hit Through the Fire and Flames (the hardest song in the game).

As the sun went down, Disturbed fans lit the sky with Ten Thousand Fists pumping as David Draiman was wheeled onstage in a straitjacket and Hannibal Lecter mask which was the same act the singer did on the band’s first Ozzfest jaunt back in 2000. Draiman's wardrobe choice was very fitting for the opening title track Indestructible with lyrics like "Come inside and be afraid of this impressive mess I've made." Singles like Liberate, Prayer, and Stupify were crowd favorites during their hour-long set. Dan Donegan's guitar tone continues to be one of the best in radio rock music and in newer tracks like Perfect Insanity, he traded in power chords for solos and showed his chops were up to par. Draiman commanded the crowd with ease and constantly reminded the crowd to "get your fists in the air."

As the maggots (as Slipknot fans call themselves) waited for the masked metal band to take the stage, the lawn area started to look like a fire pit when various fires erupted on the grass. As the lights went out and the curtain dropped, you could see that the band was just as passionate as the maggots, blasting into Surfacing as they stormed the stage like animals seeking prey. A slimmer looking Corey Taylor took control of the massive crowd and asked them to help him sing Before I Forget as he told them "We are all family here." The lead screamer introduced their new song Psychosocial by saying "I promised you two and a half years ago that there would be another Slipknot record and we are going to play a new song from that record." Seeing this band live is complete chaos with two drummers banging their stand up drum sets, shaped like beer kegs, with baseball bats while regular drummer Joey Jordison plays blast beats and double bass over most of the material.

Taylor also informed the crowd that DJ Sid Wilson had broken both of his heels after jumping from a platform onstage and landing incorrectly on the very first date of the tour and that he vowed to finish the tour in a wheelchair. Now that’s dedication.

The shorter set did cause the band leave some fan favorites off the set list like Spit It Out, Wait and Bleed and Vermillion. The rare live track Prosthetics should have been replaced with any of those songs. The unoriginal award of the night goes out to drummer Joey Jordison, whose drum platform shot up and spun around in the air in front of the stage much like Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee’s.

In a day and age where it's hard to shock anyone, these guys are making great strides in becoming the Kiss of a new generation. Hopefully they don't ever decide to take the masks off.