Mayhem Festival
August 1, 2010
Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheater
The Mayhem Festival pulled into Atlanta like a huge freak Heavy Metal traveling circus on August 1st and I was really pumped to see this show. The roster was boasting an impressive line up that in my opinion had the side stages completely outshining the Main Stage acts two fold. It was kind of a funny thing to me that headliners Rob Zombie and Korn are considered “classics” but I had to realize that many in attendance were very young when these bands came out. Getting to see them was as exciting as it was for me to see Alice Cooper for the first time as a teenager.
At the end of the day, I was very impressed with most of the bands and the level of musicianship and professionalism that they displayed. I didn’t quite connect with all the bands I saw. Some of them left me realizing that there’s an aspect of Metal music that doesn’t quite click with me. Winds of Plague seemed really put on a great performance but I felt their songs just fell kind of flat. None of their songs had any character that made an impression and were quite honestly forgettable. I have to give them credit for trying but they just didn’t do anything that blew me away. The fact that they had an extremely hot female keyboard player made it totally worth it to watch their set. I could watch her for an hour. Atreu had all the arrogance and confidence of a band that 10x more talented than they actually are. It was like watching a bunch of guys that don’t know that they suck. They even did a cover of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name” which I thought was a big ass bowl of FAIL! I couldn’t wait for these guys to just be done. Shadows Fall on the other hand really impressed me. They play a kind of Metal that I don’t usually like but their songs were really good and their performance was absolutely stellar. It was so cool to have had the opportunity to broaden my horizons and check out bands I wouldn’t normally have an opportunity to check out. That’s a great thing about festival shows. There’s so much music that you can sample it all. It’s like one big ass face melting buffet. Just keep trying stuff until you find a few things you absolutely love.
When it came time to review the show, I picked 3 bands which I believe reigned supreme at Mayhem. These bands are that took this old schooler by the balls and showed me just how capable they were of not only wowing a crowd with great performances but with great songs and professionalism above the rest. They stood out among the bands and made a huge impression on me. I also really had an awesome time interviewing Blake and Jeff of In This Moment which has been one of my most fun interviews yet. I hope you’ll enjoy my coverage of the 2010 Mayhem Festival in Atlanta, GA. Put some tunes on, settle in and let’s get started ok?
CHECK OUT THE REST OF MY MAYHEM EXPERIENCE:
Mayhem In Atlanta Pt. I: An Introduction To Mayhem
Mayhem In Atlanta Pt. II: In This Moment Takes Us To A Star-Crossed Wasteland
Mayhem In Atlanta Pt. III: 3 Inches of Blood Lead Us To Thy Doom
Mayhem In Atlanta Pt. IV: Five Finger Death Punch Teach Us The Way of the Fist
Mayhem In Atlanta Pt. V: Blowin’ Wind With Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel of In This Moment
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