A Day at Mayhem: Part II (The Fans and The Stunts)
We now present the next installment in David Buchanan’s series “A Day at Mayhem”. Last we read, David was still trying to make sense of the whole festival, all while trudging his way through a rather interesting interview with a certain member of Dragonforce…
Following our discussion with Frederic Leclercq, we exited the dressing room of Dragonforce, and met up with some friends for the Metal Mulisha performance.
For those of you who don’t know, Metal Mulisha is a motocross team who perform stunts at various venues and music festivals, including the newly formed Mayhem Festival.
We approached the 2nd stage arena for a show of magnificent proportions.
A hairy, pale-skinned man in an American flag speedo and a motorcycle helmet (unfortunately, that image is burned into me as bad as the sun was) stood atop an RV laden with promotional posters and merch for the motocross team, who soon began performing everything from backflips and Supermans to burnouts and wheelies, and then some. Sid Wilson of Slipknot fame added to the treat, signing autographs as the sounds of his solo moniker (DJ Starscream) were interspersed with brazen cycle jumps and pre-recorded music.
Sure, the scorched crowd sucked on overpriced water, and a few Navy boys were shouting at the speedo-wearing knucklehead in patriotic fashion, but those minor annoyances were worth every ounce of pure adrenaline Metal Mulisha had to offer.
In the time before the other acts began to set up, I decided to take some time to gauge the perspectives of different fanbase and crews on the 1st Annual Mayhem Festival:
“I can’t really describe it in words - you had to have been here” - Adam from Machine Head
“The Disturbed bus got into a bit of an accident on the way to Mayhem, but they’re still kicking some ass tonight, believe me. This concert is one you’ll have to see to believe.” - Allen, road crew for Mayhem
“When you’re this drunk, everything sounds good, but when it’s already good, it’s f***ing awesome!” - Jared, Walls Of Jericho fan
“Nothing’s better after a performance than great sex.” - Candice, Walls Of Jericho
“Kick-ass metal!” - Random fan
On a related note, Allen also let me in on some information regarding the new Metallica album, due out this September:
“Anyone expecting Hetfield from the 80s won’t get it. His voice ain’t the same, and neither is the music. It has the epic solos, the pounding drums, but don’t paint it into a corner. It’s a great album, and the fans will like it, but don’t buy into it with preconceived notions. Only other thing I can say is, it has a nostalgic flavor, but don’t put it on a pedestal either.”
We’ll take it with a grain of salt, considering Allen stated he had listened to it at Lars’ garage…
Unfortunately, the majority of the next few sets on the 2nd stage (36 Crazyfists, Five Finger Death Punch, and The Red Chord) took place during our work time (the only negative when covering a music festival.) But with Slipknot, Disturbed, and Underoath still have yet to hit the stage, the true fun was just beginning at Mayhem Festival 2008.
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