Massive amounts of high wattage energy was not only the theme of the day on Saturday, August 2, it was something you saw, felt, smelled, and heard all around the Toyota Pavilion in Moosic, PA. All the senses were fully engaged as fans anticipating the special experience that the 2014 Rockstar Mayhem Festival was poised to deliver converged on Montage Mountain.
The amps kicked on at 1 in the afternoon with three field stages showcasing bands including Miss May I, Body Count (featuring Ice T), Cannibal Corpse, Suicide Silence, and Mushroomhead.
By the time mainstage performances kicked off at about 6:30 PM, the lineup of Trivium, Asking Alexandria, Korn, and Avenged Sevenfold had their work cut out for them, considering that the fans had already been jumping, screaming, and crowd surfing for several hours straight and now stood anxious to be recharged and fulfilled.
Mission accomplished!
Trivium set the pace, opening with their heartpounding “Black”. Asking Alexandria got the crowd pumped with “Don’t Pray for Me” and drove through their seven song set winding it down with “The Death of Me”.
Korn delivered a high energy set that spanned their 20 years of recording–the atmosphere of their performance quite simply transcended to an unforgettable experience. Opening with older favorites including “Falling Away from Me” and “Twist”, the set also included “Spike in My Veins” and “Never Never” from their latest album “The Paradigm Shift.” The set closed with “Blind”, which had launched the band into fame two decades ago, with Jonathan Davis’ kids rocking the stage. There was even a marriage proposal at the end of the set (She said “yes!”).
You would think that by the time Avenged Sevenfold took to the stage the crowd would too be drained with little left to get back on their feet. But as the stage lit up in flames and Synyster Gates delivered the opening riff of “Shepherd of Fire” from the band’s chart topping album “Hail to the King”, the crowd was re-energized and ready for more. Later, lighters and cell phones alike were lifted when A7x played “So Far Away”, an emotional tribute to “The Rev”, the band’s founding drummer who passed in 2009. When A7X closed out the set with “This Means War”, also from “Hail to the King”, the crowd wanted more. The band did not disappoint, returning with “A Little Piece of Heaven” and “Unholy Confessions.”
This was the place to be. By the end of the day you could feel the synergy in the air as the musicians and fans united by simply feeding off each other to keep going, with each band playing as if it was their last day as if they had something that had to get out.
By midnight, with the amps cooling down, we turned to leave and realized we didn’t just see a great show… we experienced an event of unusual proportion.
Mayhem at its finest!
