Mayhem Fest: A Live Review
Virginia Beach VA, 8/6/09
Mayhem ensues
What a glorious day for a show. It’s nearly 90 degrees and like 8 billion percent humidity. I am hungover from the prior night where one of my 3 compatriots did this to a motel room sink (thanks whiskey and cheap wine).
So we arrive to the venue for Mayhem Fest and are greeted by the brutal aural assault of Whitechapel. I was looking forward to seeing these guys and they were good. They were early in the day and it was hot and the crowd a little lackadaisical, but their meaty grind interspersed with hardcore breakdowns was a decent start to the day.
As evidenced by the above sink picture, we were hungover and the breakfast Taco Bell and the heat weren’t helping. So we made our way to a little bar area that was shaded and had seats. Currently playing was God Forbid, which none of us gave a damn about so we sat and cooled off. Also during this period I decided to go to the bathroom before all the drunks turned it into a sea of urine. I took a mighty dump and knew today would be a good day. I ventured back to the bar area and we waited for God Forbid’s set to end. The bar was like 300 yards from the stages, so we relied upon a tour pamphlet to tell us what time particular bands started playing so we could hoof it back to the stages and watch their sets. Up next was Behemoth, which we were stoked about. Unfortunately, the schedule on the flyer was wrong and we missed all but one song of their set. Shit the bed! But the one song we saw was great. They are real showmen, wearing corpse paint with the singer sporting some strange gladiator mask.
Up next was All That Remains. They are like the Nickelback of metal. Needless to say, we retreated back to the bar.
Something interesting between sets was the Metal Mulisha, which is a group of motocross riders. Not really my thing, but watching their flips and tricks was entertaining and held my interest since I was semi-hoping to witness a crash/fatality.
So after sitting on our asses and drinking beer at the bar, now it was time for The Black Dahlia Murder. Previously, I wasn’t a big fan, but after seeing them live I am rethinking that. They had great energy and the drummer is badass, not to mention some great solos by the guitarist.
Ass with a Huge Neck
If you haven’t noticed the pattern, now we went back to the bar. I don’t know who played during this period, but all we knew was that Cannibal Corpse was the next band we cared to see. We had the schedule figured out and made our way back to the stages in time to see Corpse. Needless to say, they killed. It was only a 5 song set (bullshit), but whatever, it owned. My only problem with them was that their singer, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (see picture to the left), was an ass. He would say things like, “If I don’t see you moving out there I’m going to come down there and strangle you.” Fuck off, I’ll move if I want to move. Maybe if you were half as good as Chris Barnes (original Cannibal Corpse vocalist) then I would move more. But whatever, the live versions of “Hammer-Smashed Face” and “Make them Suffer” were especially phenomenal. Also, note to people who light joints when standing directly in front of me: I don’t like weed and I don’t think it’s very metal. If you insist on sharing
chemicals, please, by all means, buy me a beer.
At some point after this, Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine and Killswitch Engage played. Being that these are sub-par bands and the beer was far better than their music, we sat at the bar instead of watching these assholes. Obviously, we have priorities.
You wish you were this brutal
Now, the main shit. It’s fucking Slayer time! I am so excited. They are playing “God Hates Us All” as I take my seat. Beside me is a couple. Obviously, the guy drug the girl here cause she is not into it. But, she is showing cleavage so I overlook this indiscretion. Slayer have an awesome set list. They played some new stuff (not “Hate Worldwide” as mentioned here in a previous post) and some semi-new stuff such as “Jihad” from the album “Christ Illusion”. But they really kicked things into high gear with some classics, including: “Mandatory Suicide”, “Born of Fire”, “Dead Skin Mask”, “Angel of Death” and “Reign in Blood”. But what really sent a shiver down my perineum was when they played “South of Heaven”, which is of sentimental value because it is the song that got me into Slayer. Holy shit they ruled. Not only did they have a flaming Slayer logo, but they were so tight. Not a note missed. They are so still on top of their game. And Lombardo back behind the drum kit?!? He fucking rocks the tom fills. They are without a doubt a supreme live act.
The finale to the night was Marilyn Manson. I’ve been a fan since “Portrait of an American Family” and was excited to see him. He puts on a hell of a show: costume changes, props (including some dumb-ass mic with a knife at the end and also a flaming bible), great fog/lighting effects and firings of cannons of glitter/ confetti. Set list included: “Irresponsible Hate Anthem”, “Sweet Dreams”, “Disposable Teens”, “Dope Show”, “Rock is Dead”, “Little Horn” and “Tourniquet”. A great show but not so much great music. I mean, Manson is essentially a solo act. The band was of little importance and it showed musically. Manson’s vocals and charisma were great, but the music itself wasn’t that good. It was apparent that he was the main focus and the band/music was secondary. Also, several times he did that annoying thing performers do where they mention the name of whatever city they are in so that they can get a cheap pop from the crowd. For example, “VA Beach may be the loudest crowd so far on the tour, let me hear you.” Fuck you, I know you say the same shit in every city; don’t placate me and insult my intelligence.
But still, Manson, Slayer, Corpse, Black Dahlia and Behemoth destroyed. A great show and thankfully I had good friends and alcohol with me so I could withstand the crapfest of other bands.
