Metal music took over the San Manuel Amphitheater on Saturday at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Various tents selling beer and posters, and the ocean of bodies in band T-shirts and steel-toed boots are reasons to believe that the first stop of the Mayhem Festival tour was a killer success.
On July 9, San Bernardino marked the beginning of a summer-long, cross-country festival that hosts around 13 iron-heavy bands on three stages: Jagermeister, Revolver and Rockstar Energy Drink main stage.
Kicking off the Jagermeister and Revolver stages, nine bands with 30-minute sets took turns roughing up and shifting crowds left and right.
Testament and Trivium, the closing bands of the two stages, encouraged roughhousing and consideration.
“If they fall, you help them the fuck up,” said vocalist Matt Heafy of Trivium, while playing songs off their latest album “In Waves.”
The collective crowd was sparse in the pit when doors opened to Machine Head on the Rockstar Energy Drink stage, but those who gathered at the front were not any less responsive. Machine Head’s vocalist Robb Flynn demanded that the crowd make some noise in celebration of the first day.
“You don’t have to be so quiet. You won’t get in trouble.” Flynn said.
It came to no surprise that once Godsmack took the stage, the crowd showed its true colors when the stadium, from the pit to the lawn, filled to the brim with hands forming metal horns raised in the air.
“San Bernardino, are we awake yet?” asked Sully Erna, vocalist of Godsmack.
Their set consisted of fan favorites like “Voodoo” and “Straight Out of Line.” Godsmack also surprised the audience with a double drum setup that provided a several-minute-long instrumental interlude that definitely got the crowd hot and bothered. Fans began a bonfire on the lawn within the first few songs.
Flames were also found on stage during Disturbed’s performance as their own backdrop. As they played “Down with the Sickness,” the cheers could have been heard from miles away.
While Megadeth is listed on the tour as one of the big names, they didn’t perform the first night because of prior engagements with the Sonisphere Festival in the United Kingdom. Instead, Dethklok took their place, which also served as the band’s only stop on this tour.
Dethklok is a virtual band from the TV show “Metalocalypse,” and is also a live death metal band. Vocalist Brendon Small and his band, including renowned drummer Gene Hoglan, played in front of a big screen in mostly dark lighting and strobe lights. It began as if it were a live performance of the show with the opening sequence playing behind them. Sound bites in-between songs entertained the crowd. One sound bite said, “This is the best audience we’ve ever had,” while showing the ongoing fire on the lawn on the big screen before they concluded their set on the Rockstar Energy Drink stage.
Mayhem Fest tours nationwide this summer, ending in West Palm Beach. Fl. on Aug. 14. Ticket prices range from $40 to $89 at rockstarmayhemfest.com.
