On This Day in History

On this date in history, 7/31/2010, the Mayhem Festival touched down on Deer Creek soil to fulfill our metal thirst with another edition of the annual metal showcase. This tour featured, Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb Of God, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Hatebreed, Atreyu, Chimaira, 3 Inches Of Blood, Shadows Fall, Winds Of Plague, X-Factor 1, and Norma Jean. To the best of my recollections, Norma Jean were in the middle of their set when we made it to the second stage area, and they were throwing down with a vengeance. Winds Of Plague impressed me by managing to be pretty brutal even with keyboards. Shadows Fall killed it, as they always do, Brian Fair swinging his floor length dreads in a windmill motion that is a mesmerizing sight to see. I truly hope they return from hiatus one of these days to make some new music and tour again. I didn’t stick around for 3 Inches Of Blood. I heard part of their first song and just wasn’t feeling it. Too much effort trying to sound like Rob Halford with the high screams. Hatebreed got bodies in motion in the pit, with Jamey Jasta barking out his empowering lyrics over the crushing power of his band’s bludgeoning riff machine. In This Moment’s Maria Brink pulled off a really cool trick by walking out to the sound tent and then coaxing the crowd to stage a massive circle pit that rotated around the tent in a colossal frenzy. It was quite a sight to behold. Maria and the band played a great set and earned their headliner status. Lamb Of God crushed us with a massively powerful main stage massacre of a set. Then Rob Zombie unleashed his trademark spectacularly sinful spooktacular show, anchored by a band that included the guitar athletics of John 5, and the sick drumming of Joey Jordison (on load from Slipknot at that time). Korn brought it all to a close with a stage set that even topped Zombie’s…no easy feat! Mayhem made me happy by continuing the legacy laid down by Ozzfest. Now, all we need is a new festival to pass the torch to the next generation of metalheads!

Written By Braddon S Williams aka The Concert Critic