Review by Lisa Burke
June 27th 2015, San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA: The 2015 edition of the annual Mayhem Festival kicked off in San Diego on Friday June 26 2015, and arrived in San Bernardino the day after to attract Los Angeles area metalheads in large numbers. Unlike previous years which treated audiences to some notable smaller, upcoming bands and presented solid second and third stage headliners, the focus of attention this year was solely on the two main acts, Slayer and King Diamond. Our writer Lisa Burke was in attendance to give us an entertaining insight on how the event unfolded. Check it out below:
Last night, I finally went to San Bernardino to Mayhem Fest. I’ve been looking forward to this event for what seams like forever and it was everything I ever thought it was going to be. I arrived to the heavy metal parking lot to the sounds of The Devil Wears Prada. I proceeded with my pre-gaming and poser-watching and ignored that fancy outfit of a metal band. Next up was Hellyeah which features Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul. Guess what, I didn’t watch them because I don’t want to admit to myself that the drummer from Pantera is now in a mediocre band.
Moving uphill literally to the spectacle that is none other than a King Diamond set, we found a good spot to watch conveniently located next to a guy passed out in the grass. King Diamond always makes such a grand entrance and all I can say is I died happy. In the beginning the vocal sound was not great, but definitely improved by mid-set. His vocal range is so high and strange that you either love it or hate it. I love it and King Diamond to me is like the Sebastian Bach of Black Metal mixed with Alice Cooper antics. In case you weren’t sure, this is a wonderful thing. There’s a song where he sings about pouring tea and an old creepy lady comes out with tea. He is literally literal, yet he’s amazing to see. It’s a ritual in the best way and his face paint and upside down cross microphone are no joke. I saw this band recently at the Wiltern which was a great show, however I was surprisingly blown away by how amazing the guitar sounded on this night. I’m pretty sure I drooled on myself over it at one point. It was technically perfect, fast, brutal, and yet fully melodic. Mid-way through their set, the drunk guy next to me became black out drunk guy, and I couldn’t help myself but laugh at his silly dance moves. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure he thought he was not only smoking weed but also watching Slayer at that point. These are not two bands that can easily be confused, so clearly he lost all of his marbles at this point. Next up midway through my drool, passed out guy comes back to life and decides I should be half of his support group, meaning he was leaning on me to stay standing. Then fireworks happened. No, really. People were not only lighting bonfires in the grass using empty plastic containers, but they were also lighting off fireworks. After this awesomeness ended, I went back to the bar to re-fuel, and along this journey I came across at least 14 piles of vomit on my way.
My Fake King Diamond Set List:
Nap guy
Iced earth
Literal tea
Grab it by the balls
Air cross
Hell yeah
Sebastian Cooper black metal
More please
Technically insane
Black metal lullaby
Wake up to king slayer
Stalk Home Texas
Hell yeah for guitars
Black metal loves you too
Puke and bonfires
Real King Diamond Set List:
01. The Candle
02. Sleepless Nights
03. Eye Of The Witch
04. Welcome Home
05. Tea / Digging Graves / A Visit From The Dead
06. Evil (Mercyful Fate cover)
07. Come To The Sabbath (Mercyful Fate cover)
08. The Family Ghost
09. The 7th Day Of July 1777
10. Black Horsemen
While that may be a slight exaggeration, this next sentence is not. Finally Slayer happened and I went straight to Hell and loved absolutely every minute of it. Kerry King’s guitar was on fucking fire the whole show, and of course Tom Araya killed children in Egypt with his vocals. Since the unfortunate death of guitarist Jeff Hanneman, Gary Holt from Exodus has been his replacement when he’s off tour from Exodus. He’s great but I definitely miss Jeff and his legacy lives on. The pyrotechnics at this show ruled as did the backdrop screen images. I actually really like seeing shows at this venue because it’s not terribly big so even in the lawn you can see enough for it to be worth it. I had lawn tickets but got the illegal opportunity to move up to right behind the pit for Slayer. This made Hell even more awesome and I headbanged my neck off because no pain no gain.
Oddly, there were two girls sitting in front of us who did not seem to be enjoying Slayer. Who goes to Slayer and doesn’t enjoy Slayer? A couple of dudes’ girlfriends that got dragged there and who got conveniently left behind in the seats while the guys played moshpit is my guess. Anyway, back to Slayer because Slayer, I loved the set list and seriously couldn’t get enough. Of course they ended with ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Angel Of Death’.
As much as I want to stop writing now, I simply cannot until I mention the surprise appearance of the unknown temporarily titled “Parking Lot Band”. As we walked to the car there was a full-on mini stage with a pretty awesome band and a decent sized audience complete with a very inviting mosh pit. I was really shocked and super-happy that someone had the guts to do this. Rules are made so you can dream up things no one thought of making a rule about, and that includes playing a metal show in the parking lot of a large music venue. I’m going to end this with a question: Does anyone know who these dudes were so I can at least like them on Facebook? (Update: That band was Tower Guard)
My Fake Slayer Set List:
Kerry king killed Fred Durst
More fuckin firrreeeeeee!
I died and went to hell
Reign in blood…fuck poser nation
I died and went to hell
I died and went to hell
I died and went to hell
I died and went to hell
I died and got a 666 #
I danced in my dreams in hell
And the angel of death showed up
Fireworks and cattle call
After show parking lot concert ruled
Real Slayer Set List:
01. Repentless
02. Hate Worldwide
03. Jihad
04. Disciple
05. God Send Death
06. War Ensemble
07. When The Stillness Comes
08. Implode
09. Mandatory Suicide
10. Chemical Warfare
11. Ghosts of War
12. Dead Skin Mask
13. Hell Awaits
14. South Of Heaven
15. Raining Blood
16. Angel of Death
Remaining Dates:
6/28 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
6/30 – Auburn, WA (Seattle) @ White River Amphitheater
7/01 – Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheater
7/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Amphitheater
7/04 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/05 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks
7/07 – Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s Council Bluffs
7/08 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/10 – Noblesville, IN (Indianapolis) @ Kilpsch Amphitheater
7/11 – Clarkston, MI (Detroit) @ DTE Energy Amphitheater
7/12 – Tinley Park, IL (Chicago) @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
7/15 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
7/17 – Camden, NJ (Philadelphia) @ Susquehanna Bank Arts Center
7/18 – Burgettstown, PA (Pittsburgh) @ First Niagara Pavilion
7/19 – Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre
7/21 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/22 – Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook (Bank of NH Pavilion)
7/24 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
7/25 – Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
7/26 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach
7/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood
7/31 – San Antonio, TX @ Whitewater Amphitheater
8/01 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/02 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Amphitheater