Mayhem 2013 – Atlanta

My husband and I went to Mayhem at Aaron’s Lakewood Amphitheatre this year, on July 30th. It was a sunny day, hot, not too hot, not too humid, but put it all together and it was too much heat for me. (Lots of other people too.)

Of all the bands outside during the afternoon I wanted to mostly only see Motionless in White. Unfortunately they didn’t play for a LONG time.

I saw some of Huntress. They were OK.

Saw Attika 7, had seen them in Las Vegas, September 2012 as well. Solid and good. Hubby talked to them later and they gave him a photo signed. They didn’t think anyone there had seen them before. But we had, and I had the photo on my phone to prove it. They were a “local” add-on to Rock Vegas in 2012. Making a splash at Mayhem!

We looked at the Merch. Tents and all of that coupled with the heat/humidity, I was fairly a pile of melted I-don’t-know-what by the time MIW came on.

I stood there feeling like I was going to maybe fall or my stomach was going to start flipping around. Neither a good thing in a crowd.

Somehow I held it together and video’d the first song (like it matters much since it’s bouncing up and down and the sound is awful.) I stayed for another one then … goodbye! I wanted to be able to stay, they were really good, but I couldn’t physically stay in the heated up crowd for another second.

A nice feature there was the Merch. Tents. Even bands not performing had tents. Avenged Sevenfold – I really, really like them and love them more now. They had a tent with great AX7 black bandanas for FREE and a card with info about the album releasing and a contest you can enter … nice. The Bandana is 100% Cotton. It’s my favorite purchase from Mayhem. Not really purchased, but great swag, if you want to call it that. Other bands had bandanas for $20 and up. I prefer the AX7 banana at any price.

What to do with a bandana? Lots of things. My favorite: Fold it in half (triangle) Place the flat edge on top of your head, as if the bandana is a hat. Hold each of the side ends down tightly, flip head over and bring those ends to the nape of the neck and tie a knot (cross and tuck, tighten, repeat once more for a firm knot.) If you do that right, all the tension of the flat edge will hold the bandana down and the free end of the triangle is floating down behind your head somewhere. It keeps your hair free of dust and mess. Keeps your hair out of your face. Keeps the sun from heating up your hair so much. Puts a lovely vent under your hair/back of the neck, which keeps you oh so much cooler.

I did that with my AX7 bandana and left it on the rest of the day/night. I do usually have to retie the knot every so often. That’s what happens, no big deal. It’s cotton. I like natural fabrics and work with however they roll.

Finally it was time for our seats. Four bands would end the night: Amon Amarth, Mastadon, Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie

I’ve heard of all the these. I’ve seen Rob Zombie before. I was really looking forward to his show. I have been wanting to see 5FDP so with these two bands at Mayhem it was a definite that we’d go. Mastadon, I knew nothing about. Amon Amarth I knew they were metal and Scandinavian or something, but I knew nothing else.

The stage was set for Amon Amarth. They came out and wow! Good metal. The lyrics, growled out but I LOVED it. I recorded a little of it, took some pictures. They were really cool. I stood up for most of their songs.

Then Mastadon came on. I sat. Turned on my phone and started to play Fieldrunners. My phone was too hot so I shut that down and twiddled my thumbs. I didn’t like Mastadon. Not one bit. I didn’t like how they look, acted, or what they played.

Finally it was time for 5FDP! Wow a great Over & Under It beginning. Fun, awesome band. (lots of people are giving them flack with their last couple of albums, specially this new one. Bah, humbug. I think their music is all great.)

Then the end had come. Rob Zombie show cranks up and yes, that’s him, that’s Rob Zombie and John5 in all their getup and monsters and video, it’s an amazing show! Never truly gets old, changed up but he always has to walk through the crowd as John5 extends a song for him to walk to. New song for their show American Band from their new album. Red, White, and blue. I love the song on the CD, live it was incredible! Another favorite, Living Dead Girl sounded, to me, better than ever.

All in all, a good day, though all afternoon I thought perhaps I’d have to be laid out on a slab. I pulled through, but I had a headache through 5FDP and Rob Zombie, the music kept me up though. 🙂

Depending on who’s at Mayhem next year, we will go and find a venue further north that isn’t so freaking hot! I knew that Mayhem in Atlanta would be problematic. Yes sir, it was. A night concert is OK, it’s the sun beating down with all the daytime heating issues that I fear. I stay in the A/C house most of the day. Only go out for little bits of time during the summer day.

A couple of days after Mayhem I got to Best Buy and bought 5FDP The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 Deluxe Edition (BB Exclusive comes with a T-shirt) The one I got is for a send away t-shirt offer.

I also got the Amon Amarth Deceiver of the Gods box set.

Lastly I got AX7 Waking the Fallen, since I didn’t have it.

I’m glad I waited to get these things, I wouldn’t have gotten them like this from Amazon, or at the festival either.