Mayhem Fest 2012

Mayhem Fest 2012 will kick off its 26 date trek across the U.S. beginning on June 30th at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California.

The main stage for this summer's Festival will feature Slipknot, Slayer and a major special guest which will be announced on March 5th. The fourth slot on the main stage will feature a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria

In 2012 the tour has upgraded the production on the festival stage and this year the Jagermeister Stage will feature a special headline set by Anthrax.

Here are all the dates:

Sat Jun 30 San Manuel Amphitheater CA
Sun Jul 01 Shoreline Amphitheatre CA
Tue Jul 03 White River Amphitheatre WA
Wed Jul 04 Idaho Center Amphitheatre ID
Fri Jul 06 Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion AZ
Sat Jul 07 Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents The Pavilion NM
Sun Jul 08 Comfort Dental Amphitheatre CO
Tue Jul 10 Gexa Energy Pavilion TX
Wed Jul 11 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion TX
Fri Jul 13 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre FL
Sat Jul 14 Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood GA
Sun Jul 15 Klipsch Music Center IN
Wed Jul 18 Zoo Amphitheatre OK
Fri Jul 20 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater MO
Sat Jul 21 First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre IL
Sun Jul 22 DTE Energy Music Theatre MI
Tue Jul 24 Riverbend Music Center OH
Wed Jul 25 Blossom Music Center OH
Fri Jul 27 Susquehanna Bank Center NJ
Sat Jul 28 First Niagara Pavilion PA
Sun Jul 29 Jiffy Lube Live VA
Tue Jul 31 Saratoga Performing Arts Center NY
Wed Aug 01 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center NY
Fri Aug 03 Comcast Center MA
Sat Aug 04 Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain PA
Sun Aug 05 Comcast Theatre CT

Member Review: Slipknot

Member No Pretense wrote:

When Slipknot played last night, we got a view of a demented circus in which the animals are all rabid and the clowns wear make-up made from crushed bone dust and human blood.

With their 1999 self-titled debut, the nine Halloween-masked members of Slipknot enjoyed almost immediate success, riding the cresting popularity of the freshly minted genre of ‘nu-metal’. Of course, this brought along an inevitable backlash from some metalheads, who viewed nu-metal’s mix of alternative music with funk basslines, hip hop elements, and the canned aggression of X-Games ad campaigns as overly commercial. Add the fact that Slipknot’s popularity appeared nearly instantaneous, seemingly arriving without being earned through years of releasing forgotten split 7-inch records with bands like Mgla, and you have a tough sell to some purists.

But truth be told, the Iowa-based band owes less to hip-hop than they do to alternative metal. Essentially, they’re a very angry Tool without the math, or a less lethargic Acid Bath. Creating what could be described as high-octane grunge for kids with behavioural problems, their angst-ridden lyrics continue to strike a chord with disillusioned teens, who feed off the band’s nihilism and near boundless aggression.

That aggression was out in full force last night, as the band took the stage to a nearly packed house, dressed like nightmarish, serial killing GI Joes, and basked in the crowd's adulation.

Though Slipknot can sound generic on recordings, their stage show is something to behold. Not only are songs like Eyeless and the profanity-laced Get This absolutely crushing in a live setting, but the band is a fountain of bizarre, chaotic energy. With nine members, including a DJ, sampler, and two custom percussionists on top of super-drummer Joey Jordison, not everyone is constantly occupied with their instrument. Yet there were no idle moments, with members constantly roaming the stage, thrashing wildly or engaging in elaborate Punch and Judy style pantomime.

Between songs, singer Corey Taylor worked the crowd into a frenzy that matched his own spastic convulsions. But despite his manic energy, Taylor managed to keep his vocals tightly controlled, alternating between furious screaming and melodic passages in tracks like Wait and Bleed, Duality, or Before I Forget.

Equally ferocious were guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson, who thrashed their way through a down-tuned crunch of sound, though some of the solos drifted away from Root towards the end of the band’s nearly 2-hour set.

Surprisingly, Slipknot didn’t seem particularly interested in playing tracks off their new record, though they did make the token effort to play singles Sulfer, Psychosocial and the morose Dead Memories. Instead, the focus was on their earlier, heavier work, and some of the more experimental tracks from 2004's Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses) and 2001’s Iowa. The chiming guitar intro of Vermillion, for example, brought to mind Twilight Zone music cues. And the marching band rhythms of The Blister Exists were aggressively martial, particularly in light of the group’s current uniform of tight jeans, tattered military-style jackets, and Converse sneakers, which gave them the appearance of a homeless hipster army.

Exhaustingly intense, all the sound and fury finally built to a grand crescendo of chaos. By the time final song Spit it Out was played, Jordison was drumming at a 90 degree angle on his movable drum riser. The percussionists were throwing beer kegs at the sampler, and DJ Sid Wilson was essentially swinging from the rafters. Quite a circus and certainly memorable as the whole quaking mess was viewed from backstage.

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Spring Tours Roll Out

While the weather may not yet be Spring-like in your part of the country, things are heating up here in the offices of BackstagePassDirect.

The phones are ringing off the hook with promoters calling in their tour schedules for the coming months. It's going to be a great concert season in 2009 with performances by:

• 3 Doors Down
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Blue October
• Bruce Springsteen
• Cruefest
• Disturbed
• Dropkick Murphys
• Jagermeister Music Tour
• Kings of Leon
• Metallica
• Motley Crue
• Nickelback
• No Doubt
• Phish
• Slipknot
• SnoCore Tour
• Taste of Chaos
• The Dead
• The Eagles
• The Killers
• The Pretenders

and many, many other great bands.

If you never seen a live show from backstage before, if you've never hung out with a so-called "rock star", this is your chance. BackstagePassDirect has the passes you want to have. Our members see great concerts from the back of some of the finest venues in the country.

You can too; join today.