“Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival”
Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria, Trivium, Body Count, Cannibal Corpse, Mushroomhead, Suicide Silence, Miss May I, Emmure, Veil of Maya, Upon a Burning Body, Texas Hippie Coalition, Darkest Hour, Ill Nino, Wretched, Islander, King 810, Erimha
Date: Saturday, August 3rd 2014
Venue: Toyota Pavilion, Scranton, PA
Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The “Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival” one of the summers most anticipated traveling heavy metal festivals pulled in to the quiet hills of Scranton, PA on August 3rd and completely turned the tables upside down. This summer the festival featured 19 bands spread over 4 stages. Sporting one of the tours biggest main stage line ups to date the tour once again proved why they are the premier package for heavy metal in the summer time.
Though it would be several hours before the main stage festivities engulfed the remote Toyota Pavilion quickly became a 
bevy of excitement as fans packed the side stage areas to check out several up and coming bands along with an impressive slew of veteran acts. The Victory Records stage was home to some of the most brutal ear splitting music of the day as bands like Ill Nino and Emmure pulverized the crowd’s senses with their brief yet no holds barred approach. Directly to the left of the Victory stage was the Cold Cock Whiskey stage which sported a lineup featuring Suicide Silence, Miss May I and the always entertaining Mushroomhead that evoked a huge response from their chaotic stage show. The masked 9 piece band made several trips over the security barricade which only added to excitement of the bands set which also featured water filled drums and an inflatable killer whale!
Further down the festival grounds was the Head bang for the Highway/Sumerian Records stage which played host to impressive sets by Upon a Burning Body and Veil of Maya before being dominated by the one and only Body Count featuring Ice-T. Ice and his crew dominated the stage with their unique blend of punk/metal/hip hop that had fans from all ages on their feet with their 
fists in the air.
As night slowly descended on the venue the festivities shifted to the main stage which was instantly ignited by the sounds of Trivium. Front man Matt Heafy commanded the audience’s attention as they barreled through their 7 song set which included the popular “Anthem (We Are The Fire). Next up was UK import Asking Alexandria who received heavy applause from the crowd however did little to impress this concert goer. I’m not sure if it was singer Danny Worsnops incoherent rambling or just his lack luster attitude that made the bands set painful to endure. Quite possibly it was both.
Korn would take the stage next complete with lighted floor and day glow colors adorning the sparse stage set up. The band went through hit after hit and never sounded better. It’s great to see guitarist Brian “Head” Welch back in the fold permanently as it just never seemed right during his time away from the band. The night set was closed out by the band member’s children taking the stage to add a little extra fun to the group’s signature song “Blind” which was immediately concluded by an onstage wedding proposal between two lucky fans.
Closing out the long day of music was Avenged Sevenfold who impressive stage setup consisted of a large skeleton on top
of a burning throne which peered out at the audience with an evil grin. The band performed a variety of songs from its catalog including several songs off their latest album “Hail to the King”. Though the band sounded great their performances were overshadowed by their smug facial expressions and lack of interaction with the crowd. Only ever so often did it appear as though the band was having somewhat of a good time. After the brief “leave the stage so people can cheer” moment the band returned for two more songs. The cartoonish “A Little Piece of Heaven” blasted through the mountainous hills before the band brought the night to a close with the fan favorite “Unholy Confessions”.
All in all a long day of music was absorbed by my ears and body.This year’s Mayhem Festival certainly lived up to my expectations and it is was very apparent that the festival shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon leaving me to only dream of what Kevin Lyman and company have in store for next summer.
Trivium Set List:
1.) Black
2.) Built to Fall
3.) Through Blood and Dirt and Bone
4.) Strife
5.) Dying In Your Arms
6.) Anthem (We Are The Fire)
7.) In Waves
Asking Alexandria Set List:
1.) Don’t Pray For Me
2.) Run Free
3.) To The Stage
4.) The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)
5.) Moving On
6.) Killing You
7.) The Death of Me
Korn Set List:
1.) Falling Away From Me
2.) Twist
3.) Got the Life
4.) Did My Time
5.) Spike in My Veins
6.) Hater
7.) Shoots and Ladders
8.) Coming Undone
9.) Here to Stay
10.) Never Never
11.) Freak on a Leash
12.) Blind
Avenged Sevenfold Set List:
1.) Shepherd of Fire
2.) Nightmare
3.) Bat Country
4.) Hail to the King
5.) Almost Easy
6.) Buried Alive
7.) So Far Away
8.) Afterlife
9.) The Means War
10.) A Little Piece of Heaven
11.) Unholy Confessions