Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien, New York 7-29-14

The Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival is a yearly staple in many metal fans concert diet. Many of the acts tend to return year after year, while others only make the roster for short stints, or skip a year now and again. Some acts have started as openers and made their way up to the headlining slot. With four solid acts taking the mainstage this year; Trivium, Asking Alexandria, Korn, and Avenged Sevenfold, one could argue that any one of these are worthy of headlining.

Trivium started things off on the mainstage, and true to form, pulled all the fans in from the merchandise/concession area where everyone had gathered after the smaller stages had finished up. Even those that were out in the parking lot tailgating began filtering in when they took the stage. Playing a short set of seven songs, the metal veterans more than amply warmed the crowd up for what was to come.

Following Trivium was the British metal act Asking Alexandria. Having the same amount of time as Trivium did, they wasted no time continuing to feed the fans the high energy metal they craved. For those in attendance that had never seen them perform, they left a great impression, and from the chatter I overheard, gained many fans.

With nightfall approaching, Korn took to the mainstage. I have never heard the crowd at Darien Lake PAC erupt so loudly. With a lengthier set than those they followed, Korn had the venue on the edge of hysteria. Playing many of their greatest hits throughout the years, they have never sounded better. Frontman Jonathan Davis continued to pump the crowd up and the band fed off of the energy. I’m not sure if the return of guitarist Brian Welch is what refueled the resurgence of Korn, but they are without a doubt completely on top of their game. After throwing the proverbial fuel on the fire, Korn had the fans at a fever pitch, screaming for more, and the table was set for Avenged Sevenfold.

When A7X took the stage, the energy that had built throughout the evening came to a deafening head. The erruption of energy that Korn had manifested was outdone by the frantic mass. Opening their set with “Shepherd of Fire,” which for the first few seconds you couldn’t hear, the crowd jumped right in singing along with A7X. Frontman M. Shadows took a moment to address the crowd and challenge the audience to create even more noise. He said, “Our loudest crowd to date has been Montreal. You don’t want to get beat by Canadians, do you?” After the challenge was issued, they went right into “Nightmare.” I thought there was no way that the crowd could get any louder. I was mistaken.

As A7X played through their set, I was impressed with how well they commanded the crowd. M. Shadows has become a master of squeezing every bit of energy the crowd has to offer, even those who appeared to just be there to watch the show ended up getting sucked in and participating.

As they finished up their main set, the lights dimmed, and some started to exit. As the “A7X” chants started, they began to return, and join in. As the lights came back up and the pyrotechnics illuminated the venue, A7X returned to play a two song encore, right up to what M. Shadows called, with a chuckle, “a pretty early curfew.”

This year’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival surpassed my expectations. The four (4) mainstage acts were incredible and well worth the price of admission individually. If you add in the resurgence of Korn, and the maturity of A7X, this is definitely a Mayhem you don’t want to miss.

Avenged Sevenfold setlist:

Shepherd of Fire
Nightmare
Bat Country
Hail to The King
Almost Easy
Buried Alive
So Far Away
Afterlife
This Means War

Encore:

A Little Piece of Heaven
Unholy Confessions

Korn setlist:

Falling Away From Me
Twist
Got the Life
Did My Time
Spike in My Veins
Hater
Shoots and Ladders
Coming Undone
Here to Stay
Never Never
Freak on a Leash
Blind