Miss May I – Talks Mayhem vs Warped


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The members of Miss May I have spent this past summer promoting their upcoming album Deathless (Rise Records) on the Vans Warped Tour, giving the crowd a taste of new music. While the previous summer had also taken part on the Rockstar Mayhem Energy Drink Festival to promote their previous album Rise of the Lion, both frontman Levi Benton and bassist Ryan Neff both shared their experiences on both tours and how they each view the differences between the audiences who are seeing their band.

“I think age is obviously one piece, but when you divide the crowd by age, the genre that they like changes a lot as well,” says Neff, explaining the differences between the two festival demographics. “You won’t find DJ stuff at Mayhem, where as here they’re younger kids. There’s a lot more people discovering new music at Warped Tour than at Mayhem.

If you show up as an Avenged Sevenfold fan and with an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, you leave with a couple more on your shoulder and you might pick up a few new bands. But here, it’s almost guaranteed you’re going to learn about five new bands before you leave.”

There’s so many more bands. There’s five times more bands. It’s crazy,” added Benton, about the Warped Tour experience.

While being on the Warped Tour, they have easily become the modern metal act playing amongst the roster of acts ranging from singer-songwriter acts to metalcore to electronic acts to hip hop (and even some pop punk, believe it or not).

That’s the best part about this tour, especially from our point of view watching,” said Benton. “You can see people watching a ska band or a punk band from afar and see them walk by and sort of stop and listen. That’s awesome. We get a lot of people that aren’t metal fans and they leave Warped Tour as a metal fan. That’s one of the best feelings ever. I remember when I was a metal fan and I got into metal bands and was like ‘that’s cool we could be the band for you.’

Mayhem’s not like that. Everyone comes there and it’s like ‘I’m metal and I’m ready for the pit.’

Neff explained that despite it being Miss May I’s third time on this tour, age turnover with the constant changes within the scene helps attract new fans who are unfamiliar with them. He has found that the open mindedness of the attendees on this tour has worked in their favor into winning over new fans.

With it being there’s a turnover in the fan base at this tour, it’s always the same age kids. It’s obvious you don’t stay the same age forever so for it to be 14 or 15 years old kids to be at this tour every year, you’ve got to have a complete new group of kids every year. So a band like us who haven’t done this tour in three years, there’s a good chance that a third or more of the people who buy tickets today have never heard of our band. That’s why it’s such a beneficial tour for bands to hop on because with the turnover and the new group of fans every year, there are so many people who are going to hear about you for the first time, just because you are on the tour.

By Rei Nishimoto


Rise of the Deathless- Miss May I


miss may i

Miss May I has been known to be one of the hardest working artists on the heavy music scene today and rarely leaves much downtime in between recordings. They spent the summer on the Unicorn Main Stage on the Vans Warped Tour, in support of their forthcoming album Deathless (out August 7, 2015 via Rise Records).

It’s important to have something new and exciting to do these summer fests. We dropped [the last] record a little bit before the summer tour last year and it worked really well for us, so we pushed real hard to write a really good one for this year. Luckily we got it done just in time,” explained bassist Ryan Neff, about the quick turnaround on the new album.

We didn’t have any breaks really. We just slept after it was done for a month straight,” said vocalist Levi Benton.

It was three or four weeks off right before this [Warped Tour], but we’ve pretty much been out solid, between touring and going into the studio to do this record, since January,” added Neff.

The band had debuted a new song within their set list “I.H.E.,” giving fans a taste of what was coming from Miss May I.

On Deathless, the band reunited with producer Joey Sturgis, who worked on their Rise Records debut – 2010’s Monument. While they worked with someone familiar, the subject themes on the album took on a heavier yet darker overtone.

It’s mainly written about the struggles we went through as a band. I know we’re young but we’ve been around for a long time. It’s our fifth album,” explained Benton.

We had a rough year behind the scenes. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever gone into a recording session with a…I don’t want to say a negative attitude because we were obviously very excited about doing a record…the meanings behind the lyrics that Levi would write and then I would write with him a little bit. There’s a lot more aggression on this record than we’ve ever had before,” added Neff.

Miss May I at Warped Tour 2015 (via Facebook)

Miss May I at Warped Tour 2015 (via Facebook)

Following a year’s worth of solid touring behind their last album, 2014’s Year of the Lion, they began working on new material immediately following the conclusion of their album’s touring cycle. They began writing new material and got the creative juices flowing.

We came into the studio with over 20 songs on the last record, and then we slim it down to ten. Our guitar players (Justin Aufdemkampe, B.J. Stead) are our main writers. They’re on their computers making riffs all day. So we’re always constantly writing.

We wrote songs right when we left the studio. We left the studio, went home for a couple of weeks and there were already a couple of songs. They’re like ‘ah…we’ve got some ideas,’ “ explained Benton.

It’s a lot different than we used to do it, where we went and got started until that time to record everything. We’d try to have everything done, or at try to start it so the ideas are forming and we can starting working on stuff a little bit earlier now,” added Neff.

Miss May I Deathless Sessions (via Facebook)

Miss May I Deathless Sessions (via Facebook)

They spoke about reuniting with Sturgis, and how working with him differed from working with two different producers on the past couple of albums.

He definitely brought the heavy back out of us, like the first couple of records, which was fun. We haven’t worked with him in a while so it felt like high school again. It was nice to jump in there,” explained Benton, about the working environment with Sturgis.

Joey Sturgis Producing Miss May I (via Facebook)

Joey Sturgis Producing Miss May I (via Facebook)

We did one with Machine [2011’s At Heart] and one with Terry Date [2014’s Rise of the Lion]. We bounced around for a couple of records, and the thing about those two records was, with those two particular fellows, we didn’t know them before we started the recording. So you kind of have a two week period where you’re getting to know each other and try to figure out how things work, and with Joey it was Day One and we were already friends, ready to go and the working atmosphere was really great for us,” said Neff.

We brought a whole new sound too. We’re the band that hates releasing the same thing twice, so it’s nice to jump back to Joey because it’s completely different from the last record,” added Benton, about the musical direction on Deathless and working on it with Sturgis.

Miss May I Warped Tour 2015 Crowd

Miss May I Warped Tour 2015 Crowd

As they are now reaching five albums with the release of Deathless, Neff admits building a set list covering a cross section of their catalog has become a lot tougher to please both themselves and their fans watching their shows.

It’s such a pain in the ass! It is the longest discussion that we have as a group. We all have the same goal – make as many people who are watching our band as happy as we can, and everyone has a different opinion about what particular songs to use. For us, it all still comes down to we only get 30 minutes to play and we’ve got five records with at least 30 minutes of material on it. So we can play one fifth of what we’ve created in our career. Maybe a little bit less. It’s a lot more difficult than it used to be.

I remember when we did this tour the first time when we had two records obviously we would play these six or seven songs. Everyone would know these six or seven songs. It was easy. It was a lot more difficult this time.

While pleasing both themselves and their fans on what songs to play, they have occasionally thrown in Miss May I’s versions of deep cuts, which is met with mixed results.

I remember we tried in the winter with August Burns Red, we threw in this song ‘Tides’ off of our first record. It’s a diehard fan from the early days would know that song, but we played that and it was a whole lot of arms crossed like ‘what the hell is this?’ We’re on stage having a great time, like ‘I remember this song!’ It’s a lot harder to do those to go over real well. Like I said, the whole point of the show is to make the people buying the tickets happy. Sometimes what we feel like playing is not exactly what they want to hear.

By Rei Nishimoto


Vans Warped Tour 2015 – Pomona Fairgrounds and Seaside Park at Ventura Fairgrounds


Warped-2015-lineup

Another year has arrived for the Vans Warped Tour full of anticipation and excitement to hit the summertime across North America. This year’s edition maintains their tradition of youth oriented angst filled music (or whatever the kids call it these days) and carving a path for the next batch of rising stars on the scene. Thanks to photographer Kevin Estrada for shooting these two dates of Warped tour for Ghost Cult!

The main stages (Shark and Unicorn) showcased the main attractions on the tour, ranging from the pop punk acts (The Wonder Years) to the screamo/emo (Pierce The Veil, Blessthefall) to the crossover half melodic and half aggro (We Came As Romans) to the harder sounding (August Burns Red) managed to keep the kids bouncing around in the crowd and rarely laying low.

August Burns Red,   photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

August Burns Red, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Tour veterans Motion City Soundtrack made their brief California run appearance, showing the crowd how things are done on this tour. Metro Station (featuring Trace Cyrus, son of country performer Billy Ray Cyrus), melodic punk act Man Overboard, and hardcore outfit Fit For A King all set the pace for the day with their respective sounds while keeping the crowd engaged.

Atilla, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Atilla, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The main acts on these stages won over the crowd throughout the day. Memphis May Fire got the crowd into a high with their half heavy yet melodic styling that struck a nerve with them; Attila, led by their enigmatic frontman Chris “Fronz” Fronzak and his guitar crunching yet Eninem-esque “meth” suit bouncing along with the crowd; Black Veil Brides and their legions of die hard fan base singing along to every word; and Miss May I and their modern metallic sound that got the crowd worked up later on in the day.

The Amity Affliction, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The Amity Affliction, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

While the main stage had their moments going on, there were a number of side stage acts making noise of their own. The Monster Stage housed their own brand of chaos throughout the day, as Senses Fail, Being As An Ocean, Beartooth, Mallory Knox and The Amity Affliction all got the pit crew throwing down alongside each band and rarely letting down. The harder driving acts such as hardcore outfit Hundredth had the pit kids going in effect, while veteran Canadian post hardcore act Silverstein had their mix of longtime fans as well as newbies who both showed their appreciation for the band. Australian metallic hardcore outfit I Killed The Prom Queen appeared to be bass player less, but that didn’t stop them from bringing out their At The Gates meets hardcore stomp to these fans. British metalcore act While She Sleeps briefly were down a singer (ie visa problems kept frontman Lawrence Taylor making a late start on the tour) but friends pitched in to lend a helping hand and fans didn’t even notice. Plus Escape The Fate closed out the evening with their eclectic brand of punk meets screamo meets modern metal that got the late comers their last bit of a sweat.

Neck Deep, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Neck Deep, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

On the other stages, indie hip hop acts MC Lars gave a lesson in nerdcore with rhymes about video games and Game of Thrones (ie his latest single “Dragon Blood), while Kosha Dillz brought out his East Coast blend of Spanish, English and Hebrew rhymes; and electro-DJ-performance duo mystery men Drama Club put on an interesting performance that combined part Blue Man Group-esque percussive moments with part electronica meets EDM moments and spontaneous bursts of energy that kept the interested crowd on its feet.

Pvrvis, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Pvris, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The Journeys Stages found Juliette Sims and Night Riots wowing the crowd with their high energy sets, while hotly tipped electro pop outfit PVRIS became one of the much talked about acts on the tour and their set did not disappoint. Hip hop act Riff Raff put on quite the entertaining show on this stage, with his colorful summertime dress and animated raps to get the crowd bouncing along.

New York alternative rockers The Karma Killers stood out amongst the vast number of acts performing on the Ernie Ball Stage, with their fresh take on classic pop-punk, rock, and alternative rock with an energetic stage show. While they are newly signed to Island/Def Jam and new to the scene, they showed that they could one day end up on one of the larger stages in the new future.

The Acoustic Basement easily became an area largely for shade against the sun, but while most of the acts attracted stragglers throughout the day, Canadian singer-songwriter Saywecanfly and Brian Marquis were two of the acts who attracted a decent sized crowd throughout the day. Saywecanfly attracted a packed tent and entertained the audience with his emotion filled lyrics that got his largely female audience awaiting with anticipation.

Overall, this year’s edition featured a good mix of repeat acts moving up to larger stages, as well as a number of fresh faces to the scene. It is a positive sign to see new acts on the rise at a time when the music industry is struggling to attract new acts to the public. Hopefully someone is paying attention to this tour to see that there is a new generation of artists on the rise.

Set it Off,  photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Set it Off, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

 

 

 

Tat,  photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Tat, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

We Came As Romans,  photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

We Came As Romans, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Miss May I,  photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Miss May I, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

 

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WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KEVIN ESTRADA 


Senses Fail, Miss May I, etc Confirmed For Vans Warped Tour 2015


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The Vans Warped Tour announced eight more artists at the kickoff party at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA this past Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The acts confirmed include:

Senses Fail
Miss May I
H2O (08/07-08/08)
Knuckle Puck
The Bunny The Bear (07/26-08/08)
Kaya Stewart (07/15-08/08)
TAT (06/19-07/01)
Macy Kate (07/02-07/04, 07/06)

They joined previously confirmed acts:

Asking Alexandria
Black Veil Brides
Attila
August Burns Red
Memphis May Fire
We Came As Romans
Blessthefall
Hundredth
I Killed The Prom Queen
’68
Beartooth
Sirens And Sailors (07/14-08/08)
Slaves (07-14-08/08)
The Amity Affliction
Neck Deep
Palisades
Fit For A King
Crossfaith
Rotting Out
Escape The Fate
Being As An Ocean
Silverstein
Mallory Knox
Drama Club
False Puppet (07/23-08/08)
A+ Dropouts (06/19-07/03)
Man Overboard
Citizen
Carousel Kings (07/14-08/08)
Emarosa (06/19-07/12)
New Years Day
Set It Off
Kenneths
MC Lars
The Ascot Royals (07/01-07/08)
Rivers Monroe (07/04-07/21)
Svetlanas (07/29-08/08)
The Karma Killers
Mod Sun
Bebe Rexha
PUP (07/01-07/29)
Youth In Revolt
Juliet Sims
Koo Koo Kanga Roo
Metro Station
Never Shout Never
Night Argent (06/20-06/28, 08/01-08/08)
Riff Raff
Candy Hearts
BoyMeetsWorld
Ho99o9
Major League
Motion City Soundtrack (06/19-06/21)
While She Sleeps
Hands Like Houses
Le Castle Vania
Have Mercy
Our Last Night
ChrisB
PVRIS
Alvarez Kings
Moose Blood
New Beat Fund
Jule Vera
Seaway
This Wild Life
The Dirty Nil
Born Cages
The Wonder Years
Icon For Hire
Baby Baby
Matchbook Romance (06/19-07/11)
The Relapse Symphony (06/19-07/12)
Black Boots
M4Sonic
As It Is
Night Riots
Transit
Beautiful Bodies
Splitbreed
Handguns
Kosha Dillz
Alive Like Me
Family Force 5
Lee Corey Oswald
Trophy Eyes
‘Acoustic Basement Stage‘:
Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties
American Opera
Brian Marquis
Buttons
Grey Gordon
Koji
Meghann Wright
Onward, etc.
PVRIS (dates TBD)
SayWeCanFly
Speak Low If You Speak Love (07/09-07/14)
Transit
‘Comedy Tent‘:
Grant Cotter
Beth Stelling (06/19-06/26)
Chase Bernstein (06/27-07/12)
Dave Ross (07/01-07/12)
Eli Olsberg
Eric Schwartz (07/26-08/08)
Sammy Obeid (06/19-06/28)
Sandy Danto (07/26-08/08)


Attila, Memphis May Fire, Miss May I Rumored For Vans Warped Tour 2015


vans warped tour logo

A recent advertisement from the August 7th Portland, OR stop of the 2015 Vans Warped Tour hinted a few more possible artists who have yet to be announced. Those artists in question include:

Attila
Memphis May Fire
Miss May I
Never Shout Never
Pierce The Veil
We Came As Romans
Beartooth
Senses Fail
Drama Club
False Puppet
Julie Vera
Knuckle Puck
Svetlanas

Prior to this leak, the newest additions include:
Silverstein
Mallory Knox
Man Overboard
Citizen
Carousel Kings (07/14-08/08)

Artists announced to date for the festival include:
Asking Alexandria
Black Veil Brides
Blessthefall
Hundredth
I Killed The Prom Queen
’68
Sirens And Sailors (07/14-08/08)
Slaves (07-14-08/08)
The Amity Affliction
Neck Deep
Palisades
Fit For A King
Crossfaith
Rotting Out
Escape The Fate
Being As An Ocean
Emarosa (06/19-07/12)
New Years Day
Set It Off
Kenneths
MC Lars
The Karma Killers
Mod Sun
Bebe Rexha
PUP (07/01-07/29)
Youth In Revolt
Juliet Sims
Koo Koo Kanga Roo
Metro Station
Night Argent (06/20-06/28, 08/01-08/08)
Riff Raff
Candy Hearts
BoyMeetsWorld
Ho99o9
Major League
Motion City Soundtrack (06/19-06/21)
While She Sleeps
Hands Like Houses
Le Castle Vania
Have Mercy
Our Last Night
ChrisB
PVRIS
Alvarez Kings
Moose Blood
New Beat Fund
Jule Vera
Seaway
This Wild Life
The Dirty Nil
Born Cages
The Wonder Years
Icon For Hire
Baby Baby
Matchbook Romance (06/19-07/11)
The Relapse Symphony (06/19-07/12)
Black Boots
M4Sonic
As It Is
Night Riots
Transit
Beautiful Bodies
Splitbreed
Handguns
Kosha Dillz
Alive Like Me
Family Force 5
Lee Corey Oswald
Trophy Eyes
‘Acoustic Basement Stage‘:
Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties
American Opera
Brian Marquis
Buttons
Grey Gordon
Koji
Meghann Wright
Onward, etc.
PVRIS (dates TBD)
SayWeCanFly
Speak Low If You Speak Love (07/09-07/14)
Transit


Fit For A King Added To August Burns Red, Miss May I, Northlane and Erra North American Tour


fit for a king

Fit For A King will be taking part on The Frozen Flame Tour (Presented By Rockstar Energy Drink) with headliners August Burns Red with Miss May I, Northlane and Erra as support. This announcement comes on the tail of last week’s news that Fit For A King will be appearing on the Monster Stage for the entire Warped Tour in Summer 2015.

Fit For A King on The Frozen Flame Tour
(Presented by Rockstar Energy Drink and also featuring August Burns Red, Miss May I, Northlane and Erra)

Jan 22: Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore MD
Jan 23: Irving Plaza – New York, NY
Jan 24: Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY
Jan 25: House Of Blues – Boston, MA
Jan 27: Imperial De Quebec – Quebec, CAN
Jan 28: Metropolis – Montreal, CAN
Jan 29: Bronson Centre – Ottawa, CAN
Jan 30: Phoenix Theater – Toronto, CAN
Jan 31: London Music Hall – London, CAN
Feb 01: St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
Feb 03: House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH
Feb 04: Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
Feb 05: The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Feb 06: Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN
Feb 07: The Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
Feb 09: Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
Feb 10: Murray Theater – Murray, UT
Feb 12: Starlite Room – Edmonton, CAN
Feb 13: MacEwan Ballroom – Calgary CAN
Feb 14: Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA
Feb 15: Knitting Factory – Boise, ID
Feb 16: The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Feb 17: Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
Feb 19: Ace Of Spades – Sacramento, CA
Feb 20: The Glasshouse – Pomona, CA
Feb 21: House Of Blues – San Diego, CA
Feb 22: Nile Theater – Mesa, AZ
Feb 24: Backstage Live – San Antonio, TX
Feb 25: House Of Blues – Dallas, TX
Feb 26: House Of Blues – Houston, TX
Feb 27: House Of Blues – New Orleans, LA
Feb 28: Diamond Ballroom – Oklahoma City, OK
Mar 02: House Of Blues – Orlando, FL
Mar 03: Revolution Live – Ft Lauderdale, FL
Mar 04: The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Mar 05: Amos Southend – Charlotte, NC
Mar 06: The NorVa – Norfolk, VA
Mar 07: Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
Mar 08: Theater Of The Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA

august burns red miss may i northlane fit for a king erra tour

Fit For A King on Facebook
Fit For A King on Twitter


Writing With New Eyes- Levi Benton of Miss May I


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Ohio metalcore stalwarts Miss May I spent this past summer on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour, and vocalist Levi Benton shared his thoughts on completing Day One at Devore, CA’s San Manuel Amphitheatre.

 

Day one was awesome! We had the prep day yesterday, which was very helpful. We made it on stage. We played all of our songs. The crowd was great. Now we’re winding down doing our press. I’m gonna get some food soon. Overall day was great.”

 

Playing on the Rockstar Mayhem Fest placed Miss May I in front of a varied crowd largely made up of fans of harder and heavier styles of metal. Benton said this was the most metal crowd the band has played in front of.

 

In America, yeah. I really think so which is really cool for us. We’ve done the outdoor festival thing but it’s a lot different to do the outdoor festival thing with this kind of lineup. It’s really exciting and a lot fewer bands so you have a lot more of the crowd funneled in to watch you when you play. [It is] really high exposure for you. The set went over better than we could ever expect today. [It] makes me excited to do this again tomorrow.”

 

During the signing we saw a lot of mix in our fanbase. We really enjoy this tour already. It’s day one and we’re pumped about the rest of it. Beating under the sun or not, it will be a great time.”

miss-may-rise-of-the-lion-20141

They got used to being the heavier band on most bills they previously played on. But having the tables turned became a bit of a challenge they were up for. Regardless, Benton was excited to play for new people who previously had not experienced Miss May I.

 

We feel the same way being the lighter band on a tour like this. We’re used to being the heavier band on a lot of the stuff we do. It was scary but the first day went over very well. I think the touring we’ve been doing the last year has been starting to win the fan base over. I’m looking forward to the rest of Mayhem – converting the metal kids while keeping the scene kids. They’re coming over and hearing about new metal bands and new scene bands. We’re just trying to bridge the gap. We want everybody that’s a fan of metal to enjoy our band. It doesn’t matter to us. We just want you to like our band.”

 

Miss May previously ventured on the Vans Warped Tour and US festivals was nothing new to the band. “These outdoor festivals in America are huge for you. They expose you to so many people every single day and as long as you’re performing well, you’re giving back to your fans, doing your signings, hitting up your merch table and meeting everybody – you’re only going to benefit from the tour.”

 

They are currently touring behind Rise of the Lion, Miss May I’s fourth record overall. Produced by Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera), the songs on this record took a different angle and included their fans for inspiration.

 

We wanted to do a little more of a fan base record where we used topics given to us by fans in letters and by meeting them and behind the scenes stuff by getting to know them,” said Benton. “We took those topics and that allowed us to write the songs from a different perspective instead of being our personal problems. We were writing through the eyes of someone else, which was different for us, but it made it a personal record for our fans.”

 

He shared the band’s writing process behind Rise of the Lion, and how their approach differed from past records.

 

The way we wrote the songs this time was a lot different this time as well. There wasn’t as much of the record written on the computer or demoed out like that. This record we wrote this record in a live group.”

 

We did a live recording of the album before we went in to track it. Every song was written in a tempo that we wanted to play it live, and any part that was overly aggressive and didn’t feel right. Sometimes when you write songs the other way and you go to play them, it doesn’t translate the same way. I think this time writing live as a group this time changed things for us. It definitely changed the tempo of things a bit. We like to do things different each record. We felt the last record was extremely aggressive, so we dialed it back a bit on this one in some ways. Other tracks are more aggressive than anything we’ve done. I think you can expect to hear another drastic change on the next record. For us, you only get so many shots to write a record. We want to do as many of the cool things that we can while we have all of these great fans.”

 

Miss May I has been signed to Rise Records, one of the fastest rising recording labels on the scene today. Benton shared his thoughts of being part of a company who has shaped their careers.

 

We saw friends from our area start on that label and do great things. When we started working with them, we told them we were in it for the long haul. They were in it for the long haul as well. Because of that we had a good relationship. We’re on our fourth record with them with another one coming. We get along with them great. I think that’s the big thing. They trust us. When we get bent out of shape about something, we trust them enough for them to come back to us with a reasoning why we’re [either] doing something or not. Since we trust each other, we could go back and forth and really make a difference when we need to make big decisions. We’re not working against each other, which is an unfortunate thing that happens to a lot of bands out there.”

 

 

Miss May I on Facebook

 

REI NISHIMOTO


Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2014: Live at San Manuel Amphitheatre, Devore CA


therockstarenergydrink_mayhemfestival-2014

 

The annual touring metal festival known as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest returned to the Southern California area and once again gave metal and hard rock fans their fill of 19 bands to rock out to. 

This year’s edition featured main stage acts Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria and Trivium and each giving the reported attendance of 26,000 people a rock show filled with props, fire and a whole lot of loud music.

 

Headliners Avenged Sevenfold brought out a bigger live experience with a full on set with Greco-Roman-esque demons and warrior themed backdrops, often reminding of a cross between Iron Maiden and the 300 movie series, with a slight Metallica-ish metallic feel mixed in.

a7x89

Their set list featured favorites from their current Hail To the King (Warner Bros) release, as well as songs from prior releases, and having the backdrops adjust to each song. Front-man M Shadows, along with the guitar team of Synyster Gates and Zack Vengeance both worked the crowd and entertained them with a classic hard rock show filled with solos and other guitar chops that got the crowd singing along to each tune.

 

Co-headliners Korn returned to the tour with their returning guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, and got the crowd on its feet from the start. The band sounded strong and on fire, nailing every note and giving fans a classic show reminiscent of the older days. Their set list featured older favorites like ‘Got The Life’ and ‘Shoots and Ladders’, as well as current numbers from recent records, and the fans were jumping along like any other Korn show.

korn38

Considering both headliners being relatively from the area (Avenged Sevenfold from Orange County and Korn from Bakersfield via Orange County/Long Beach), both bands’ sets felt like a hometown show with fans representing their hometown heroes. They both waved the flag for rock and metal at one point in time, and showed why their popularity helped keep heavy rock and metal’s exposure public.

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Asking Alexandria and Trivium both held their own with their respective brands of melodic hard rock and metal. Asking Alexandria has slowly crept into the mainstream with their metalcore turned modern hard rock sound, and continues to attract new fans. Trivium with their modern hard rock meets thrash sound got them in front of a larger audience and representing the metallic sounds on the main stage.

 

The two label sponsored stages were Headbang For The Highway/Sumerian Records’ stage featured deathcore heroes Veil of Maya and Upon A Burning Body, metalcore stalwarts Darkest Hour and Body Count. Victory Records’ stage featured Ill Niño, Wretched, Islander, and Erimha.

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Amongst the label sponsored stages, much of the attention went to Body Count’s anticipated return, Darkest Hour and Ill Niño. Body Count’s abbrrievated set featured older favorites, but the fact that Ice T’s animated manner got the crowd into it. While it has been a while since they last performed, it didn’t seem to phase the fans.

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Darkest Hour’s neo-thrash meets metalcore sound stood out amongst the sea of deathcore and neo nu-metal sounds found amongst the stages. Their veteran status shined through and they easily won over the crowd.

 

Ill Niño’s set consisted of largely older tunes from their first two records, but that didn’t seem to bother the crowd. Putting on their heavy groove-tinged Latin metal sound, the younger crowd were jumping along and enjoyed every second of their brief set.

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Coldcock American Herbal Whiskey Stage featured Cannibal Corpse, Suicide Silence, Miss May I, Mushroomhead, Texas Hippie Coalition, and King 810. This stage easily attracted many of the acts the crowds were eager to see, despite the vast range of bands playing on it.

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The two brutal acts – Cannibal Corpse and Suicide Silence – both slayed the crowd with their sheer angst driven assault and did what they do best. The pits opened up and the crowds responded. Miss May I was easily the most melodic band but that didn’t phase the crowd from singing along with them, as well as getting the pits going at the same time. Mushroomhead brought out their animated stage show with their Faith No More meets industrial-esque sound, with updated masks and the crowd jumping along with them. While at times the public believed they fell out of favor with the music scene, apparently today proved that myth wrong.

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WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KALEY NELSON