Tag Archives: Miss May I

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Kicks Off This Weekend

Posted on by

therockstarenergydrink_mayhemfestival-2014

 

The wait is almost over! The most fun tour outdoors for the best price this summer on US soil is without a doubt the annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Ghost Cult will be on hand at the kickoff date, this Saturday in San Bernadino, CA. A total of 19 bands will play across 4 stages for the next six weeks, bringing some much needed metal to big cities as well as some places that sometimes don’t get very many shows at all the rest of the year. You may not always like all of the bands playing every year (2012, 2013, and 2009 standout as the best in our collective memory), but they definitely put on a big show that makes people fill the seats, with a little something for everyone year after year.

 

The main-stage this year is co-headlined by Avenged Sevenfold, who along with Metallica, Tool, Rob Zombie, and Slipknot are one of the the few commercially successful bands from the metal and rock world, who not only pack venues; but put on a tremendous live show. Even if you don’t count yourself as a fan of A7X (as their rabid army of fans refer to them) they always produce a spectacle live. The other main stage heavyweight is Korn. Twenty-plus years into their career Korn has returned to form with their last album The Paradigm Shift (Prospect Park/Universal). The album which features the return of co-founder Brian “Head” Welch to the band is about to see a deluxe release with bonus tracks and videos.

 

Metalcore pin updarlings Asking Alexandria is another band on the main stage that you could say are very polarizing to some. People either love them a ton or spend a lot of time making memes in tribute to their rage at them. The band will certain bring their own fans to the show and it will be interesting to see all the little tribes of metalheads vying for supremacy in the pit. Rounding out the main-stage lineup are neo-thrash favorites Trivium who have been on the big stage before at this festival, and are certainly worthy of their spot.

 

 

Heading up the Coldcock American Herbal Whiskey stage are the venerable death metal gods Cannibal Corpse. Of course they stick out like a sore thumb on this bill, but believe it, they will bring out the brutal, uncompromising musical wizardry as only they can. When they were in a similar slot in 2009, they crushed big time! Suicide Silence, armed with their new frontman Eddie Hermida (ex-All Shall Perish) are poised to be the breakout band from this tour. They are already riding high with their new album You Can’t Stop Me (Nuclear Blast) dropping the second week of the tour, so expect a deathcore party! Miss May I is also on a roll with their recent chart success and a lot of big tours under their belts. Mushroomhead makes an appearance too and should be more than a curiosity on the side stage with their costumes and effects that usually do well in darkened clubs at night. The rockers in Texas Hippie Coalition and Michigan bruisers in King 810 round out the second stage.

 

Headbang for the Highway/Sumerian tops the banner on the third stage with possibly the most anticipated band of the festival, Body Count featuring rapper/actor/celebrity Ice-T. On the strength of their new hit album Manslaughter (Sumerian), and a history of hits it should be a fun ride. Darkest Hour is another band that is a can’t fail proposition live. Other Sumerian acts such as Veil of Maya and the tasteless jokers in Upon A Burning Body round out that stage, with the local contest winners leading off in every city. Please come early for these bands, since without your locals, there are no new bands for tomorrow’s festival tours.

 

Bringing up the rear is the solid Victory Records stage, with Emmure missing the first few dates and then joining up in Auburn, Washington. This weekend, Ill Nino will carry the flag high. This should be a big comeback for these guys who have some solid albums; and their catchy, Latin-themed nu-metal, might inspire some mid-day sing-a-longs. Newer Victory bands like Wretched, Islander and Erimha round out that line-up.

 

Put on your sun block, stay hydrated and buy your tickets now!

 

 

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on Facebook

Buy Tickets Here!

 

 

 


Download Festival Preview

Posted on by

 

DLD090514

 

With summer right around the corner, it’s time to get psyched for festival season. In the UK, there is no event bigger or more venerable than Download. As the feisty offspring of the legendary Monsters of Rock concerts at Castle Donnington in  Donnington Park that lived in the imagination of rock and metal fans the world over for two decades, Download is as value packed as ever with bands. This years lineup shows a willingness not to be intimidated or outshine by the competition of other big festivals, the UK or elsewhere in Europe.

 

Held over three days, 13-15 of June at Donnington Park on five stages daily, the 2014 lineup is a bold one that promises something for everyone to enjoy. Bands of note for Friday include the much talked about headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Opeth, Anathema, Rob Zombie, Within Temptation, Black Label Society, Quicksand, Skindred, Miss May I, Huntress, Bloody Hammers as well as Bad Religion and Offspring.

 

Saturday blends the catchy, more mainstream fair with the best of modern underground metal. Linkin Park is playing all of their Hybrid Theory album and for fans of a certain age, that will sure bring back a few things. Among the main bands that our readers would most be interested in Killswitch Engage, Fozzy and Dying Fetus play along with Bring Me the Horizon and others. I kind of feel bad for everyone that has to follow Dying Fetus actually, so #WhyNotDyingFetus indeed. The other big band of import this day is Behemoth, who is coming of a sizzling run of shows in the UK and the USA recently. Other big bands include the reactivated American Headcharge, The Black Dahlia Murder, Orange Goblin, Monster Magnet, Battlecross, Anathema doing a special second unplugged set, Skid Row, Chevelle, and Sikth. Also for the more rock motivated Twister Sister, Status Quo and Ginger Wildhearts solo sets are are worth seeing.

 

On the final day Download has brought out the big guns, quite literally in Aerosmith. While their recent music is nothing to write home about, they always step up big live and play all of their hits brilliantly. Other worthy bands on Sunday include Alter Bridge, The Dillinger Escape Plan and their insane stage antics, Trivium, Volbeat, Philip Anselmo and the Illegals, Sabaton, Sepultura, Suicide Silence, Red Dragon Cartel, Avatar, Thy Art Is Murder, Kill Devil Hill, Monuments, Polar and Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, QOTSA, Dwarves) solo acoustic.

download

 

Get tickets to download now!

 

Download Festival on Facebook

 

 

 


Killswitch Engage – Trivium: Live at 02 Academy, Manchester UK

Posted on by

Trivium Matt Heafy 2Traffic is an inconvenient thing when you’re doing anything but when you’ve got somewhere to be, it always seems to take the biscuit that little bit more. Unfortunately, this was the situation that occurred as this guy made their way to the Manchester Academy and as such, the first and second acts of the night, Battlecross and Miss May I, were not seen through these writers’ eyes. Luckily a friend with usually excellent taste was on hand to witness the Ohioan five-piece and her review, so elegantly put, was “f-ing awesome,” so lets go with that. Trivium, however, was thankfully a different story and one that starts with yours truly actually getting to observe some live music in action. Having witnessed these boys before in a fashion that brought words such as lacklustre and tedious to mind, it was with surprising but blisteringly excellent style that the Floridian metallers went about their set, showing how far they’ve come in recent years.

As for the rest of the room’s reactions, they too seemed to be more than happy with the performance in front of them, ‘Down From The Sky,’ ‘A Gun To The Head Of Trepidation’ and ‘Shogun’ being of particular vocal highlights amongst the mostly blurry-eyed fans. The music however wasn’t the only thing we were treated too. Smoke bursts and lighting effects to rival the Olympics brought another entertaining if not blinding dimension to their show, an element that always appears to come to the stage when this four-piece is in town. Ending the show with the an excellent rendition of ‘Pull Harder on the Strings Of Your Martyr,’ trivium left the stage having shot many a proverbial bullet to any trepidations that I or others may have had concerning their live prowess.

For the main act, or seemingly most popular act in the Academy anyway, it was their turn to bring the noise and this time the room tinged with so KSE Jesse Leech 1much drunken and sober (ahem) enthusiasm that it even the most cynical of spectators would have been hard pushed not to be swept up in it. Coming out to ‘Eye Of The Tiger,’ Killswitch Engage (KSE) leapt on to the stage, their leader Jesse Leech brimming with confidence and front man swagger. Launching into ‘A Bid Farewell,’ the crowd wasted no time joining in with the verbal festivities, word for word being sung back to the quintet. As for the makers of the music, chugging beer on stage, encouraging female viewers to expose their breasts when on friends shoulders and generally having fun were just a few things in the KSE repertoire, showing to those who could see the love they have for what they do.

Musically it was as tight and as brilliant as we’ve come to expect from KSE, but it was lead man Jesse who, for me anyway, really stole the show. Screaming or singing, Jesse’s vocal performance was excellent no matter which way he was vocalizing it, and having being disappointed by the Howard Jones departure before, it’s safe to say I am no longer (we still love you Howard!). A wonderful set and fantastic show by the KSE boys, the Massachusetts five-piece brought tracks such as ‘The End Of Heartache,’ ‘My Last Serenade’ and closing number ‘My Curse’ to a new level of awesome, one that they managed to bring throughout and one they will undoubtedly continue to do as long as their metal-core hearts beat on.

 

[slideshow_deploy id=’5156′]

Trivium on Facebook

Killswitch Engage on Facebook

 

Words: Emma Quinlan

Photos: Emma Stone


Killswitch Engage – Darkest Hour – Miss May I: Live @ The Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach NH

Posted on by

Ajax 6The Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, NH, is typically a very unlikely place to see a decent metal show. Sure, it happens once in a blue moon, but the acts that boast best-of-the-best status are more inclined to roll through other New England Venues, such as the Worcester Palladium and the Webster Theater. Enter Killswitch Engage playing this venue: ripping through NH with a sold-out show and forcing metalheads of all kinds to trek into the sun for the first time in months. A seemingly terrible idea for most of us, but to see KSE, it was well worth it (despite the terrible sunburn and sandy vagina).Continue reading →