On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 I
attended the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival at the Aaron’s Amphitheater at
Lakewood in Atlanta. The venue holds a
capacity of 19,000 people and had extended the reach of the festival through
one of the parking lots in order to accommodate the three smaller, label
sponsored stages and the various vendor booths. The fourth and main stage was
located on the Amphitheater’s in house stage. The Mayhem festival caters
towards the hardcore music scene and showcases bands that fall into the alike
derivative genres of heavy metal.
The three smaller stages were basic
rigs, approximately identical in size dimensions, lined side by side on the the
gravel parking lot, each with almost identical lighting and sound instrumentations
and stage design. The stages rotated the performance order so that the crews
had the ability to change equipment. The lighting maps and sound rigs, for the
most part, stayed the same. The lighting maps for each stage were designed with
a minimalistic approach, since the shows were located in an uncovered area in
the middle of a bright, summer day. In all 15 performances held on these
stages, the stage design followed the traditional pattern of the drummer
positioned in the center of the stage and raised on a platform and the
remaining members of the band downstage, spaced in front of the drummer.
Each band had their respective logo
backdrops (which hung upstage) and smaller, side banners hung consecutively
down stage to create the wings of the stage. Colors within the banners, set
pieces, band logos, the musicians’ equipment, and wardrobes did not stray from
the basic yet various combinations of black, red, grey, and white. Majority of
the bands were adorned in the fashion attire associated with the rebellious
rock n’ roll culture, such as clothes with worn holes and cut off sleeves and
an assortment of body modifications, like tattoos and piercings and gauges.
I cannot say that the majority
performances were memorable as a result of production, because the production
design was basic and unsatisfying as a member of the audience. However, I can
say that the minimalistic approach is noteworthy since the design allowed for
the rapid rotation of performances and provided a memorable variety of music. The
only band among the associated performers with an obviously unique costume and
stage design was Mushroomhead, a gore and mask themed metal band that has built
their brand and stage performance around the periodically changing, detailed
costuming. The band covered the top of the drums with paint, another regular
performance element used by the band, which splattered all over the performers
and stage during the set. For the most part, the overall design of each
performance was memorable due to the familiarity of the genre’s predictable
delivery and, was lack-luster due to the overall similarity.
There were four bands on the main
stage, first Trivium, next Miss May I, then Korn, followed by Avenged
Sevenfold. The performance elements of
both Miss May I and Trivium mirrored the basic design of the majority of the
pervious bands with the simplistic stage design and similar wardrobes. The Korn
brand has developed a wardrobe and overall design over the past 21 years that
was incorporated in this particular performance. Their stage used a
minimalistic approach, contrary to previous performances I have seen, and
consisted of their signature, gaudy and embellished metal microphone stands and
2 rectangular led screens positioned proportionally on stage left and right that
looped colorful, geometric patters synched with the audio.
The most memorable, design
intensive, and expensive performance was presented by Avenged Sevenfold. A huge
curtain was drawn over the stage in order to conceal the construction of the
set, then pulled back to reveal the final creation when the performance
started. The stage was transformed into a skeleton themed dungeon with three
giant archways upstage and led screens inside each archway gave an appearance
of scenery (like walking skeletons and close ups of the band members) behind
the archways; a giant skeleton king sat upon a throne of stone and bone and
held a giant bone scepter as it slowly and periodically turned it’s head; a
grand staircase extended downstage from the king’s throne and the musicians
were at the bottom. Tattered red curtains hung in front of the archways’
pillars and on the edge of the stage wings. The entire performance incorporated pyrotechnics that shot fireballs
into the air in front of the skeleton king, spanning the length of the archways,
and streams of fire diagonally from the left and right fly lofts, all in synch
with the music. My observations of the lighting, pyrotechnics, stage, and sound
designs indicated to me that the production budget was extensive and allowed
for a visually vivid and unique performance that embodied heavy metal.
