Mayhem Festival Announces Return for 2020
Mayhem Fest will return in 2020 following a five-year hiatus. The Rockstar Energy Drink-backed touring festival announced its revival earlier today (Dec. 2) with an Instagram post of Rocky Balboa.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Mayhem was the biggest rock and metal fest in the U.S. Bands such as Slipknot, Korn, Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold headlined Mayhem tours in the past, bringing hoards of metalheads to amphitheaters and arenas around North America.
Despite boasting Slayer and King Diamond on the festival’s 2015 run, attendance was extremely low. An interview with co-founder and Warped tour guru Kevin Lyman didn’t help the issue, as he called metal “gray, bald and fat,” claiming the metal community was unable to take a step back to bring the entire scene forward.
“That’s how punk rock was. That’s how we nurtured punk rock. Bad Religion would take a little less than they could on their own to bring the whole scene forward, so we could make sure we had a good (touring) package around them,” Lyman told the Detroit Free Press. “Metal doesn’t seem to have that concern, never has, never has since I was working in the clubs in the ’80s. It’s always about a me, me, me thing.” Lyman later apologized and walked his statement back.
The rock and metal touring industry is about to experience another boom, however, as reunions from Rage Against the Machine, My Chemical Romance, Motley Crue and more will bring legions of fans to large arenas, while Metallica will be performing two-set festival slots in 2020 as Guns N’ Roses continue their wildly successful reunion tour.
“Don’t call it a comeback,” the official Mayhem Instagram account posted with a #mayhem2020 hashtag:
The lineup for Mayhem 2020 has not yet been revealed, but stay tuned for the news as it breaks.
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