Today was supposed to be the day that the lineup for the fourth incarnation of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival was announced. Instead, visitors to the fest’s site now see an announcement saying the lineup will be unveiled on Monday. That’s curious timing considering that Blabbermouth posted what they said were 12 of the 13 acts playing yesterday, which the rest of the internet posted as gospel. That means one of several things:
1. One act isn’t finalized and they’re holding up the whole process.
If that’s the case, this is pretty underwhelming. With the exception of a surprise or two (Machine Head!), rumors of this lineup have been floating around since the beginning of the year. If it turns out that legal wrangling is the only reason the announcement was pushed back, here’s hoping that the 13th act is either a huge band, an amazing reunion, or something else out of left field that will get people talking.
2. The lineup will be somewhat different than the one listed.
If that’s the case, then they’re probably letting the uproar (oh wait, that’s a different tour) die down about the leaked lineup before lifting the veil on Mayhem 2K11 2.0. Some bands have already announced that they’d be playing, but there’s plenty of bands out there that appear to have their schedule open, and we’ve had fun guessing who it might be.
Other than that, it’s a little surprising they didn’t just stick with today’s date and tease fans by stating that the final band would be announced Monday. I mean, the tour dates were unveiled last year, and regardless of the (rumored) somewhat mainstream main stage headliners, people are excited about the tour. With the underwhelming announcement of the one (so far) Big 4 show and no Ozzfest announcement yet, this still looks like the big touring metal festival to beat. Regardless, we’re going to take the high road and not post any more conjecture until the actual lineup is announced on Monday.
