For the past few years, the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival has made an announcement about their lineup. Actually, they’ve made an announcement that they’re making an announcement about their lineup. The problem is that by the time the official announcement has been made, the lineup has already been leaked, making the actual unveiling of it anticlimactic. That happened again this year, and earlier today, the lineup that we’ve known was happening for almost a month has been revealed. Now we know the official dates, however. Kicking off on June 26th, the 26-date tour will continue through the beginning of August, with tickets going on sale this Friday (17).
As for the lineup, it’s pretty much what’s been reported before. The one-two combo of Slayer and King Diamond will keep old school metal fans pretty happy. It looks like Sumerian decided not to pony up the cash to have their own stage this time, as Victory is the only band to have a stage, with Sister Sin, Jungle Rot, Shattered Sun, Feed Her to the Sharks and Kissing Candice appearing on the fest. It’s also kind of funny/ironic from a name standpoint to see Hellyeah and The Devil Wears Prada next to each other on the lineup.
As to how the tour is going to do, it’s questionable. Aside from the two headliners, it’s not like any of these bands would be able to sell out arenas on their own. In fact, Slayer’s last tour with Gojira found them playing mid-sized venues. King Diamond’s return last year sold out New York and Los Angeles, but the last time King played NYC before his hiatus, he was playing the 1,200-capacity BB Kings. Also, in our area, there are four dates within a three hour drive of each other (Camden, Holmdel, Wantagh, Hartford), which might be oversaturating the market. Mayhem seems to know this, as they have an “early bird special” in which you can get general admission tickets for only $19.99, fees included. That 72-hour deal is probably going to sell a lot of tickets, and deservedly so. Here are the dates, with more information here.
6/26 San Diego, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheater
6/27 San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
6/28 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
6/30 Auburn, WA (Seattle) @ White River Amphitheater
7/01 Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheater
7/03 Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Amphitheater
7/04 Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
7/05 Denver, CO @ Red Rocks
7/07 Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah’s Council Bluffs
7/08 Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/10 Noblesville, IN (Indianapolis) @ Kilpsch Amphitheater
7/11 Clarkston, MI (Detroit) @ DTE Energy Amphitheater
7/12 Tinley Park, IL (Chicago) @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
7/15 Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
7/17 Camden, NJ (Philadelphia) @ Susquehanna Bank Arts Center
7/18 Burgettstown, PA (Pittsburgh) @ First Niagara Pavilion
7/19 Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre
7/21 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/22 Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook (Bank of NH Pavilion)
7/24 Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
7/25 Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
7/26 Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach
7/29 Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood
7/31 San Antonio, TX @ Whitewater Amphitheater
8/01 Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/02 Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Amphitheater
