Hello everyone! It's been since the beginning of June since I've posted a blog entry. Things are going well for me. The last concert that I went to was Alice In Chains this past May.
The next concert is Mayhem Fest this Friday at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. Basically, Mayhem Fest is a touring festival of hard rock and metal bands that has been occurring the past few years. It makes stops at many amphitheaters, including the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ, the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, PA, and the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. As of right now, I am hearing that it might rain on Friday. This is what I am hearing from the mainstream weather sources. However, some of the independent weather blogs that I feel 100% able to put faith in are saying that the rain may hold off until 4 PM or later Friday afternoon. This would be perfect if that occurred, or if it didn't rain at all, because it's around 5 or 6 PM that the outdoor part of the show moves to the main stage, and lucky for me, I always get under cover seats at the Camden venue. I never liked lawn seats at any venue. The main reason as to why I am looking forward to this year's Mayhem, more so than the past years, is the band lineup. I went to Mayhem Fest the 2 years prior to this year's, and although I enjoyed most of the bands at those ones, there's something special about this year's lineup. There's a few old-school bands that I will enjoy. The whole lineup consists of Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Body Count, Suicide Silence, Miss May I, Mushroomhead, Emmure, Texas Hippie Coalition, Ill Nino, and several other acts as well.
I've seen Avenged Sevenfold once, and they put on a good show when I saw them last. I saw them headline Uproar Festival in 2011. Their stage setup and setlists are always decent. I love the fact that their setlist usually changes each show, so no point in guessing. It's better when bands are more original like that, as music should be a form of expression, and expression is meant to be original, not planned.
I've seen Korn twice, and they are one of the best live acts I've seen out of all the shows I've been to. I checked out setlist.fm recently, and Korn varied their setlist up since the last time I saw them, which was twice in 2013. Musically, they are legit, and I think their current lineup is their best lineup yet. The band members of Korn completely make sense to me. They seem like laid back and decent guys who play some decent heavy music.
I saw Asking Alexandria at Mayhem Fest 2012. I think their most recent album is their best release yet. They have a sound that is more mature now than their previous releases, and they look a lot older now. I like all of their albums though, but my favorite is their newest one.
Trivium is a decent live act. I saw them open up for Volbeat in May, and they are another decent one. Their most recent release, Vengeance Falls should win some type of award for being a great album. It's probably my #1 album in the past 2 years. From start to finish, each song is catchy and has a complete rock out mentality.
I've never seen Cannibal Corpse, Body Count, Suicide Silence, Miss May I, Mushroomhead, Texas Hippie Coalition, and Ill Nino. I did see Emmure at last year's Mayhem in Scranton, though. Emmure was good. They mix a tad bit of nu metal with the deathcore metal genre. I bought their most recent release, and I've listened to it from start to finish several times already, and it's a good rocker. It's an album that allows me to stay focused on things, simply due to its heaviness and precise aspects of the sound. I'm considering buying more of their albums that were released prior to the new one I bought about a month or two ago at Best Buy.
I listened to Cannibal Corpse a great deal in college, and I used to crank their stuff in the dorm room for a few long seconds just to see how people would react, and unfortunately I had to lower the music after a few seconds because I lived in my college's 24-hour quiet dorm.
Body Count should be interesting. If I had to choose several rappers that I like, I would have to say DMX and Ice-T. DMX is a rapper that has nothing to do with this year's Mayhem Fest that I am able to listen to. He's a hardcore rapper whose music is humorous, but decent, just because it's heavy like hard rock and metal, but is hip-hop. But anyways, Ice-T is the lead vocalist of one of this year's bands, Body Count. Body Count's been around since around the early 90's, and they are notorious in the fact that their biggest song involves the negative mention of our dedicated community protectors and law enforcers. That's the only thing I dislike in Body Count's collection. I have always gotten along with police departments, and I have always respected police departments, and I still have total respect for the police departments. I don't know if the song I'm referring to is meant to be a joke or not, and I've always hoped it was a bad joke. Anyways, Body Count has decent songs, and are here for us in a world where a lot of happenings signify the figurative end of the world. World isn't ending. It ended many years ago. However, there is still music that shows that the world in a way hasn't ended as well. I recommend picking up their newest album. They are making a comeback, and I think they will be on the music scene again. I might be wrong, but I have trouble seeing Ice-T going back to writing hip-hop albums. He's a decent rapper, but I feel that he is more of a heavy metal vocalist. Plus he's my favorite actor on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I might even wear my Law and Order: Special Victims Unit t-shirt to Friday's show just for irony.
I've never seen Suicide Silence, but I've heard them a little bit on Pandora. The new singer is a good replacement. It's unfortunate that Mitch Lucker passed, but I think they can still be Suicide Silence with Eddie Hermida. Looking forward to them.
I haven't heard much of Miss May I, with the exception of YouTube videos. They are a metalcore band that should be fun.
Mushroomhead's a true favorite of mine. They used to have feuds with Slipknot, all of which I get the feeling were staged just to make everybody think they were being serious when in reality they were just clowning around. I've seen online interviews of them, and they seem like decent guys. I'd love to meet them and hang out for a bit if I ever got the opportunity. They've been around a long time as well. This is one of the bands I am literally psyched for this Friday.
Texas Hippie Coalition is a hard rock/metal band from the Southern United States, and I recommend anybody listening to them. I bought their most recent album, and it's been an album I've already listened to multiple times. Their videos are good too. Texas Hippie Coalition to me gives today's world hope, especially in a world that in many ways is corrupt.
And lastly, Ill Nino is a band I've listened to since I was in college. I've seen sources say that they are from New Jersey. I think they are awesome. My favorite song by them is This Is War. They probably won't do many covers when they play, but if you like the band Smashing Pumpkins, I recommend checking out Ill Nino's cover of Bullet With Butterfly Wings. It's decent!
All in all, the concert should be interesting this Friday. I have good faith that the rain will hold off until Trivium opens up the main stage inside. Later people! Til next time! :)
