WWW.METALSETLISTS.COM - Mayhem Festival -- Mansfield, MA -- July 22nd, 2011

Mayhem Festival 2011
7/22/11 Mansfield MA

I’ll start this review saying that this is the first time I’ve seen all the bands on the tour, so this is really just my initial live impression of each band. It might be more boring for people who have already seen them.
I arrived at the venue around 12:30 with my friend Tyler, and hung out in the shade until they let in people with laminates around 1:30.

DEAD SEASON (Jager opener) - 3/10
For the first half of this band, I was waiting at the other side of the lot for the merch tent to open so I could grab a shirt, so I couldn’t really hear them. After I grabbed a shirt I headed to the Rockstar tent to wait to meet Machine Head, and the tent was right in front of the stage and I could hear/see them perfectly. They’re just a really mediocre metalcore band who isn’t going to get any more popular than they are now. They sounded somewhat solid except for sloppy guitar playing and derpy lyrics.
Setlist: N/A

STRAIGHT LINE STITCH - 2/10
Yet again, I could hear/see this band perfectly from the Rockstar tent, and I wish I couldn’t. Their vocalist sounds like a dying cat and I couldn’t find any redeeming quality in their performance. I give them at least some points because they can at least play their instruments somewhat well.
Setlist: N/A

RED FANG - 8/10
By now, I was getting pissed off because Machine Head was supposed to sign at 2:15 and it was now 2:30. I could hear Red Fang from the tent perfectly but could only see their guitarist. They sounded fantastic. Machine Head eventually showed up at the tent around 2:45 without Robb Flynn, because he was apparently missing. It sort of sucked because I planned on getting a picture with Robb but I ended uo having a pretty sweet but short conversation with Phil Demmel. Wires started playing while I was in the signing and had ended by the time I got up to Red Fang, so I was sad face. The crowd was pretty sparse all day because of the heat and the somewhat unpopular lineup, so I legitimately walked right up to the rail halfway through Red Fang. A moshpit formed behind me during Prehistoric Dog that I jumped into. I then listened to most of the song and headed over to where ASP was going to start.
Setlist:
Into The Eye
Sharks
Wires
Malverde
Good to Die
Prehistoric Dog

ALL SHALL PERISH - 7/10
They were mildly disappointing. They had a lot of energy, but pretty much everything sounded the same and I went to go get water and get rail for KOS after 3 songs. Wage Slaves was beautiful :D
Setlist:
Wage Slaves
Gagged,Bound,Shelved, and Forgotten
There Is No Buisness To Be Done On A Dead Planet....
Procession Of Ashes
In This Life Of Pain
There Is Nothing Left
Eradication

KINGDOM OF SORROW- 9/10
This was a great performance from a great band. I was on rail. The sound cut out halfway through Free the Fallen but got fixed quickly. Good show.
Behind The Blackest Tears
Free The Fallen
Enlightened To Extinction
Begging For The Truth
Monuments Of Ash
Led In To Demise
Lead The Ghost Astray

SUICIDE SILENCE - 8/10
They put on an extremely energetic performance and were a lot of fun, but Mitch’s vocals were WAY too high and it felt like it was going to rupture my left eardum or something, because my head was tilted to the right since I was on the rail to the left of the band. I ended up having to put my finger in my left ear for the first 2 songs until the sound guys fixed the obvious problem. I caught their setlist from a roadie while waiting for MH to come on. My left ear still is ringing, 18 hours later.
Setlist:
Wake Up
Unanswered
You Only Live Once
Fuck Everything
Disengage
Slaves to Substance
No Pity for A Coward

MACHINE HEAD - 10/10
Machine Head was worth every drop of anticipation I put into the band. I was on the rail, nearly in the center, and it was the best show I’ve seen yet. I made eye contact with Robb Flynn for about 10 seconds during the first half of Halo, and he pointed at me. It was goddamn epic. Out of the side stage bands, they had the biggest crowd watching and headbanging. I have whiplash right now because of them.
Setlist:
Imperium
Beautiful Mourning
Locust
Halo

Trivium – 6/10
I skipped In Flames to recuperate from Machine Head. Trivium started after half an hour and were nothing special. They continually bitched about the fact that most people were sitting and I think they cut their set short because of it. I’m glad they did because I was hungry and needed French fries.
Setlist:
In Waves
A Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation
Like Light To Flies
Built to Fall
Down From The Sky
Throes of Perdition

Megadeth – 9.5/10
Beautiful show. Definitely an impressive first Megadeth concert. Dave’s voice sounded pretty good (not perfect but not bad by any means). The show was straightforward but impressive. Even the songs I’m not a big fan of like Headcrusher and Wake Up Dead sounded great live.
Setlist:
Trust
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Public Enemy No 1
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars...The Punishment Due

Godsmack – 8/10
Good show. Sully Erna sort of sounded like he had a cold though; his voice was higher pitched than usual. Not extremely noticeable though. It was a good time seeing them. Their setlist was the usual.

Disturbed – 7/10
Solid show from a meh band. It was entertaining to hear some old favorites and to watch the screen and pyro. My show had none of the sound problems that Seb was talking about and Draiman sounded fine. Setlist was the usual. I ended up leaving at the beginning of Down with the Sickness and surprisingly beating 99% of traffic.