I’m beginning to notice a trend. Whenever an outdoor music festival comes to the Tampa Bay area, it rains. Call me crazy or a complainer, but Tuesday’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at the 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre only helped reinforce this theory by bringing a bit of nasty weather with it. I will say this, though; the dark clouds that enveloped the fairgrounds almost seemed to serve as an ominous announcement that the horror-filled antics of Rob Zombie and Korn were drawing near. [All photos by Mike Wilson.]
The festival was broken up into two sections: the main amphitheatre stage area and the outdoor stages and festival village. With the steady rain, the grassy field that hosted the outdoor section quickly turned into one big muddy mess. This didn’t seem to deter festival attendees, as they seized the opportunity to do a little mud surfing. Festival sponsors Jagermeister and Silver Star Casting Company hosted the outdoor stages, which featured support acts and a few local bands. Included in this lineup were crowd favorites Norma Jean, In This Moment, 3 Inches of Blood and Hatebreed. Of these bands, In This Moment and Hatebreed turned in the best non-main stage performances of the day. Scheduled performers Shadows Fall and Winds of Plague were a no-show because of tour bus problems in Georgia.
Five Finger Death Punch hit the main stage at approximately 6:30 p.m. with a vengeance and immediately set the bar for the remainder of the evening’s performances. Vocalist Ivan Moody [pictured below] stormed around the stage screaming, spitting and offering more than one intimidating glare. At one point, Moody asked the crowd how many people had bought one of their albums, and then asked how many had downloaded their music illegally. As the audience applauded wildly, Moody said “Fine, then, you motherfuckers owe me. I expect to hear every one of you screaming now!” The audience responded with a deafening roar.
[See the complete photo gallery after the jump.]
