The First Niagara Pavilion – which is located in Burgettstown, PA., a city that’s about 40 minutes away from Pittsburgh – was the place to be at on July 26, as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival was in town. The festival was entirely outdoors, and it was the perfect day for it. Doors opened at 1, with the first band beginning its set just a few minutes later. The venue was packed with metalheads from all over; I ran into a few people who traveled several hours to come to Mayhem Fest. Some of my favourite performances included Miss May I, Mushroomhead, Veil of Maya, Upon A Burning Body, Suicide Silence and Avenged Sevenfold; however, the latter set was cut short due to a strong thunderstorm that came while the band was playing. I was bummed, but for the few songs Avenged Sevenfold did perform, it was one hell of a show. The stage had a massive amount of props, like a whole skull throne type of thing and a fire bar that stretched across the whole stage and let out bursts of flames during the set. I highly recommend going to this festival next year – no matter what the lineup is – because you will have a blast. The environment was fast paced the whole time, as bands were always playing or signing, and some were seen walking around. There were also professional dirt bike riders hitting jumps all day. I was able to photograph most of the bands playing, except for the main stage bands, but I had an awesome time shooting the festival. Check out some photos below!
Links: King 810 – Darkest Hour – Islander – Texas Hippie Coalition – Veil of Maya – Wretched – Mushroomhead – Upon A Burning Body – Miss May I – Emmure – Suicide Silence – Body Count – Cannibal Corpse
