Mayhem Festival has recently wrapped up and cofounder John Reese has declared that the recent run was the last, in light of poor attendance and badmouthing from headliner Slayer.
"Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2015 comes to an end," he wrote on Facebook. "All I know is we have all tried our damned hardest to make Mayhem a home for artists, a platform for bands to increase their fan base and a place where people feel welcomed."
The biggest issue, of course, has been a lack of ticket sales. The festival had seen lower attendance at just about every venue and one person had the explanation: Slayer's outspoken leader/guitarist, Kerry King. He gave several loud comments to publications during the tour, accusing promoters for the show of cheeping out on the quality of acts and the lack of acts.
"Do I know this tour wasn't booked correctly? Absolutely I know this tour wasn't booked correctly," he said, commenting that he wouldn't pay for a ticket. "Gary Holt made the comment that usually there's the main stage, a second stage, a third stage, and then that piece-of-sh*t record stage. Now what they're calling a second stage is at best a fourth stage and they're wondering why people aren't showing up. I think they waited too long and think all the talent that could have been on this took gigs in Europe."
The lineup featured Slayer and King Diamond as headliners, with Hellyeah, The Devil Wears Prada and Whitechapel among openers. Kevin Lyman, the other organizer, did the reverse and blamed the acts at the top (HINT HINT SLAYER).
"The bands at the top all demand a certain level of fee to be on tour. Unlike punk rock, metal never knows how to take a step back to move the whole scene forward," he said. "Yeah, we had to condense it. The expenses of putting on those shows had gotten high, so we had to push it all into the concourses. They don't want to build a fence outside (for other stages) anymore. Those things cost money."
Looks like metal fans will have to settle for Warped Tour next year. Ha, just kidding guys.
