I realize that I haven't done much since joining this fan community, so I thought I'd talk about my day at the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. First of all, my throat is still sore (3 days later), because I spend 9 hours listening to bands that kept saying "I can't hear you!" Eventually, there's a reason for that: there's nothing left to give!

Anyway, after the obvious choices (Slipknot and Disturbed), my favorite band that day was easily Five Finger Death Punch. This was probably because of their presentation: they had a guitar player in a kung fu shirt and dreads, and another guitarist with the longest chinstrap beard I have ever seen. Their intro was an epic choir with a build up of heavy guitars. And when the lead singer took the stage last with brass nucks attached to his mic, the crowd heard Leonidus from 300 say "This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die!" And I thought to myself, if that's not metal, I don't know what is!

36 Crazyfists was another great band, but it seemed odd that they were opening for newer bands. I also liked Underoath, but I hated that they kept spitting on the crowd. I was disappointed by Walls of Jericho, but at least my brother and I were by the Metal Mullisha's ramp 'cause they were pullin' off some awesome stunts! Their MC was standing on the recieving ramp calling out all their tricks, and they did tail whips mere inches from his head!

What was really amazing about Slipknot's performance was that that lead singer's dad was in the crowd for the first time. From what I understand, Corey Taylor was adopted, and didn't meet his biological father until about a year or two ago. I was honored to share that special night with them. Even though Slipknot only played one new song, I was glad it was "Psychosocial", because it's an awesome track. However, I was disappointed that they didn't play "Wait and Bleed" or "Spit it Out". They could have been saving it for the encore, but it never happened because no one seemed to want to stay after they finished.

There are three things about the show I regret: not seeing all the shirts before buying one, skipping Machine Head to see Dragonforce (although Dragonforce's intro was pretty funny), and buying lawn tickets when I could have easily afforded seats.

Can't wait 'till next year.