Zombie steals the show at Mayhem Festival

It was mayhem in Oklahoma City Saturday, as thousands braved the triple-digit temperatures for the final show of the 2010 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheater. Shade, ice and bottled water were hot commodities as the diehards that arrived during the heat of the day settled in and rocked out to the likes of Hatebreed, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and In This Moment along with several others. The second stage, perched in the tree line to the right of the massive main stage shut down and the spotlight focused on main stage with Five Finger Death Punch.

Death Punch provided a solid set, including their popular cover of “Bad Company,” as the crowd emerged from the shadows and continued to fill the hillside. Lamb of God took to the stage next and pumped the energy level even higher with a very heavy, impressive set that set off numerous mosh pits and put the crowd’s collective fist in the air, bouncing with the beat. The band was without the services of lead guitarist Mark Morton, who has been seen playing other shows around the globe sporting a Cain’s Ballroom t-shirt.

Lamb Of God photo gallery.

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle

As the sun finally began to set, the crowd reached maximum capacity as stage preparation for Rob Zombie was underway behind a solid black curtain. Moments later the curtain dropped to reveal a massive set, with vats of fire back-lit by a large lcd screen displaying the name Zombie in white. Zombie later emerged from within a dark looking metal figure at center stage clad in a leather jacket standing behind a microphone stand fashioned into a skeleton with six arms reaching upward.

Zombie launched into his first song and from there it was clear that the party was officially underway. He then powered through an unbelievable set that included his hits “Superbeast,” “Scum of the Earth,” “Living Dead Girl,” “Never Gonna Stop,” and “House of 1000 Corpses.” Zombie also included hits “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ‘65” from his days with White Zombie as the giant screens behind the stage and below the drum platform displayed lyrics and scenes from various horror movies and fireballs seemed to reach into the sky.

Taking a break to interact with the crowd before launching into “Sick Bubble-Gum” off of Hellbilly Deluxe 2, Zombie told the crowd that the song was going to hit him in the pocket book. “I was told there would be a two-thousand dollar fine for each curse word,” he said before coaching the crowd to help him sing the corus line. “It’s okay though, I can afford it,” he continued. In the studio version of the song, Zombie drops the F-bomb 18 times. It’s safe to say that he probably racked up about $40,000 in fines during that song alone.

Zombie closed out the show with Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” after mingling through the crowd during an awesome, extended guitar solo by John 5. He answered the crowd’s chant of “Zombie, Zombie, Zombie”, returning to the stage high atop a tall platform wearing a full red cloke-like jacket to sing his wildly popular “Dragula.” 

Rob Zombie photo gallery.

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle

“It will be hard for Korn to top that,” said one observer of Zombie’s hour-long set that mixed the music with the type of theatrics that the majority of rock shows nowadays do not even come close to matching.

Nevertheless, Korn arrived on stage, set to do their best. Frontman Jonathan Davis had a strong stage presence, moving around energetically across the stage that had two nearly full sized oil pumps at either side. Korn kept their faithful fans in the crowd enthralled in the show, and sounded great while doing a good job of interacting with fans up close.

While the diehard Korn fans remained, many others began to find their way towards the exits. It could have been that those leaving were ready to get out of the heat, or maybe they were just there to see Zombie. Only those fans could say for themselves, but it puzzles this reviewer as to why Zombie was not the final act of the night. Either way, it was a great day of music in the city. 

Korn photo gallery.

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle