10.26.2008

Mayhem in Tinley Park

Hannah is good friends with Sarah who dates Brent. He plays guitar in a band called Mastodon. They're all friends from Atlanta. When they came to Tinley Park's amphitheater just outside of Chicago this past August, we made the short trek out there to see them perform as part of ROCKSTAR ™ Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2008. Other acts on the bill included Slipknot, Disturbed, and a bunch of other metal band who performed in between main stage acts on both the Jaegermeister Stage and the Hot Topic Stage in the parking lot. There were also shows every hour by the Metal Mulisha, a group of freestyle motocross athletes who jumped over tour buses and drove around the inside of globe shaped cages.

We got a little lost on the way out there (damn 90/94 split!) but after a detour though Indiana and an emotionally taxing search for the band's tourbus, we were ready to enjoy the day.

Here's Mastodon performing. I'm not generally a fan of metal, but I've always had a soft spot for them and seeing their show won me over.


Wandering around backstage I found Dragonforce's cargo truck.





and Slipknot's road cases...


After Mastodon's set we had dinner and a drink and headed over to the ROCKSTAR™ signing area to watch the band sign autographs. It was, without a doubt, the most entertaining part of the day for me. People-watching was one of things I looked forward to most about this day, and what better way to partake in this hobby than to have the people pass by single-file after they've poured their hearts out to their band and had their various articles signed.


The sun was setting and shining directly into our eyes.


Hannah decided to get in on the fun and had her friend Brent sign her rack. It says Brent Hinds. ROCKSTAR indeed.


This family was at the end of the line and it was a pretty adorable moment. The two kids were extremely excited to meet Mastodon and the parents were very nice.


I go to way too many concerts and I wasn't even at this event for the music, so it was great to be reminded how unbelievably great a concert and a meeting with your gods can be for most people. Suddenly the sea of sponsors and targeted marketing didn't bother me so much.



For some reason we all piled onto this thing only to ride about 30 feet over to the tour bus after their signing.





Backstage with Dragonforce. Here's a fresh injury on the drummer's hand. Like just about everyone I met that day, they were very fun and cool.


Their set times and press schedule for the day...


We ended the night having drinks by the bus. Brent and Sarah are practicing some stretches if I remember correctly.


A word of caution to would-be bus-poopers...


All in all, it was a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday. I probably should have seen a bit more music, but I've already seen Dragonforce, Disturbed simply sucks I think, and Slipknot would have been a sight to behold I'm sure except that it's impossible to get on stage when they're playing. More importantly, we were being entertained by Brent. He is unbelievably funny and extremely cool. I now have a significant non-sexual crush on him. Apparently he's super crazy and will beat your ass if you pour a beer on him (fair enough, I say), but he did keep this hat handy.



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Here's a video of Mastodon live somewhere else...





And this is Dragonforce. Mind-blowing (and sort of hilarious)....


1 comments:

Shannon Darling Dearest said...

awww, I miss metal shows! SLAYERRRRRRRRRRRRR