Is Mayhem Festival Plotting a Comeback?


Typically we try to stay away from rumor mill material with Ghost Cult, as we like to leave that up to our peers who trade your trust for clickbait daily. On rare occasions, we will share a story that is developing that would be of great interest to fans if it comes to fruition and will let you know up front if we only have some of the facts. Such is the case with John Reece, co-founder of the now-defunct Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. Reece posted last night on social media to the Mayhem Festival account, posing the question: should the fest should make a comeback? Reece who also used to run the Taste of Chaos tour with his then partner Kevin Lyman (also of Warped Tour) have been tight-lipped since the farewell messages at the end of the 2015 run of dates that ended the run of eight years straight starting in 2008. As of now, there is no pending announcement or further information we have to indicate the fest is coming back, but we’d love to see it! Once it went dark some of the bands that would typically play the fest went over to play Warped, which is also no longer a touring fest. Even as a destination fest (the current trend), we feel Mayhem would make a huge comeback. Both Reece and Lyman are incredible entrepreneurs with Reece involved with fests like Back To The Beach and the new Real Street Fest, and Lyman still running Warped and FEND, so there is no doubt they can make this happen and bring it back. Mayhemfest, as it was known, was a strictly Rock and Metal fest that was an answer to Ozzfest in America, after that event went on hiatus. The fest boasted lineups that included Slipknot, Korn, Disturbed, Slayer, King Diamond, Marilyn Manson, Lamb of God, Five Finger Death Punch, Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Hatebreed, All That Remains, Testament, Godsmack, Megadeth, Anthrax, Motörhead, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Trivium and more!

Check out Ghost Cult’s past coverage of Mayhem Fest