Mayhem Festival Comeback Pushed Back to 2021 Due to Coronavirus


In a story Ghost Cult broke several months ago, Mayhem Fest co-founders Kevin Lyman and John Reece had been in talks about bringing the fest back and confirmed by Lyman on social media. However, now due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, those plans are on hold until 2021. No further details had been shared yet about a new version of Mayhem Fest, but the rumor of the Megadeth/Lamb of God Tour being the headliners was debunked by Lyman and the bands. Reece even polled his fans to see if they wanted it back AFTER our news story broke. The final Mayhemfest wrapped in 2015 with Slayer and King Diamond co-headlining. Lyman’s Warped Tour celebrated 25 years last summer with a final few all-day festival dates, but not a cross country tour. Reece and Lyman were also responsible for The Uproar Festival Tour and A Taste of Chaos Tour as well. Perhaps Mayhem Festival will return as an all-dayer or an all-weekend destination fest like Lollapalooza did. The traveling summer-time metal festival was the metal answer to Warped Tour, also co-founded by Kevin Lyman and John Reece and saw Slipknot, Slayer, System of a Down, King Diamond, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, Mastodon were among the many headliners over the years. Continue reading


Megadeth and Lamb Of God Rumored to Headline the Comeback of Mayhem Festival


In a story that Ghost Cult first broke the news globally on last spring, Mayhem Festival is plotting a comeback for 2020. According to a report by Blabbermouth.net, Megadeth and Lamb Of God are rumored to be co-headlining the fests return this year. As of now, there is no confirmation of this, but each band was a former Mayhemfest participant with Megadeth headlining in 2011 and Lamb of God appearing in 2010. The traveling summer-time metal festival was the metal answer to Warped Tour, also co-founded by Kevin Lyman and John Reece and saw Slipknot, Slayer, System of a Down, King Diamond, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, Mastodon were among the many headliners over the years. The fest shut down following the low-attended 2015 fest with Slayer and King Diamond topping the bill. Continue reading


Dumb and Dumbest Episode #283: Jared Christianson of Arkaik on Tech Death Marketing!


The first step to mastering marketing supremacy for your band is to actually invest the time to educate yourself to you up to date on the most cutting edge strategies and tools needed to succeed. Dumb and Dumbest #283 is streaming now and it’s an interview with Jared Christianson of Arkaik on Tech-Death Marketing! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading


Dumb and Dumbest Episode #282: Experiments In Twitter Engagement


With all of the constant changes in social media, it’s a good idea for you to also change up your strategies and techniques from time to time to see what works. Dumb and Dumbest #282 is streaming now and it’s all about Experiments In Twitter Engagement! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading


Dumb and Dumbest #Episode 280: Engagement and You


One of the things you want to do on social media to boost band is to try and drive engagement at scale. It’s not easy, but in the long run, it helps establish yourself in your audiences’ mind. Dumb and Dumbest #280 is streaming now and it’s about Engagement and You! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading


Dumb and Dumbest Episode #279: Why Festivals Fail


Continuing our theme of music festivals, we examine festival culture and why some touring festivals such as Warped Tour and Knotfest have been mega-successful, why some get to make a comeback such as Mayhem Festival will in 2020, and Metallica’s Orion Festival missed the mark. Dumb and Dumbest #279 is streaming now and it’s about Why Festivals Fail! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading


Mayhem Festival Teases a Comeback in 2020


In a new post to social media today Mayhem Festival has teased a comeback in 2020. “Don’t call it a comeback.” reads the official Instagram page of Mayhem Fest, with the hashtag #mayhemfest2020 according to a report by Metal Injection. In a story Ghost Cult broke several months ago, Mayhem Fest co-founders Kevin Lyman and John Reece had been in talks about bringing the fest back. Reece even polled his fans to see if they wanted it back AFTER our news story broke. The final Mayhemfest wrapped in 2015 with Slayer and King Diamond co-headlining. Lyman’s Warped Tour celebrated 25 years this past summer with a final few all-day festival dates, but not a cross country tour. Perhaps Mayhem Festival will return as an all-dayer or an all-weekend destination fest like Lollapalooza did.Continue reading


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!

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