ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2015, Volume 15 | Page 100

Story and Photography by Timothy Schumann
I could think of no better way to celebrate the 4th of July than covering the ROCK STAR ENERGY DRINK
MAYHEM FESTIVAL at the ISLETA AMPHITHEATRE in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Needless to say, it was
one hell of a show! I was fortunate to be invited by El Paso's own ANDROMEDA THEORY--who were selected
as the COLD COCK HERBAL WHISKEY winners to open the entire show on the VICTORY RECORDS stage. So,
after the invite, I did reach out to the “powers that be” and was granted credentials to cover the entire
festival for ION Indie Magazine…and I couldn't have been happier!
Well, as you can imagine, New Mexico in July is extremely hot—and so were the 14 bands that played! 10
appeared on the Victory Records stage and 4 on the Main Stage. However, due to the over-lapping set times,
logistically, I was not able to shoot the last two groups on the Victory stage. There just wasn’t enough time
to run back and forth between stages…and “3 songs, no flash” at the Main Stage takes precedence.
Bands I shot on the Victory Stage were as follows: ANDROMEDA THEORY, CODE ORANGE, SHATTERED SUN,
SWORN IN, JUNGLE ROT, THY ART IS MURDER, WHITECHAPEL and SISTER SIN. Appearing on the Main Stage
were: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, HELLYEAH, KING DIAMOND and SLAYER.
As expected, Albuquerque turned out in droves--close to almost 20.000 people. I really do love covering
shows of this caliber…top drawer all the way! This was the 7th stop for "Mayhem" on a 6 week tour--just
one of the many summer festivals making their way across the U.S.
In closing, it was a great show attended by an outrageous crowd full of crazies (including myself). So if you're
looking for a full day of good times and solid Metal music, the Mayhem Festival is the way to go!