The very first Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival kicked off in Seattle yesterday. It’s put on by the same team that founded some other well-known music festivals like the Vans Warped Tour (AWESOME videos of 2008 Warped Tour here!) & Taste of Chaos Tour so it best be good.

In addition to Slipknot and Disturbed, the main stage features DRAGONFORCE and MASTODON, as well as a JÄGERMEISTER second stage with MACHINE HEAD, AIRBOURNE, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, WALLS OF JERICHO and the JÄGERMEISTER Battle of The Bands Winner. There will also be a HOT TOPIC STAGE featuring UNDEROATH, BLACK TIDE, SUICIDE SILENCE, THE RED CHORD and 36 CRAZYFISTS.

The World’s Greatest Freestyle Motocross team THE METAL MULISHA is also confirmed to perform on all dates.

07/09/2008 Seattle, WA- White River Amphitheatre

07/11/2008 Sacramento, CA- Sleep Train Amphitheatre

07/12/2008 San Francisco, CA- Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View

07/13/2008 San Bernardino, CA- Glen Helen Pavilion

07/15/2008 Fresno, CA- Save Mart Center

07/16/2008 San Diego, CA- Coors Amphitheater

07/18/2008 Phoenix, AZ- Cricket Wireless Pavilion

07/19/2008 Albuquerque, NM- Journal Pavilion

07/20/2008 Denver, CO- Coors Amphitheatre at Fiddler’s Green

07/22/2008 Kansas City, MO- Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

07/23/2008 St. Louis, MO- Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre St. Louis

07/25/2008 Dallas, TX- Smirnoff Music Centre

07/26/2008 San Antonio, TX - Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre

07/27/2008 Houston, TX- Sam Houston Race Park

07/29/2008 Tampa, FL- Ford Amphitheatre

07/30/2008 Miami, FL- Sound Advice Amphitheatre

08/01/2008 Virginia Beach, VA- Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheatre

08/02/2008 Pittsburg, PA- Post-Gazette Pavilion

08/03/2008 Scranton, PA- Toyota Pavilion

08/05/2008 Boston, MA- Tweeter Center for Performing Arts

08/06/2008 Uniondale, NY- Nassau Coliseum

08/08/2008 Toronto, ON- Downsview Park

08/09/2008 Detroit, MI- DTE Energy Music Theater

08/10/2008 Chicago, IL- First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

08/12/2008 Atlanta, GA- Lakewood Amphitheatre

08/13/2008 Indianapolis, IN- Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis

08/15/2008 Camden, NJ- Tweeter Center at the Waterfront

08/16/2008 Hartford, CT- New England Dodge Music Center

08/17/2008 Washington, DC- Nissan Pavilion

08/19/2008 Buffalo, NY- Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

But if you do, at least they’ll dance around in your blood and fuck with your corpse for awhile. At least that’s what seems to be the theme of their new video for “Inside the Fire” which opens with a suicide prevention PSA by frontman David Draiman, but then moves directly to a scene of some broad hanging herself, complete with sound effects. He then takes a minute to kick it with the corpse for awhile, while the rest of his band dances around in the blood, before Draiman himself gives becoming an hero a good college try, being saved at the last second by magically transporting himself into a looney bin. Kind of a fucked up concept but at they’re trying, I guess. I interviewed the band a few years ago and when guitarist Dan Donegan mentioned that the band was seeing “four and five-year old kids singing the lyrics to their songs at the shows” I asked him if he was ever worried that some of their subject matter, such as a video with people killing themselves, might be a little bit much for fans of that age to comprehend and he, needless to say, a little nonchalant:

“Like I said, everybody may have a different point of view, they may get the wrong message. We can’t really do anything about that”

Ha! And our parents thought it was bad when we listened to too much Dr. Dre and started calling each other “niggas” and our classmates “bitches.” Let’s see how kids raised on a steady diet of Disturbed end up during their teen years.

Everyone’s favorite middle-aged dudes in clown masks Slipknot will be raking in the dough this summer as headliners of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour, which will also feature Disturbed, Underoath, Mastodon and a shitload more heavy ass bands, basically picking up where Ozzfest fucked off. The tour is of course yet another brainchild of Warped Tour / Taste of Chaos founder Kevin Lyman, who seems to be pwning the touring festival circuit these days. Dates for the tour are after the jump. Stay tuned to Synthesis for a shitload more coverage of this tour  (more…)