Summer music fests heat up the Valley
Michelle Chance
This summer, the Valley again welcomed two major music festivals to the desert: Warped Tour and Mayhem Festival.
On June 18, Mesa’s Quail Run Park hosted the 2014 Vans Warped Tour with such bands as Yellowcard, The Maine, We The Kings, For All Those Sleeping, and Breathe Carolina.
Fans gathered around nine separate stages to watch their favorite musical acts perform in temperatures near 100 degrees.
The chaotic atmosphere at Warped was highlighted by the many separate stages and set times which were closely scheduled on top of each other.
Warped Tour attendees in Arizona were disappointed that metalcore band, Of Mice & Men, were not able to join the first half of Warped Tour because the band was playing in European festivals at the time.
On July 11, almost one month after Warped, Mayhem Festival was held at Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix.
Unlike Warped Tour which featured a wider range of genres, Mayhem Festival featured a majority of metal sets.
Mushroomhead, Korn, Trivium, Asking Alexandria, and headliners Avenged Sevenfold gigged in front of massive, yet laid-back crowds.
Avenged Sevenfold put on a powerful performance, and exceptional stage production with pyrotechnics and a giant skeleton, draped across a skull-laden throne.
Although the summer festival season is coming to an end, Phoenix will host more national festivals this fall, including the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival and Summer Ends Music Festival in September.
