The Mayhem Fest drama continues.
A quick refresher: after festival promoter Kevin Lyman blamed the lack of attendance at Mayhem Fest on metal being old, gray and fat, you may recall that Kerry King, who happens to be headlining the fest with his band Slayer, call the promoter a douche and then go on to trash the festival lineup and say he wouldn't pay to see it either this year. He also took a dig at the second stage lineup saying "what they’re calling a second stage is at best a fourth stage and they’re wondering why people aren’t showing up."
Well, wouldn't you know it, one of the bands playing said stage… Jungle Rotare none to pleased that the headliner of the festival they are playing is knocking them. Who would've thought such comments might infuriate the people actually working this thing? One of those bands is Jungle Rot and vocalist and guitarist Dave Matrise was asked about King's comments by Live Metal and here's what he thought:
"I'm gonna be truthful — I take it very personal. I'm a longtime Slayer fan, and I hate to say it, but now I'm gonna change my thoughts about Slayer over this. It's because of the simple fact that there's a lot of people, including myself, and a lot of bands here that have a lot of money invested in this tour, and we're trying to make our money back, and we're trying to keep this thing rolling. And here's this guy, and he opens his mouth and sabotages the tour, in my opinion. And then he talks shit about Victory and that's our label as well, and calls it a 'shit stage.' Well, if it wasn't for Victory probably getting this stage, this tour would've never even happened.
"That's just my opinion, and if he would get off the bus once in a while instead of charging $20 for a picture or a signing or whatever the hell he does, he'd probably see that there's some really good talent out there, man. So yeah, I take it very personal. I think he stuck his foot in his mouth and I hope this turns on him and I hope for the worst. I have had enough — the guy's been runnin' his mouth enough and this is the final straw."
For some reason, the interviewer followed this up by asking if Dave wants to fight Kerry. Being as though Dave is not an idiot, he clarified his statements:
"No, nothin' like that. Everyone's over it already, now we're just seein' what happens. All the band are sticking together, the crew's workin' hard — they're here at 6 a.m. in the morning. He just has to think before he talks."This stuff ain't easy, man. In livin' this lifestyle, touring is touring and he should know. He's been doing this for however many years."You take the punches when they roll, man, on every tour. Every tour is up and down like a roller coaster — they're all not gonna just be glamorous."It just don't make sense to me. He could've waited until he was done after the tour to open his mouth. It would've been much better. No one would've cared then."
Matrise makes a few great points. First, King knocked one of the main sponsors of this tour, Victory Records. I'm sure Victory put a ton of money towards this tour, some of which is likely going directly to Kerry King. On top of that, Jungle Rot is out there hustling it, touring in a van, making long drives only to hear that the headlining act, which is getting their own bus, etc. complaining. It doesn't lead to a happy work environment. I'm sure Dave's sentiment is echoed by some of the other bands on the tour, they just don't want to ruffle any feathers. Either way, I'm sure everybody is more than excited to know there are only a few dates left on this tour:
7/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood
7/31 – San Antonio, TX @ Whitewater Amphitheater
8/1 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/2 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Amphitheater
