Slayer, Marilyn Manson headline second Mayhem Festival

The touring Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival will enter its second year led by headliners Slayer, Marilyn Manson and Bullet For My Valentine (BFMV). The 27-show trek launches July 10 at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Wheatland, CA, and is scheduled to end August 16 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in San Antonio, TX.

Highlights for the summer-long tour circuit include a July 17 concert at Cricket Wireless Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ, a July 28 event at The Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, ON, an August 7 stop at the Susquehana Bank Center in Camden, JN, and an August 12 show at Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL.

Tickets for the touring festival go on sale to the public on April 24. All venues featured on the tour are managed by Live Nation, so primary ticketing will be handled through the company’s new offshoot Live Nation Ticketing.

In addition to Slayer, Manson and BFMV, the main stage will also feature a special performer to be announced in the coming weeks. The Jagermeister second stage will feature Trivium, All That Remains and God Forbid, while a separate Hot Topic-sponsored second stage will host extreme metal acts Cannibal Corpse, Job for a Cowboy, Behemoth, Black Dahlia Murder, and Whitechapel.

“We thought long and hard about the artists that we wanted to perform this year and the end result is a collection of bands that we feel hard music fans are going to immensely enjoy,” said John Reese and Kevin Lyman in a joint statement. “The festival area is going to be special again in 2009 with the Metal Mulisha and a lot of great surprises. We look forward to a great Mayhemic summer and hope to see you at one of the shows!”

Last summer’s inaugural festival hit 30 cities across North America from July 9 through August 19. Slipknot, Disturbed, Dragonforce and Mastodon headlined the 2008 outing.

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)