Hellyeah guitarist Tom Maxwell says the days of touring festival events across North America are numbered as there’s not enough variety.
His comments come after the fallout from the Mayhem festival, where a war of words broke out between Slayer’s Kerry King and event organisers. The spat resulted in reports that the festival wouldn’t return next year.
Maxwell tells Pop Culture Madness: “I think the travelling festival is probably gonna die – unless some new bands emerge or unless they start branching out.
“I think the travelling summer tours are a gamble. Promoters are putting a lot on the line, and there’s a lot of competition. And you can’t have the same bands coming back every year. It’s just stale.
“Bands get to the point of, like, ‘Fuck this! I’ll just do it myself.’ That’s what Ozzy Osbourne did with Ozzfest. I think it’s got a bleak future.”
Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz recently said that copying the European weekend festival template might be preferable to touring events.
Maxwell was forced to miss Hellyeah’s appearance at this year’s Download and their European dates after breaking his foot in three places.
They’re expected to return to the studio early next year to begin work on the follow-up to 2014 Blood For Blood.
