Mayhem Festival 2020 Date Featuring Megadeth and Lamb of God Leaks Out

Update, 9:50pm EST, February 8: The Mayhem Festival has issued a statement denying any association with Megadeth and Lamb of God for a 2020 tour. Read more here.

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A couple of months back, rumors started circulating that the Mayhem Festival tour, which has been dormant since its last run in 2015, would be getting the reboot treatment this coming summer. Those rumors gained steam in January when Megadeth and Lamb of God were said to be the tour’s headliners.

Now the first date of the tour has leaked out, seemingly putting a revived Mayhem Fest from “rumor” territory into “most likely happening:” July 10 in Tinley Park, IL.

The leak came via Chicago DJ Nick Fury and was first reported by Blabbermouth. Fury, it should be noted, claimed last year with similar authority that AC/DC (with Brian Johnson) would be headlining several major North American festivals in 2020, and that has not come to pass (at least not yet). While the Mayhem Fest rumor seems to have a bit more juice to it than that one, we’ll have to wait until official word comes out to get too excited about it.

Mayhem collapsed amidst myriad issues after its 2015 run, the biggest of which was likely the lack of suitable headlining bands. Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen has allegedly purchased the rights to the tour’s name, having bailed out co-founders John Reese and Kevin Lyman of their debts.

Are Megadeth and Lamb of God strong enough headliners to bring a traveling festival of this nature back on the road? It’s a helluva one-two punch, that’s for sure, and I suppose it depends on what size venues the tour is targeting as well as who else is on the bill. We’ll presumably find out the answers to these questions very soon! Stay tuned.