Pain in the Grass 2015: Hit the Floor

Pain in the Grass featuring
Slipknot, Lamb of God, Three Days Grace, Bullet for My Valentine, and more!
White River Amphitheatre, Seattle, WA
08.23.15

Another beautiful summer weekend has passed in Seattle, which means another fantastic festival is now on paper. KISW 99.9’s annual Pain in the Grass festival took over the White River Amphitheatre on Sunday, filling the senses with delicious bbq, frothy cups, amazing music, and plenty of sunshine. The lineup this year consisted of 13 bands playing in tandem on two separate stages, with Slipknot as the sole headliner. Peering out from the stage, the sea of moving bodies made it perfectly clear that this festival was sold out.

Dubbed “the best talent in Seattle right now” by our very own Sir Mix-a-Lot, Rock-angsty-blues trio Aryon Jones and The Way ripped up a killer set to open PitG. This would be the group’s last show featuring their current lineup, and even though they only played six songs, it was rife with emotion. Jones smashed his guitar at the end of the set before kindly tossing out some freebie wristbands. The afternoon continued on in all forms of black dress and mosh stylings. Pennsylvania rockers Crobot sported some customized Black Sabbath Chucks; Motionless in White, instead, opted for the “strait jacket, Frankenstein makeup” look. Stage props and decorations were just as colorful, with knife-wielding pumpkins… or how about the shotgun microphone stand used by Theory of a Deadman? The audience became more energized as the sun went down. Bullet for My Valentine was greeted with chants of “Bullet! Bullet! Bullet!” while Three Days Grace met the challenge and barely stopped to take a breath on stage. Rocking not only double guitars and impressive beards, this band just plain exuded fun. With the sun steadily waning, the atmosphere for Lamb of God and Slipknot was all thrash. This was the music that your mother had warned you about. Melt-your-face-off and balls to the wall. The moshing and crowd surfing came to a fever pitch, frenzied by intense screaming and generally crazy stage performances. Dare the hydraulic platforms and pyrotechnics be neglected in mention, a masked slipknot group, along with singer Corey Taylor, had bodies happily spilling over the barriers.

It’s all in a day’s work.

Pain in the Grass Lineup:

Main Stage:
2:00 Aryon Jones & The Way
2:40 Crobot
3:30 Motionless in White
4:20 Theory of a Deadman
5:20 Bullet for My Valentine
6:20 Three Days Grace
7:30 Lamb of God
9:00 Slipknot

Another Century Stage:
3:10 Varsity Week
4:00 Like A Storm
5:00 Stitched Up Heart
6:00 Awaken the Empire
7:10 New Years Day

Review by T. Monte
Photos by Alex Crick

Slipknot

Lamb of God

Three Days Grace

Bullet for My Valentine

Theory of a Deadman

Motionless in White