The ESP Guitar Company

This issue of the ESP Winnerʼs Circle takes us to lovely -- and toasty -- San Bernardino, CA. Thatʼs where we went for the Southern California stop of the Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2009, arriving the day before the show to meet our winners: Lisa Axe of Indianapolis and her guest, her niece Britney.

Lisa and Britney were both very excited about the next dayʼs events. We knew it would be a hot day, and we can tell ya: San Bernardino in the summertime is not the place to escape the heat... it was a cool 95 there on the day of the show, which is actually mild weather for San Bernardino in July. However, with all the excitement going on, both ladies made it through the entire event with flying colors.

It probably helped that as part of their prize package for the ESP/Live Nation Ultimate Mayhem Sweepstakes included some time to meet and greet with several of the bands that were playing at the festival. Lisa and Britney got to not only meet with all four members of Slayer, but also spent some time with Padge from Bullets For My Valentine, Nergal from Behemoth, the guys from God Forbid and others. After the event, Lisa said, “My favorite part of the whole trip was meeting Slayer. They were so down to earth, nice guys. Tom Araya shook my hand and thanked me for being there. I couldnʼt believe it!”

The ladies also enjoyed the stretch limo ride to and from the show, courtesy of Live Nation and ESP. Lisa also said that once inside the show, following ESP director of marketing and artist relations Allen Steelgrave around to all the VIP areas of the show was very cool, with Allen giving all the security people his famous, “Theyʼre with me!” at each checkpoint.

The show itself was beyond awesome. There were three stages, and in between the fields, Metal Mulishaʼs own Ryan Hagy was doing some great motorcycle jumps for the fans in between fields. To show their respect for their recently fallen teammate Jeremy Lusk, the whole Metal Mulisha family wore t-shirts that helped memorialize the great rider. Rest in peace, Jeremy.

Finding ESP guitars amongst the various stages was easy to do, since it seemed like every band had at least one ESP player in it. White Chapel hit the Hot Topic stage hard, and put on a tight performance. Behemoth always brings something new to the table, and this day was no exception. Nergal and the guys must have lost ten pounds of sweat during their set. By the way, everyone loves Nergalʼs new bad-ass LTD Signature Series Hex-7 guitar. No surprise there.

Another ESP band that rocked the whole festival was Black Dahlia Murder, who were doing what they do best (ripping your face off for their whole set). The crowd loved this great Metal Blade band. And speaking of ESP bands that rock, God Forbid showed they still have it, even with the absence of Dallas Coyle. Matt Wicklund (formerly from Himsa) whooped some serious ass. He should do well with the rest of the God Forbid guys -- as long as his skin is thick, heʼll be fine. Right Corey?

Over on the main stage, Bullets For My Valentine came out on fire and never let up for their entire set. Padge was shredding the hell out of his guitar, and they all looked like they were having a blast, even if the set was short. In the meantime, some of the more pyromaniacal fans already started burning shirts and whatever else they could get their greedy little pyro hands on. Thank goodness (for us) that they were all up on the lawn.

Were our contest winners having a good time? “Britney started smiling the second I won the sweepstakes, and never stopped through the time we got back home,” says Lisa, who is, by the way, attending a second performance of the Mayhem Fest in her hometown later this month. Yes, sheʼs taking Britney again.

Of course, part of the prize package Lisa won was an LTD JH-600 Jeff Hanneman Signature Series guitar, and we were able to let her and Britney go into Slayerʼs private area to have it signed before the show, which is a big deal (we usually only get our chance to see them after theyʼve played). As mentioned above, the guys were above and beyond gracious, and our winners will never forget meeting them.

As always, ESP wishes to thank all of you that entered the “ESP/Live Nation Ultimate Mayhem Sweepstakes”. Keep coming back to espguitars.com and check back for the next chance to live the dream!

Our winners, fresh from Indiana, at the hotel.	Everybody loves the limo ride.	Oh yes, quite comfy.
Working on his tan, Padge from Bullets For My Valentine greets our winners.	The ladies get to meet Nergal from Behemoth, in pre-evil mode.	Doc from God Forbid pleasing the crowd with his 7-string ESP.
And quite a crowd it was.	Lisa and Britney enjoying the VIP lifestyle in their very own box seats.	The ultimate Mayhem moment: our winners with all four members of Slayer.