BRISTOW, VA: Skillet performs at the Carnival of Madness at Jiffy Lube Live. August 21, 2013. ? Brandon Wu / for the Washington City Paper.
BRISTOW, VA: Skillet performs at the Carnival of Madness at Jiffy Lube Live. August 21, 2013. ? Brandon Wu / for the Washington City Paper.

A rainy Wednesday night show way out at Jiffy Lube Live is not likely to be a sell-out proposition. Sure enough, yesterday’s “Carnival of Madness” featuring a range of hard rock bands—-Shinedown, Papa Roach, Skillet (pictured above), In This Moment, and We As Human—-was sparsely attended, with the crowd fitting very comfortably in the 10,000-capacity pavilion. At least that meant no one was stuck out on the lawn during the rain.

Fans of this kind of stuff who didn’t make it out last night missed out on some serious pyrotechnics (Shinedown), over-the-top theatricality (In This Moment), infectious energy (basically all five bands), and more than a little drunkenness. Check out the full slideshow for evidence.