Mayhem Festival 2012 featuring Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax, and eight other kick ass bands, hit the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California on June 30, 2012. METAL SHOP’s day began as we watched some of the opening bands such as White Chapel and Asking Alexandria, but our ‘mission for the day’ was ANTHRAX, MOTORHEAD and the mighty SLAYER!!!!!
Anthrax headlined the Jagermeister stage and played the classics (Indians, Madhouse, I Am The Law and more). Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner filled in for Charlie Benante (hand injury). Charlie is hoping to be back with the band in a week or so. The Anthrax set was short, but it rocked hard and had the crowd moshing all over the dust bowl.
As we were waiting for Motorhead, Jagermeister presented an award to a war veteran for his heroic acts of bravery in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it would be the last photos of the night for me because my camera shutter took a shit and stopped working… But it didn’t stop us from enjoying a kick ass set by Motorhead. Lemmy, Phil and Micky Dee blasted through the catalog that included ‘Damage Case,’ ‘Ace of Spades’ (see video below) and ‘Overkill.’ Lemmy’s voice was strong and the band sounded awesome. It was also great to see all the young people seeing Motorhead for the first time and getting to know what real rock music is about!!!
Slayer took the stage next, opening with ‘Disciple.’ The Slayer stage was set-up with two Marshall stacks shaped like upside down crosses that shot out flames. They played a few older songs like ‘Die By The Sword’ and ‘Hell Awaits.’ Gary Holt is still playing with Slayer and will continue until Jeff Hanneman has recovered from a near-fatal spider bite he suffered last year.
In all, the festival was a success with attendance of 26,000+ Metal Heads!!!!! m/ Here are a few photos (Anthrax) and Video….Special thanks to Adrenalin PR for the hook up!!! Enjoy -Ralph Cartel
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