The Mayhem Festival
By Russ Allsup
On Saturday, June 27th the mighty Mayhem Festival came to the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, Ca. for the 2nd show of the tour. This years’ show was headlined by the all time kings of thrash metal- Slayer. Also on the traveling festival this year were some of the top acts in the world of metal music such as King Diamond, Hellyeah, Whitechapel, The Devil Wears Prada, and many more (13 bands total) on 3 stages.
It was a day full of some of the heaviest music played to some of the craziest and most dedicated followers of music anywhere- metal fans. I knew this would be a good day because as soon as I got there, I was able to walk right onto the main stage and then met Slayer frontman Tom Araya- I’m not worthy! Throughout the day, band after band played to rabid crowds of metalheads and as night fell, the headliners hit the stage. King Diamond hit the stage just as the sun set, and took the whole show up a notch in terms spectacle and theatrics. No one has a voice quite like King Diamond, and he sounded in peak form, opening with his song The Candle, and delivering a solid set of heavy songs including solo tunes and classics from his former band Mercyful Fate.
After King Diamond’s set, it was time for the band everyone came to see- the one and only Slayer. Los Angeles area shows are always special for the band since that’s where they started back in 1981- Huntington Park to be exact (only 65 miles from where this show was held). The last time I’d seen Slayer was in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium in 1994, and once before that in 1988 with Judas Priest at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, so I was long overdue for another heavier than heavy show from the true masters of metal.
As the venue lights went off and lights hit the curtain- covered stage, pre recorded music played and the crowd was going berserk with anticipation. Then the curtain dropped and the band launched into their first song, Repentless, as the crowd let out a huge roar of approval. Nobody puts on a heavier show than Slayer, even after all these years. They went on to play a 16 song set of classics including Hell Awaits, Raining Blood, Angel of Death, and more that left the exhausted crowd completely devastated.
Nothing quite compares to a Slayer show, and they proved once again that they are second to no one when it comes to their onslaught of crushing metal music.
