The 2012 Mayhem Festival got off to a big bang this weekend in San Bernadino, Calif., as a record 26,150 fans in attendance made up the largest crowd in event history, according to Mayhem officials.
That would be 4,000 more than any other date the tour has seen.
With Anthrax, Slipknot, Motorhead and Slayer headlining a bill that also featured up-and-comers like As I Lay Dying and The Devil Wears Prada, the dusty terrain of the San Manuel Amphitheater was a metal-lover’s dreamscape.
Anthrax anchored the second stage with a tight 40-minute set that ran through classics and a
Beginning with pit anthem “Caught in a Mosh,” a mixed audience of young and old was whipped into a whirling frenzy, with shoes and cups of beer flying high into the air.
Anthrax also rocked “Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t” from 2011’s Worship Music, along with classics such as the rollicking “Indians” and “Antisocial.”
Anthrax was also playing without regular drummer Charlie Benante, who suffered a minor hand injury that will force him to miss the first few days of the festival.
Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner filled in, just as he has this past February for a few Anthrax shows in Argentina.
Click here for Mayhem Festival’s summer dates, and visit Anthrax’s official website for more information.
For now, you can view a slideshow of Anthrax in action in the photos below.