I arrived to the venue shortly after 2 P.M. to get in line. I had purchased special "Front of Stage" tickets for this show, so I wanted to make sure I got there early to get right up front. To my surprise, there were already people lined up to get inside already. This small crowd ahead of me though were season ticket holders who just wanted to secure their spots on the lawn. The gates opened at 4:30 P.M. and people started to quickly fill up the venue.
Opening band "Diamond Plate" took the stage around 6 P.M. and played for approximately an hour. This band was a young trio who were incredibly heavy. They stole the crowd's attention after just a couple songs. After their set, it wasn't long before Megadeth took the stage before sundown. It was surprising to see the band go on stage so early in the night. The band opened with "Hanger 18" which was a fan favorite of the album "Rust in Peace". Megadeth played mainly classics throughout the night, only straying from the fan favorites twice with "Public Enemy No.1" off of the album "TH1RT3EN" and "King Maker" off of "Super Collider". Surprisingly with all of the talk about an anniversary tour for "Youthanasia", the only track from the record to make the set is fan favorite "A Tout Le Monde".
Mustaine seemed to be in good spirits throughout the night taking time to speak to the crowd and crack jokes between songs. Overall, the band sounded great throughout the night only having one or two small technical difficulties. For ARTPARK's first metal show, it went extremely well. Looking back behind me throughout the night, the venue was filled. The pit was fairly mellow until the last half of the set. Once the opening riff was played for "Symphony of Destruction" the pit got insane, which is definitely an ARTPARK first. One fan during the night even tried climbing up the wires keeping the stage together. Hopefully promoters can see how well Megadeth was accepted here at the venue and start booking for metal bands in the future.
Be sure to check out the rest of the summer lineup for ARTPARK here:
http://www.artpark.net/
Be sure to check out my Facebook page as well as my personal website for more photos of the show here:
www.Facebook.com/markmcgauleyphotography
www.markmcgauleyphotography.com