New England Metal & Hardcore Festival 2013 Day 1

Despite the infamous rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees, metalheads welcomed New York thrash legends Anthrax with open arms as they headlined the first night of the New England Hardcore & Metal Festival at The Palladium in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday (April 19).

With all that Massachusetts has been through lately, many of the bands dedicated a song from their set or their set entirely to Boston. Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna dedicated ‘I Am the Law’ to the Boston police force.

The entire band erupted onto the stage as they performed ‘Among the Living’ in full, they also delighted fans with a few tracks from their latest disc ‘Worship Music.’ Shadows Fall guitarist Jonathan Donais is filling in on lead guitar for Anthrax’s tour and delivered some serious riffs.

Hatebreed took the stage before Anthrax with an powerful performance. Vocalist Jamey Jasta and the rest of his bandmates brought relentless energy throughout their set. They performed a wide range of anthems off all seven studio albums and to say the least the boys from Connecticut definitely represented East Coast metal and hardcore to the fullest.

Other performances on main stage included Anthrax Metal Alliance tour mates Exodus, who had one of the strongest sets of the night, as well as Municipal Waste and Shadows Fall, whose vigor got the crowd moving. Bands such as Everytime I Die, Holy Grail and numerous others also graced the main stage and rocked the Palladium.

Check Out Photos of Some of the Main Stage Acts Below on Day 1 of the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival:

Anthrax:

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire