Hayward Metal Fest
- Bleeding Priest
- 18 hours ago
- 2 min read
Memorial Park Amphitheater
Hayward, CA
September 6, 2025
I gotta tell ya, the amount of Saturday afternoons I’ve spent in Hayward are far and few between but there I was at Memorial Park Amphitheater checking out some local Metal. The funny thing is I missed the two bands I really wanted to see. Why in God’s name they had Frolic and Cultural Warfare, the two bands with probably the biggest draw, open the fest is beyond me but it was cool to attend nonetheless.
The setup was great. I can see this place being a killer spot for a bigger sized affair with the right bands on the bill. There’s a TON of potential (threat) here. The only drawback was no beer vendor. In fact drinking seemed to be frowned upon at this event which maybe is why I never hear of more things happening here. It’s a shame because again, it’s a rad spot.
There was a decent turnout but honestly I was expecting it to be a bit better attended. I was also surprised to see the fest had a canned food drive sponsored by the Oddfellows. I’m an Oddfellow! Strange that I didn’t hear a word about it at the SF lodge. Anyhoo…let’s talk about the two bands I did see.
First up was Negative Sixxx. My first time seeing these dudes but I know they’ve been around for a minute. They play Toot’s Tavern in Crockett quite a bit. Their set suffered from odd sound which is kinda common at smaller fests. It got dialed in eventually. They play Thrash/Groove Metal of the East Bay variety. They were solid.Â
Next we had Bay Area Thrash long haulers Potential Threat. I’m very familiar with these guys going back to The Stone/Omni days. I totally respect the fact that the Noble brothers are still at it all these years later. I also respect that drummer Kenny (Noble) has stuck to his guns with the single kick drum thing. Double bass is a major component of Thrash Metal and the fact that he’s been playing Thrash for over 30 years with one foot and making it work is commendable.
Potential Threat are always solid and you can count on guitarist/lead vocalist Mike (Noble) to do his best Robb Hetfield. They ended the show with a curious cover of Ministry’s Just One Fix. All in all it was a strong performance by these dudes.
I caught wind that the last two bands were more in the Nu Metal territory so I got the fuck out of dodge and ended up at a bar called The Swinging Door in San Mateo of all places. If the bill was right I could see Nefarious playing this Hayward park for sure. Food for thought.
–Bleeding Priest
