Atreyu’s bassist has reflected on the chaotic time the band supported in 2009. The metalcore act supported the UK metal giants in Monterrey, Mexico, on February 25, as part of a package that also included , Morbid Angel, Lauren Harris (daughter of Maiden bassist Steve Harris) and Ira. According to Marc McKnight in a new interview with , Atreyu were main support and faced the wrath of an audience impatient to see the venerated headliner.
He says “a lot of stuff” was thrown at them, including a coin which caught him beneath the eye and dented his skull. “The first 5,000 people at that show did not want fucking anything to do with any band but Iron Maiden,” the bassist begins (via ). “And because we were right before Iron Maiden, they hated us the most.
Or maybe because we had tight pants and weren’t as heavy.” Moving on to the injury he sustained while onstage that night, McKnight continues: “They threw a lot of stuff at us. There was a lot of physical violence.
There were pesos being thrown at us. I actually got hit right here below my right eye.” He claims the attack “almost put my eye out” and that he has “a dent in my skull” because of it.
“I was headbanging really fast. And it hit me right below the eye. I was bleeding everywhere.
It was fucking wild,” he remembers. Nonetheless, McKnight insists the night was still a good one for Atreyu on the whole. “That show was difficult, but past those 5,000 people that were ravenous for Iron Maiden, .
