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08/12/2024

Through the Eyes of a Preteen: Megadeth, Mudvayne, and All That Remains at White River Amp on 08/12/24

By Sydney (with Mike Lewis) // PHOTOS

As a 12-year-old photographer, my daughter has a bucket list. It’s a bit strange in my opinion but Sydney does in fact have bands that she really wants to get photos of. One of those was a month or so back and unfortunately things fell through when we went to pick up our credentials, but we won’t mention what that band was. Megadeth is another that she has wanted to photograph and the last time they were through the Northwest, Sydney was off to Japan the day before with her mother, so she had to miss out.

This time however there were no vacation planned save for three hour drive North. The Destroy All Enemies has Seattle, or rather White River Amphitheatre, as the closest destination. It’s a very rare show that will have me drive that far out of state and having already been in a photo pit for Megadeth several times over the year, I probably wouldn’t have made the trip were it not for a little photographer who really wanted to get photos and enjoy their music as she often has since she was about five. She even met former bassist David Ellefson and drummer Dirk Verbeuren back in 2018.

This was also Sydney’s first visit to the White River Amphitheatre, so she had plenty of questions regarding its set up as opposed to RV Inn Style in Ridgefield, a venue she has visited over the past two years. I think what she was most curious about was the capacity, and I’m uncertain why this has become such a hot topic with her lately, and what she learned is that RV Inn Style is slight bigger, not that it really makes much difference when you’re going to be in the photo pit.

When it comes to bands that she’s not familiar with, Sydney often likes to take the approach of, “if I don’t like them, can we leave the pit early?” That was exactly what I was asked before All That Remains took the stage and she soon found out that she did in fact like the band, staying the three songs and then talking about what she liked as soon as we were out. She liked the riffs, she commented on Phil’s anti-communism shirt, and she made sure we sat close enough outside of the main part of the venue so she could still listen to the music.
This was the second time for both of us getting to capture Mudvayne. This is a band I would rank up in my top five of artists that are simply that much fun in the photo pit. As you’ll hear in her video, Greg Tribbett is Sydney’s favorite member of the band, and she is certain that he might have remembered her from before since he looked down as they took the stage and smiled at her. Maybe she’s right, but I guess we won’t know. Every member of that band is fun to take photos of though and I was especially enthralled with Ryan Martinie’s skills as a bassist, something that I didn’t take time to appreciate my first time in the photo pit.

Sydney though was excited for Megadeth although I noticed two different things from her at the show. The first is the stage is a little high for her so there were several times I was telling her to hold the camera over her head if she needed to. She wasn’t going to bother anyone behind her so it was completely acceptable. I understand why she didn’t initially as I have told her that it isn’t normally acceptable photography behavior and I don’t want her to get in the habit of doing that, but in this case, there was no real issue with it. I also think she was a little awe struck since I noticed a few times she was standing in the pit area, just watching everything unfold on the stage. She did the best that she could though, and hopefully the next time they are through the area she will do even better.

I think the biggest disappointment for her however is that with a three-hour road trip back to Portland, we had to leave the concert a little earlier than we both would have liked. She didn’t get to hear one of her favorite songs, Sweating Bullets, and I still remember hearing a five-year-old Sydney in the backseat of the car trying to sing along and for some reason having memorized the line “mankind has got to know his limitations.” We also had to leave before Dystopia, and this is another song in Sydney’s history of liking Megadeth I remember quite well. There was a debate between us on which was the better song on that album. She really liked The Threat is Real, but I was insistent that Dystopia was a better track. Several weeks passed, the album had been in heavy rotation in the car, and when Dystopia finished playing Sydney said, “Daddy, you are right. That IS a better song!” I do like The Threat is Real, but I just like the arrangement of Dystopia a lot more.

With another show to her credit, Sydney has already been in the pit again as of this writing and has at least one more coming very soon. As far as this show, I know that she would enjoy getting pictures of all three bands again. Even though her musical tastes are starting to include music that I don’t care for (auto-tune is horrible), she’s told me she still likes metal bands. Seeing Megadeth again would thrill her, I already know she would photograph Mudvayne without question and was excited to see them again this time, and now All That Remains is just another in the list of bands that she would go back and see. This is contrast to her opinion a few years ago which was, “I’ve already shot them” and now having grown to understand that each time is different.

Also, please remember that Sydney does have her own social media page and what photos don’t get posted here will be posted there.

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