Anthrax -- Charlotte, NC -- November 5th, 2011

[AnataFan4Life]

After arriving at The Fillmore and chatting a bit about the unfortunate passing of Cory Smoot, Death Angel hit the stage. These guys did one HELL of a job warming the crowd up for what was to come. Unlike the other two bands, DA mostly stuck to newer material, not playing a whole lot of their 80's stuff, but HOLY SHIT did these guys sound violent as hell. It was also quite funny hearing Mark get the name of the city wrong, calling it Raleigh instead of Charlotte . One of the best opening acts i've seen in a while, and i'd love to see them with a longer set.

Death Angel:
I Chose the Sky
Evil Priest
Claws in so Deep
Relentless Retribution
Seemingly Endless Time
The Ultra-Violence
Thrown to the Wolves

Testament were up next, and these guys DID NOT miss a fucking beat. They definitely lived up to their reputation as an incredible live act. From Gene's jackhammer drumming, to Alex's legendary guitar shredding, to Chuck's legendary air guitar shredding , they were in their element. The band played a good mixture of old-school classics, such as "Over the Wall" and the obligatory "Into the Pit", along with material from their two latest albums. This is where the show really started getting violent, as almost the entire floor had turned into an insane frenzy of moshing and crowdsurfing. Fucking amazing, plus they were the only band who got the name of the city right .

Testament:
The Preacher
The New Order
The Persecuted Won't Forget
Envy Life
Over the Wall
Souls of Black
Into the Pit
Electric Crown
Henchmen Ride
More Than Meets the Eye
D.N.R.
3 Days in Darkness
Disciples of the Watch

After what seemed like an eternity, the lights dimmed and the big guys themselves were finally onstage. To say they exceeded my expectations is an understatement. Joey sounded spot fucking on and his voice has aged well. Him and Scott worked the crowd all too well, even though Joey thought he was in South Carolina instead of North Carolina >_<. The crowd was INSANE. Some of the most insane and brutal moshpits i've ever seen; hell, you were getting the shit kicked out of you even if you were OUTSIDE the pit. I was up front and must have been punched and kicked by about ten different crowd surfers. One thing I really loved about their performance was how much of their stuff you could sing along to. There was no way you could just stand there and watch when everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was yelling "AN-TI-SO-CIAL" and "IT'S A MADHOUSE" at the top of their lungs. The war dance during "Indians" was another highlight, including Scott pausing the song completely because he thought there weren't enough people participating. The Sepultura cover was pretty cool too, with Scott doing lead vocals and Joey playing drums with Charlie, even going so far as to throw out picks to the crowd, with Joey prompting everyone to try and hit Charlie in the head with the picks . An absolutely incredible way to crown off an epic show.

Anthrax:
Earth on Hell
Fight 'Em Till You Can't
Caught in a Mosh
Antisocial
I'm Alive
The Devil You Know
Indians
Got the Time
In the End
Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
---
Among the Living
Madhouse
Metal Thrashing Mad
Refuse/Resist
I Am The Law

Unless you absolutely despise thrash metal for some reason, there is no excuse for you not to miss this tour if it comes near you.

[zekeyou]

Yeah, great show, all 3 bands sounded and looked excellent. I was surprised at how good Anthrax was-- I was a little skeptical going in, but that was crushed quite quickly.

All the set lists I've seen from Death Angel always indicate "The Ultra Violence", but hell they only play about 1 minute or so of it...

[Sanitarium78]

I understood when they did Refuse/Resist over the summer when the guy from Sepultura was filling in for Scott on some shows but I don't understand what sense it makes now?

Very good review though. I know that Among had to go over really well with the crowd. They NEED to do that song at every show.

[Seventhzealot]

Originally Posted by AnataFan4Life

The Sepultura cover was pretty cool too, with Scott doing lead vocals and Joey playing drums with Charlie,

Did they do the whole song? I thought they were only playing the opening riff in preceding shows, which is what they did in Orlando too.

Funny that 2/3 bands got the city wrong

This tour indeed has turned out to be unmissable

[Drudkh77]

Originally Posted by AnataFan4Life

The war dance during "Indians" was another highlight, including Scott pausing the song completely because he thought there weren't enough people participating.

That is when I finally couldn't stand being towards the back any longer (even though the view and sound were great), I went staright into the pit And even though I am getting a little/lot old to be moshing, I absolutely was crazy for the rest of the set! I left totally soaked from the waist up...awesome! My shoulders and neck are still sore.

...and what is up with getting the city/state wrong man??? If you are going to say "hey --city/state--" you better damn well check before you go on stage where you are....supposed to be 30 year +/- veterans for goodness sakes!

[Force10]

I was there - all in all a great night of thrash. The Fillmore is an excellent venue; old guys like me can hang on the 2nd level and get a good view of the stage and avoid flying boots.

Death Angel was great - too bad only a handful of songs.


Testament simply tore through their set - no BS, everyone completely comfortable, awesome set list. Eric's custom Dean guitar is sweet - I know Alex gets all the hype but Eric is the driving force behind their sound.

Originally Posted by AnataFan4Life

Joey sounded spot fucking on and his voice has aged well. Him and Scott worked the crowd all too well...

Joey did sound very good - I was surprised. I disagree that Joey worked the crowd well - I thought he was kinda boring.

Originally Posted by AnataFan4Life

One thing I really loved about their performance was how much of their stuff you could sing along to.

I agree with this - fun songs to sing along to as well.

I haven't seen Anthrax in over 18 years, so I had no idea what to expect. Following that Testament set has to be daunting. They started out strong, but I thought they faded a bit in the middle. Too many lame extended song finishes. They did have a strong end to their set though, mostly thanks to Among The Living.

I believe they played 2 verses of Refuse/Resist - that was cool.

Like most, I think they could have added 2 more tunes for us. Pretty much anything would have done...


And to the guy I was chatting with who said I was crazy that I saw the Sound of White Noise tour in 1993 ("Nahhh, that album came out in like 2001!"), please go check the date on your CD case and suck it.

[Magson13]

Originally Posted by AnataFan4Life

to Chuck's legendary air guitar shredding ,

He even has signature picks for his air guitar shredding. I caught one when I saw them last year, and it has name on it haha

[masterguy49]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

I understood when they did Refuse/Resist over the summer when the guy from Sepultura was filling in for Scott on some shows but I don't understand what sense it makes now?

See it live, the crowd reaction is insane.

[Sanitarium78]

Originally Posted by masterguy49

See it live, the crowd reaction is insane.

I'm willing to bet though that the crowd reaction would be just as good, if not better, if they busted out something like AIR or some other rarely played classic from the first four Belladonna albums.

It just makes the band come off as fuckin lazy that in a 14 song set they need to waste time with something like that. Because people are there to hear Anthrax play Anthrax songs not Sepultura's. I know it's a strange concept for Scott and Charlie to understand that.

I get keeping Antisocial and GTT though. Much like Judas Priest with Diamonds & Rust and The Green Manilishi or Metallica with Am I Evil, the band has made the cover their song. Them doing Refuse/Resist is just one of those cases where I feel doing a cover isn't necessary.

[makethemsuffer12]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

I'm willing to bet though that the crowd reaction would be just as good, if not better, if they busted out something like AIR or some other rarely played classic from the first four Belladonna albums.

It just makes the band come off as fuckin lazy that in a 14 song set they need to waste time with something like that. Because people are there to hear Anthrax play Anthrax songs not Sepultura's. I know it's a strange concept for Scott and Charlie to understand that.

I get keeping Antisocial and GTT though. Much like Judas Priest with Diamonds & Rust and The Green Manilishi or Metallica with Am I Evil, the band has made the cover their song. Them doing Refuse/Resist is just one of those cases where I feel doing a cover isn't necessary.

Dude they don't even do the whole song. They stop it right after the first verse.