Saturday, August 9, 2014

Anthrax, Testament, Death Angel, September 17, 2012


October of 22 of 2005 was the last time I had seen Anthrax play.  As I write this blog, I’m trying to think back to this show, and this was with John Bush on vocals, I believe. They were still touring on the album We’ve Come For You All and was early on in my days in Spokane, WA.
I was extremely happy to see Anthrax again on this new tour for Worship Music. Anthrax has gone through plenty of ups and downs since that last tour. They lost John Bush which still makes no sense but Mr. Bush must have seen the writing on the wall when it comes to his own life. Anthrax then hired Dan Nelson to take over as vocalist but that lasted about only a few months. Worship Music was ready to go but just needed a vocalist that would last. Corey Taylor from Slipknot almost earned that shot to sing on Worship Music but the powers that be would not allow that to transpire.
Joey Belladonna was the logical and inevitable choice to return as the vocalist for Anthrax and he put his stamp on Worship Music. The blend of old school Anthrax and John Bush-era Anthrax is clear on Worship Music but the choice to bring back Joey Belladonna to make Anthrax whole once again was so crucial for the success that took hold for the band. The Big Four concerts (featuring MetallicaSlayerMegadeth and Anthrax) solidified the reason Belladonna must forever be in Anthrax. Anthrax is an institution in music history, bringing about the genre of thrash metal to the masses that remains a crucial and needed alternative to the lack of quality, emotion, and craft to musical compositions of today.
Anthrax’s setlist was amazing. They stuck to Belladonna-era songs and songs off the latest album Worship Music. Joey cannot touch John Bush’s lyrical abilities and it’s best that he does not bother singing those songs.  Much like what Van Halen should do; bring all their singers on tour and each singer gets a shot to do a set of their songs would be the tour of all tours to witness.
Testament played before Anthrax and I was super thrilled to see this band perform again. I was not in touch with Testament’s music too much but when they opened for Megadeth on a recent tour through Spokane, promoting their new release Dark Roots Of Earth, I really enjoyed what I had heard and after that concert, I purchased the new album and was pleasantly surprised how solid Testament sounded.  You wonder how Testament isn’t part of that Big Four show as an opener. To hear Testament live again brought me that much closer as a fan to a great and legendary thrash band from California.
The opener for the concert was Death Angel; another Bay Area thrash band that dates back to the origin of the Thrash Metal movement of the 80s. Keep in mind, this show was on a Monday night and even the band recognized aloud to the crowd how very old-school it was to have a thrash metal concert on a Monday night but to have a turnout show up was extraordinary. This was Death Angel’s first time EVER playing in Spokane so I sure hope they walked away with a good impression of their time in the Inland Empire.
A terrific night of thrash music from the legends in the game. Thank you and I look forward to the next show!



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