There are a few perks to living in parts of the country Alex Skolnick makes fun of on Twitter. To folks in NYC, the reactions Wichita gets from residents probably range from "Where?" to the stereotypical Wizard of Oz joke. But those same New Yorkers who would have to fight tooth and nail to work their way to the front of the stage don't realize how incredibly easy it is to do so here in the middle of the country. And that, my friends, makes us lucky fucking bastards on occasion. Hell, I've been sweated on by Chuck Billy and had the honor of introducing "Elimination" at an Overkill show.
Well, last night I didn't quite get sweated on (at least not by the musicians), but I was right up at the stage. And I didn't have to fight to get there. I literally walked into the Cotillion as Death Angel was taking the stage. I walked right up to the front. Only 2 people were between me and the stage. Of course, after DA was done I wasn't budging, and neither were most of the people around me. We're Kansans, but we're not stupid. Testament would soon hit the stage.
Death Angel
I've been a fan of DA since Frolic, but have never gotten to see them. They were the clincher that made sure I saw this show. Mark Osegueda was more dynamic live than I anticipated, and it was awesome to see Rob Cavestany play. The sound was crap up by the stage and I couldn't hear Mark very well, but it got better as the set went on. The set was painfully short, though. Maybe 5 songs. But I'm pretty sure I smiled the entire time.
Their bassist clearly wanted to invoke the spirit of Cliff Burton, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're gonna have a white guy on stage with Death Angel, at least let him remind you of a badass mofo from the Bay Area!
Below are a series of videos I took. My HTC Droid Incredible takes less than incredible audio at high SPLs, but at least it's something. Enjoy them for what they're worth...or not.
Testament
I thought this was my third time seeing Testament, but rumination reminded me of this one time with Maiden...so it was the fourth. Truth be told, I was there to see them. I love all 3 bands, but Testament is definitely nearest and dearest to my heart.
It's almost unfortunate that Alex Skolnick has rejoined the band. I'm sure many would disagree with me, but I lost a lot of respect for him when he left the band to do a jazz trio. That is oh-so NOT metal, and neither was his rhythm playing last night. While Eric was chunking away with fast downstrokes, Alex sort of half-assed everything with lazy, sloppy alternate picking. He looked almost pained while attempting to play the two songs off The Gathering in the set. Ultimately, I would have much preferred to see James Murphy. That dude is badass. And metal. Alex? Meh. I purposely positioned myself closer to Eric Peterson, because he has always been the heart and soul of the band's music.
After the first couple songs, Chuck encouraged the crowd to come forward for "Over the Wall" - and I knew the crush was about to hit. I was right. Within a few bars, I was smashed into the poor girl in front of me, and the body odor was instantly...um, tremendous. This scenario repeated itself, appropriately, for "Into the Pit."
Chuck was awesome. Throat cancer apparently didn't hurt his voice any. Eric was Eric. It was so cool to see Greg again! John Tempesta was okay. I was hoping to see Bostaph, I confess. John seemed to have a little trouble with Lombardo's stuff on The Gathering songs. He literally had a pained face, clenched teeth, and his feet weren't as tight as they could have been.
I was disappointed they didn't play anything from Low. I really wanted to hear "P.C." With everything going on with the Occupy Movement right now, I think the lyrics are particularly cogent. My least favorite Testament album is The Ritual and I could have gone without hearing anything from it. But it was apparent pretty boy had to have "Electric Crown" added to the set. You should have seen it, he was practically conducting the intro. The hand motions were borderline effeminate. It was as if the rest of the guys were rusty and ambivalent, but he
really wanted to play that song.
I bash Alex, but it was good to hear him playing his old solos.
Anthrax
After the awesomeness of the first two bands, I decided it was time to leave the front of the stage and get a beer. I was at the back of the hall as Anthrax started, and they sounded phenomenal. I had to move up for "Anti-Social", though. I mean, come on. It was the only song they played from State of Euphoria.
They played a LOT of material from the new album. In fact, the first two songs were off Worship Music. But that's okay, ultimately. They stayed on stage a long time and played a lot of older songs, too. Plus, the new album rocks. I find that many of the choruses are really hooky and harmonically interesting. Franky did a great job on backing vocals! That dude is soooo fun to watch live, too.
The funniest parts of the night centered around "Indians". The band was halfway through the song when the power to the stage just blew. Hilarious! The guys regrouped at the back of the stage. Eventually, Scott came out and tried to quiet the crowd so he could yell out to us. That took a good minute. About the time he was wrapping up with "Talk amongst yourselves", the power came back. So they tried to pick the song back up at the bridge. About a minute into that, they fell apart. Well, Charlie fell apart. Again, hilarious! Which gave Scott an opportunity to have the crowd shout...you guessed it: "Chawlie fucked up!" That never gets old. Awesome. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Another great moment was when the band broke into Sepultura's "Chaos A.D."
The guys seemed to have a lot of fun. In particular, Scott was jamming and grinning and moshing in place all night. Frank was animated as ever. While Testament seemed kinda disappointed with the crowd at the midweek midwest between major markets stop, Scott seemed to really appreciate how many die hards came to support and give love.
When Anthrax ended, it was over. There was no chanting and cheering for an encore (like Testament gave). They were done. Off the stage, house lights up, music through the PA, time to go home.
All in all, it was a fantastic and memorable night. My voice is hoarse. My neck is sore. My inner 17-year-old is basking in the afterglow.
Life is good.
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| Picks I caught from Rob Cavestany & Alex Skolnick |
