Ok. Now I've seen Anthrax umpteen times throughout my life, going all the way back to 1984 on the Fistful Of Metal tour. I've been there during the John Bush era, and have seen two reunion shows. But what I saw this evening was completely unexpected. After more than 20 years in the business, you'd think that the majority of the crowd would be a bunch of 40 something balding mullets there for a bit of nostalgia. But no, most of the attendees were in their late teens and early Œ20s. Many of them were dressed in their denim jackets emblazoned with old school Metal band patches sewn on, tight fitting jeans, and high top sneakers. My God! This was 1987 all over again. The new Metal youth must be watching the old Metal vids, accompanied by their parent's influence. What goes around comes around as the old cliché says. But who would a thunk a resurgence like this.
A sold out Avalon held host to one of the Big Four purveyors of Thrash Metal. And there was not a dull moment visually or sonically. Drummer Charlie Benante was not in attendance as he was back home with his wife who recently had a baby. So filling in for him was Shadow's Fall drummer Jason Bittner. You gotta hand it to him cause Charlie's shoes are tough to fill. And he only had a day or two to learn the songs. But he did a fine job nonetheless.
As the intro to the Blues Brothers theme rang out across the venue, the crowd started going ballistic as it segued into the opening chords of "Among The Living." What transpired next was definitely a rocket ride back in time. The whole floor of the Avalon turned into one giant old school circle pit. We're talking mid Œ80s style fun with no jock dorks karate chopping people or ensuing violence. Nope, just total good times where if someone fell, you'd pick them up and continue with the ride. This is the way a pit should be and the kids did it right. This continued on throughout the whole show as the likes of "Caught In A Mosh," "Medusa," "Metal Thrashing Mad," "A.I.R.," and N.F.L.," provided the perfect soundtrack. The band was in fine form and this was undoubtedly the best show I've seen thus far. Original vocalist Joey Belladonna is ecstatic to be back in the fold that's for sure.
Anthrax will be recording a new album soon, and it's good to see that the youth of today are snubbing their noses to the force fed corporate media's idea of what Metal should be. May they both carry on the tradition for many years to come.
