26 years ago, I was in 7th grade (insert old guy joke here). I was a little rebellious, listening to Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, and [gasp] Bon Jovi. Then I moved, met my friend Rick, and all that changed. After many days on the bus talking music, he floored me with this band called “Metallica.” After Kill ‘Em All made me rethink everything I thought I knew about music, he suggested a band called “Anthrax.” Back in ye olden days, anthrax was just a weird disease that cows got, not a weapon for terrorists. But the name sounded cool, so I picked up Among the Living, and my life was forever changed.
Fast forward to 2013, and Anthrax is on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, playing every song from their 1986 thrash metal classic. The crowd, a sea of long hair and a varied assortment of black t-shirts, slowly trickled in to the Fillmore Silver Spring as openers Holy Grail took the stage, playing a powerful mix of classic metal meets new thrash.
The enthusiasm and energy from these guys was overflowing, and every solo was a dual-guitar battle, with sweeping arpeggios their ammunition. Bassist Blake Mount was a dead ringer for Opie from Sons of Anarchy, and held down the rhythm while singer James Paul Luna made banging his head while singing long high notes an art form.
Up next was Massachusetts band Shadows Fall. Occasionally blurring the line between metalcore, thrash, and melodic death (sometimes all in the same song), they got the crowd going thanks to singer Brian Fair. While guitarists Jon Donais and Matt Bachand were precise, yet fairly sedate, Brian Fair seemed the polar opposite. It is quite possible that Fair was a vortex, sucking in all the energy around him and unleashing it in a fury through his body, voice, and his almost-ankle-length-dreadlocks.
As he screamed and sang and rallied the crowd, it was refreshing to see a singer smile so much while onstage. He loved every minute of it, at one point saying to the crowd, “Holy shit, metal is alive and well! Thank God…or Satan, or whoever’s fault it is!” They closed their set with a metal version of “War” by Bob Marley & the Wailers that either had Marley rolling over in his grave or throwing up the metal horns from beyond.
The middle child of the night was Richmond, VA thrashers Municipal Waste. As their intro music “Waste in Space” (which sounds directly out of an ’80s horror movie) ended, the Waste blasted onto the stage, with singer Tony Foresta cartwheeling out to center stage. After a brief signature metal intro, the crossover thrashers went into “Unleash the Bastards” and “Thrashin’ of the Christ,” but not before urging the crowd to “worship Satan and kick Mel Gibson in the balls.”
The mosh pit went into overdrive, and local pit hero Chicken Man was spotted by the band, leading them to point out that “there’s a fucking chicken in the pit.” With short, bombastic songs (a three-minute song is a long one for these guys), guitarist Ryan Waste and bassist Land Phil set a frenetic pace, while drummer Dave Witte’s calm coolness did not convey the insanely fast rhythms that his hands were performing.
With songs about beer, partying, metal, “a fucking wizard” (“Sadistic Magician”), and “a shark that will titty-fuck you…in your soul” (“Terror Shark”), they tore through their set with abandon, the crowd getting wilder with every song. Before closing their set, they said that being so close to D.C., they had to play a song they wrote called “Black Prez,” and 1.2 seconds later, the S.O.D.-like song was over, the only lyrics being “Black Prez.” The set drew to a frantic close with “The Art of Partying,” and as Municipal Waste exited the stage, the crowd got a well-earned breather.
The venue had filled up nicely by now, and thrash metal legends Exodus took the stage. Exodus was part of the group just outside of the “Big 4 of Thrash,” which included bands like Testament and Overkill and never quite achieved the level of fame as the Big 4, yet were just as loved by metal fans. A few lineup changes over the years hasn’t slowed them down, and Exodus are heavier than ever.
As they hit the stage playing “The Ballad of Leonard and Charles,” the sheer force of the music was like heavy artillery fire directed at the crowd, and they responded in kind, with an even bigger pit and ample crowdsurfing. Imposing vocalist Rob Dukes led the charge, and guitarist Gary Holt (currently dividing his time between Exodus and Slayer) fed the crowd more of what they wanted, mixing more recent material like “Iconoclasm” and “War is my Shepherd” with older songs like “Fabulous Disaster” and the thrash metal classic “Bonded by Blood,” when they were joined on stage by Holy Grail singer James Paul Luna to help sing a verse.
Exodus were also joined onstage by Municipal Waste guitarist Ryan Waste for the brutal last verse of 1989’s “The Toxic Waltz.” Before “Bonded by Blood,” Dukes mentioned that metal had lost another brother, and asked the other bands to joining him onstage for a shot in memory of Chi Cheng, the bassist of The Deftones who had passed away the previous weekend. Exodus closed their set with “Strike of the Beast.”
By now the venue was full, the hair and beards were glistening with sweat, and the floor of the Fillmore smelled like Satan’s asshole, but when the lights went down and Anthrax’s intro song “Worship” began, you’ve never seen a happier bunch of metalheads.
As the first notes of “Among the Living” began, the crowd lost their mind, and Anthrax took the stage and played the title song of the album that would be the focal point of the evening. Going in album order, the familiar beginnings of “Caught in a Mosh” emanated from the P.A., and soon enough, after one of the most recognizable bass lines in metal, the song kicked into full gear, along with most of the floor, which had turned into one massive pit.
The band’s founding rhythm section, uncle and nephew Charlie Benante and Frank Bello, were locked in, playing their asses off as always. Singer Joey Belladonna, whose voice and stage presence was in fine form at 52 years young, told the crowd that we were in the “Side 1” portion of the show, and continued with the ode to Judge Dredd, “I Am the Law,” “Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.), ” and the rarely-played “Skeletons in the Closet.”
Taking a detour from Among the Living, the crew unfurled banners over the speakers at stage left and right, and on the banners were paintings of Ronnie James Dio and Dimebag Darrell, to whom they then dedicated “In the End.” After a cover of AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” (off of their latest album, a covers album called Anthems) and the 1985 classic “Madhouse,” Belladonna said it was time to “flip the record over and go into side 2!” and drummer Charlie Benante started the familiar war-drum intro to Indians.
When the song reached the infamous mosh breakdown, guitarist Scott Ian bellowed “WAR DANCE!” and the majority of the floor became a whirling tornado of a circle pit. Ian was definitely back up to his usual performing speed after missing the two previous shows with a bout of food poisoning. After “Indians,” they ripped through two more seldom-played songs, “One World” and “A.D.I./Horror of It All.” Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais, pulling double-duty and filling in on guitar for the tour, played the acoustic intro (A.D.I.) before the rest of the band joining in on a song that builds up speed in a monstrous metal crescendo before crash-landing to a halt.
The smiles on the faces and the looks people gave each other as these gems from the past began (I am totally guilty of this myself) were a testimony to the reverence Anthrax fans have for this album.
After their famous warp-speed cover version of Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time,” Anthrax left the stage briefly, returning moments later for the encore, which began with the last song from Among the Living, “Imitation of Life.”
The evening’s festivities were brought to a close with half of their rap-rock song “I’m the Man” straight into the set closer, “Antisocial.” Anthrax left the stage with heartfelt thank-yous and promises of a new album soon, and the crowd left sweaty and tired, yet smiling and happy from a glorious night of metal.
ANTHRAX:
EXODUS:
MUNICIPAL WASTE:
SHADOWS FALL:
HOLY GRAIL:
Photos: Julia Lofstrand
