(Oshawa, ON) – On Tuesday, May 12th 2015, the General Motors Centre in Oshawa Ontario, known as the “Shwa” to locals, hosted the mighty metal duo Volbeat with special guests Anthrax as their direct support. The venue, which holds 5500 guests, wasn’t filled to capacity. A conservative estimate would be 2500 people where in attendance for the commencement of the show.
Just before 8pm, the lights faded. Anthrax’s intro “Worship” kicked off the evening. The crowd started screaming and hollering in anticipation. Their stage set up consisted of a brick wall backdrop with the Anthrax logo, drums on a riser at center stage and opposing ends of the stage where flanked with pentagrams. Within a minute drummer Jon Dette (Evil Dead, Testament, Slayer, Iced Earth) who is filling in for drummer Charlie Benante (while he is recovering from hand surgery), mounted the riser and greeted the crowd. Stage right spits out Scott Ian (guitars) while over at stage left is their latest member to join the Anthrax establishment, guitarist Jonathan Donais (Ex Shadows Fall). Long time bassist Frank Bello follows suit. The intro transitioned into the apropos song “Caught In A Mosh”. A perfect song to get the metal heads jumping and moshing throughout. Donais, did a pick slide and with that, Joey Belladonna made his first appearance on stage, running out and traversing the length of the platform, all while jumping about. Scott Ian and the crew certainly didn’t lack energy for this performance. Ian, did his signature circle stomp – all without missing a note, accompanied by a jump that would send some people his age to the ER.
Bello, one foot on the monitors, headbanging to the backbeat, flipping his hair aggressively. Their sound was aggressive, chunky and tight. Belladonna vocals where strong, easily projecting high notes without hesitation.
Looking around the venue, I was pleasantly surprised to see the diversity in ages within the crowd. Not only generation X folks but a newer fan base of youngsters in their 20s. Considering a vast majority of these kids were not even born when Scott Ian along with Dan Liker formed Anthrax in 1981, their enthusiasm and respect for the Anthrax performance lead me to believe that Anthrax’s music continues to persevere through the persistence of time.
The second song of the evening was a cover of Joe Jackson‘s “Got the Time” – a track from the Anthrax album Persistence of Time released in 1990. Canon style strobe lights accentuated the fast tempo of the tune. Belladonna struts around with his makeshift bottomless mike stand, encourages the crowd with back and forth “Hey” chants which they are happy to oblige, along with horned hands.
Backtrack five years to 1985 and you have their third song of the evening”Madhouse” from the album Spreading the Disease to round off this thrash trifecta.
“Antisocial” from State of Euphoria started with a subdued buildup. Bello and Belladonna interact with the audience encouraging them to mimic Belladonna’s vocal pattern. The tempo kicks up a notch and Donais is thrashing to the song.
“Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t”, a track off their studio release in 2011 called Worship Music has Belladonna air guitaring the quad guitar riff. The energy emitted from the band at this point is still explosive. No slacking from these guys. Belladonna takes a sip of a drink and tosses it to a fan.
Next up is a track that was released earlier this year called “Soror Irrumtor”. A song recorded for the Game of Thrones Mixtape Volume II. It started with a sound bite from the movie. QueenCersei expressing how “Tears aren’t a woman’s only weapon. The best one is between your legs, learn how to use it…”. This song is a fresh, modern version of the typical Anthrax. Heavy as hell with, at times, tribal drum patterns. Ian is supporting an American flag clad Kramer guitar. A crowed surfer has emerged.
“In the End”, a tribute song to Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie James Dio. The songs starts with daunting bells chiming with a heavy sounding cello sample. At stage left/right the pentagrams are dropped and an image of two fallen thrashers appear. The axe players congregate at center stage and thrash together in unison. A mosh pit is brewing in the crowd. When the band concludes the song they all gather together on stage giving hand horns like a metal salute to the fallen metal heads.
Although presented as their encore, the band never left the stage. They performed the song “I Am the Law”. Belladonna had word play with the audience while Ian pounds on his chest with an aggression fitting to the song. Belladonna interacts with fans stage right teasing them with a hypothetical stage dive which never came to fruition. Bello and Donais headbanging. Looking around in the seated area, I realized the fans were standing.
Jon Dette Drums
Belladonna introduced the band and thanked the fans for their support. Anthrax then performed their last song of the evening – “Indians”. After a nearly 50-minute set, Belladonna is running the stage side to side, exuding a ton of energy. For that matter, the entire band hadn’t slowed down a tiny fraction, thrashing and moshing throughout the entire performance. A huge mosh pit has erupted. All string players gather together and thrash. The set ends with a wall of sound noise. Belladonna gives the set list to a delighted fan while Ian tossed out a handful of picks to the crowd.
These trash metal pioneers are still a mighty force to be reckoned with. Without a doubt they still remain relevant 30-plus years later. An impressive performance mixed with an energy that won’t quit. That’s Anthrax.
05/18 Saginaw, MI – Dow Events Center
05/19 Evansville, IN – Ford Center
05/20 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
05/22 Sioux City, IA – Tyson IBF Events Center
05/27 Dallas, TX – Verizon Grand Prairie
05/28 Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
05/31 St. Louis, MO – Outdoors at Pop’s
06/02 New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
Connect with Anthrax online (WEBSITE) (FACEBOOK) (TWITTER)
Written and photographed by: Sue Sadzak
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