Anthrax was celebrating their 40th anniversary and the tour kicked off in Phoenix AZ. The Van Buren was completely sold out to witness this epic night. The lineup included heavyweight Black label Society and the hardcore titans Hatebreed
To say that I am a fan, would be a gross understatement. I have listened to Hatebreed since 1997 and have followed their music closely. Being granted an opportunity to shoot them at this show was a dream come true. The setlist was amazing and had all of my favorites. Hatebreed opened the show with “Proven” which amplified the energy 10 fold causing a large pit to erupt just in front of the stage. Jamey Jasta didn’t hold back, frequently screaming into the crowd to get everyone moving. It’s amazing to see such energy in person, Jasta consistently engaging the crowd, telling stories and pumping everyone up. The set list highlighted the very best of their 25 year career. Jamey Jasta took a few moments mid show to give a shout out to Scott Ian from Anthrax for bringing them on tour as well as Zakk Wylde and Ozzy for Ozzfest. Jamey addressed the crowd again asking if it was ok to take it back to where it all started, and of course the crowd went nuts as the band broke into “Empty Promises”. At this point the energy was palpable and the pit seemed to engulf most of the floor area. The set ended with “Perseverance” “Live for this” “I will be heard” and finally “Looking down the barrel of today”.
Following Hatebreed was Black Label Society. Their southern infused, riff heavy jams, complimented the previous act perfectly bringing the energy down just a smidge so that we could all settle in for some serious guitar work. With the entire stage still covered by the BLS curtain, Zakk opened the set with “Whole Lotta Sabbath” a mash-up of led Zepplin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “War Pigs”. As the curtain dropped, the band went right into” Funeral Bell” from the album “The Blessed Hell Ride”. The crowd understood the assignment and tuned the venue into a headbanging war field. Zakk commanded the stage throughout the show, making it impossible to keep your eyes off of him. He interacted often with the crowd, and had his signature microphone stand covered in skulls and crosses. Of course, he had all of his personalized guitars in tow which he rotated throughout the night as well. Every single member of this band is so incredibly talented and their overall stage presence is definitely worth mentioning. Dario Lorina on guitar was an absolute blast to watch. His wild style perfectly complements Zakk Wylde. John DeServio is such a strong bass player. He engaged with the crowd often, throwing up horns and making crazy metal faces at the crowd. You could feel the heavy bass riffs in the pit of your stomach. Joe Fabb on drums is an absolute beast. He commanded attention and kept the pace for this epic set.
While there were so many Zakk Wydle highlights throughout the set, the biggest was the Dimebag and Vinnie Paul tribute. During “Set you free” BLS brought out two huge sheets with a picture of Dimebag and Vinnie Paul. The crowd completely lost it. Another highlight was the behind back guitar solos from Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina during “Fire it up”. Both Zakk and Dario got up on to the platform and just started going at it. Dueling back and forth behind the back trading off solos and at one point I caught a picture of Zakk with one hand in the air and the other hand chugging away at the guitar that was still behind his back. The end of the set was of course closed out by “Suicide Messiah” and “Stillborn” I honestly didn’t want them to stop playing and I was completely blown away the entire set. Black Label Society is an experience everyone needs to see for their own eyes.
That time of night finally came for the Headliners Anthrax to take the stage. This set list that proves why Anthrax has been an irresistible force in the metal scene for the last 40 years. The current lineup is Scott Ian-Guitar, Joey Belladonna-vocals, Johnathan Donais-rhythm guitar, Frank Bello-Bass, and Charlie Benante-drums. The lineup has changed several times since their inception and this current line up is a strong one with Johnathan Donias joining the band in 2013.
The intro included a pre recorded video of a long list of musicians and celebrities going over the impact the band has had on their lives and the metal scene. Some of the big names in the video were Keanu Reeves, Jason Mamoa, Tom Morello, Kerry King, Slash, Corey Taylor, Gene Simmons, Robert Trujillo, Henry Rollins, and others. It also showcased live performances and music videos running about 10 minutes and at the end, every celebrity and musician repeated “Anthrax” over and over again with a Scream and Applause at the end. As soon as the video ended you could see the shadows of “Scott Ian” “Frank Bello” and “Johnathan Donais” and as soon as the curtain dropped, they went right into “Among the living” which is one hell of an opening. Joey Belladonna came out about a minute into the song and the crowd erupted into a frenzy. The circle pit was already going and everyone in the venue was absolutely crazy. You knew from here on out it was going to be a thrash party all night long. As Anthrax started the intro to the next song “caught in a mosh” everyone started chanting as all hell broke out and people started crowd surfing and flying over the barricades. It wouldn’t be an Anthrax show without crowd surfing, circle pits, and people flying over the barricades. There was beer and drinks flying everywhere and the entire floor was covered with liquid. A couple songs in Joey Belladona yelled “Metal is alive” and “this one is all about you guys and keeping it in the family” Joey had a huge smile on face watching the crowd go crazy, he held up the metal horns and watched the sea of metalheads bouncing up and down to the heavy chugging on this song. The entire set was full of hits such as “Indians” “Antisocial” and “Bring the Noise” amongst others. If you’ve never seen Anthrax you’re in for a big surprise and this time definitely felt different from others. The entire band was completely into it and every single member was thrashing around on stage. The chemistry between all of these guys was on tonight and you could tell how much fun they were having. I know opening night of any tour doesn’t always pan out, or go the way they rehearsed it, but it definitely felt like everything went right for Anthrax on opening night from at least a fans stand point.
