Epic night of metal part 1: Anthrax

The minute I learned Lamb of God and Anthrax were touring together, I freaked out, called my husband so we could freak out together, and made plans to hit Kansas City's Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland, which is a breathtakingly beautiful place to see a metal show. Definitely one of my favorite venues.

I am just far too excited about this experience, so I'm posting two (hopefully) easily digestible reviews. Starting with Anthrax.


The thrash metal legends burst onto the stage in a huge fireball of energy with "Fight 'Em Till You Can't." Gorgeous metal man hair flew everywhere. These guys have perfected the headbang hair twirl.

Singer Joey Belladonna darted around the stage with his half-mic-stand. Scott Ian's legendary goatee flowed majestically as he grinded out riffs.

Tuesday night's set at The Midland featured classics like "Caught in a Mosh," "Antisocial," and "Got the Time," complete with some insane bass playing from Frank Bello.

Anthrax will release a new studio album on February 26. Ian warned For All Kings will "rip your head off" AND "make you shit your pants." Yikes. We heard two songs from the upcoming album: The politically charged "Evil Twin" and "Breathing Lightning." The former is fast as hell thrash, while the latter is a bit more dynamic.

"In the End" has become a staple in the band's set. Pictures of the late Ronnie James Dio and Dimebag Darrell framed the stage as Belladonna belted out lyrics like, "our diamond shined so bright" and, "on and on his memory screams."



Anthrax plays with energy, spirit, and pure joy most bands half their age don't bring to the stage. These guys are so fun to watch. Joey constantly interacted the audience. When he wasn't reaching over security guards to give fans high fives, he was pointing, smiling, and having fun with anyone taking pictures. Including Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe:



Worth noting: Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante did not play the KC show. He's dealing with carpel tunnel and John Dette is filling in when Benante needs a break. It didn't look like Dette missed a beat. Pun intended.

The killer anthem "Indians" and a good old war dance closed out the set.

Joey led us in one more chorus and Scott thanked us again before tossing a buttload of guitar pics into the crowd and taking a bow with his bandmates. They didn't seem to want to leave the stage.

These guys have been together, in some form or another, for 35 years... and it still seems they are thankful and genuinely pumped to be able to play music every night. They're still having fun. And it's contagious.














Look for my review of Lamb of God's epic portion of the 2/2/16 show tomorrow.

And in the meantime--shameless plug: like Mrs. W Rocks on Facebook.

--Mrs. W.


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