Anthrax Kreator Testament 3Arena 25th Nov

[Giggles]

And here's the first part of the celebrity bit. I actually missed the start of it and didn't realise Lady Gaga was in it:

[Blitzer666]

Steven king in a Kamala Harris shirt, wise up, Corey Taylor and that nob tom morello got booooo'd, gaga got a groan, Keanu was pretty cool.....

[Giggles]

But anyways what about Alex Skolnick, legend or what! He stole the show for me, even though they didn't avail of the best sound of the evening.

[Trev]

And here's the first part of the celebrity bit. I actually missed the start of it and didn't realise Lady Gaga was in it:

The fucking state of that!

I could maybe understand if it was some sort of special anniversary show or something along those lines, even then it'd still be pretty bad

[Paul keohane]

Are they going 40 years?,was that what it was for?.

[yknaa]

Are they going 40 years?,was that what it was for?.

About 42 years or so. Imagine this was a cut and paste job from their 'XL40' videos and documentary they put out during Covid.

[Necrohag]

A pretty savage gig overall. Kreator absolutely stole the show with a vicious performance and an amazing stage set-up. I'm not a big Anthrax fan but enjoyed their set overall.

I was mainly going for Testament but missed their first two songs due to a Luas diversion and one particularly gormless, slow as fuck frisker. They really did get a raw deal sound wise and for a band of their calibre it's disappointing. Alex Skolnick was shredding away at one point and I couldn't hear a single note.

One thing I'm really getting annoyed with at gigs is bands playing snippets of songs or cutting songs short. Kreator launched into the Coma of Souls title track, much to my utter delight, but then only played the intro of it before leading into Enemy of God. Anthrax played about 3/4 of A.I.R and cut it short before the best part of the bloody song!

[Paul keohane]

I'm pretty sure I was the only one there just to see Anthrax!😅

[The Wretch]

Testament gave a great performance, but the guitars lacked punch IMO. Also, is it just me, or does Steve DiGiorgio's bass often overpower things? Same here, very high in the mix, clacky, and buzzy. The man is a legend, but I still reckon Greg Christian was infinitely better suited to the band.

I'n not a huge fan of Kreator post 90 to be honest, but they were fucking savage. Immense performance, especially Ventor and Sami Yli-Sirniö. For all of the intensity and satanic imagery, the thing that strikes me about Kreator these days is just how bombastic they are. The image says Watain, but the vibe is just as much Blind Guardian - Celebratory, fist pumping, anthemic stadium and festival fodder. Excellently delivered mind you, and highly enjoyable, but a far cry from the bestial thrash they originally became known for. Tellingly, Betrayer, Terrible Certainly and Pleasure To Kill were the highlights for me.

Anthrax were fucking brilliant. Thoroughly predictable setlist, but when the tunes are that good it doesn't really matter that much does it? Funnily enough, even though they began with 3 stone cold classics in A.I.R., Got The Time and Caught In A Mosh, for me, it really kicked into gear with Fight Em Til You Can't.  The start of 'Be All, End All' is always mighty. Nice touch with the Lizzy intro to Indians too, and Gung Ho is one of the best thrash tunes of all time.

My only gripe is Jon Donais. The guy can obviously play, but he just widdles aimlessly through the Dan Spitz solos, which really fucking grates on me. Especially as Spitz solos were always of the "song within a song" variety, and really lifted every tune, they are as much a part of those classic tracks as the riffs and choruses. Donais doesn't bother his hole even sticking to the main melodies and then adding his own touches, he just blazes through generic speed licks. Why the fuck don't Benante and Ian take him to task for that shit? 

It didn't ruin my overall enjoyment of the show, but it is fucking aggravating.     

[Carnage]

Full sets, quality's a bit dodgy:

Testament:

Kreator:

Anthrax:

That intro video's fairly cringeworthy.

[YerWan]

Alex Skolnick was shredding away at one point and I couldn't hear a single note.

That was driving me mental. I was right up front on Skolnick's side and watching his fingers flying but not hearing it

[Giggles]

I wass in the middle, about 15 people from the front and could hear Skolnick fine, but it definitely should have been louder. There's was a noticeably better improvement for Kreator's guitars.

[The Wretch]

The overall sound for Kreator was incredible, especially the guitars. Rhythm and lead tones on point, perfect mix etc. I was so impressed with Sami Yli-Sirniö. I knew he could play, but he has a really great mix of classic hard rock and modern metal styles. Very fluid. Great interplay between him and Mille.

I could hear Skolnick, but yeah, it could have been louder. For me the rhythm guitars were the issue. Very muddy. And add that to the buzzy, overly loud and distorted bass, it really robbed them of their usual power. 

That intro video's fairly cringeworthy.

Yeah. It's one thing on the actual anniversary tour, but why keep using it?

All it did for me was confirm how fucking annoying Tom 'cringy soundbite' Morello and the wonky headed fucker from Slipknot are. They could easily make another intro video with bits and pieces of their history without all the celebrity endorsements and smug circle jerk BS. 

[Paul keohane]

There seems to be a lot of hate for Tom Morello,what's that about? . (I genuinely know nothing about the guy other than he was in RATM and Audioslave)

[Jward]

I'm pretty sure I was the only one there just to see Anthrax!😅