Band:Anthrax City: Chicago The Reunion show! Writer: Disruptive Entity (aka Andy York) Click Album Cover To Buy Now

So, the real Anthrax finally got back together. Not having seen then since Clash of the Titans, I was excited as hell to see the 5 piece that I remembered come back together. Two things stuck out to me as I passed the House of Blues. Number one being that I'd never seen a line that long for any show there ever. It snaked around the HOB and almost to the bridge out front on Dearborn. I took that as a good omen. Second, the linee'es seemed a tad bit older and more old school than most shows I've been to lately (especially the all ages ones such as this). After waiting in line I managed to miss all but the last 1.5 songs from the opening act whose name I didn't catch. Not that it mattered as I wasn't impressed by what I saw at all.

Next up was the main event. That was one excited crowd and I can only hope that the rest of the shows can keep up with the high standards that Chicago set. Down comes the video screen and a movie about the history of Anthrax was shown. I couldn't believe that the crowd started moshing to that. After the vid dragged on a little too long the band finally came out and the mayhem really began. Charlie seemed rather anonymous behind his large drum kit although the sounds being propelled from it were anything but. Scott was still sporting the shaved head with a looooooooooooong goatee. The biggest difference being that his frame and face seem to have "filled out" over the years. He also proved why he's one of the kings of metal rhythm that night. Joey, god bless him, was exactly the same as when the band kicked him out 13 years ago. His wail still firmly intact, he was sporting the same poodle haircut and tight jeans making him look like something straight out of 1989. It felt good to be reconfirmed in the belief that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Dan looked like the lone grown up on stage - rather clean cut and he's obviously taken extremely good care of himself by the look of things when he took his shirt off. As for Frankie, my only thoughts were that compared to the rest of the band, he reminded me of a young Chris Ward joining up with another legendary NYC outfit - the Ramones. Kind of a heavy metal fountain of youthful energy if you will.

Enough of the bullshit here, let's get down to the heart of the matter - the actual performance. The band was great. Sure they seemed a little rusty in spots but that's to be expected after all this time off and so few shows beforehand. They were trying really hard to live up to our expectations and I believe they came as close as was humanly possible. Seemed to me that Joey, Dan and Frank really wanted to bring out the playfulness that Anthrax is so well known for in full force. Joey kept fucking with Frank while he was singing, pushing and kicking him away from the mic. He also stood behind Dan and mimed air guitar on his mic (you know, the half stand without the base like the old days). At least until Dan shooed him off with a grin to go and started bothering Scott.

Everything went off fairly smooth except for Dan's guitar the first half of the show. I'm not sure exactly what was going on but it was frequently out of tune and Dan eventually got so fed up that he slammed his pick at the stage and stormed off midsong. The band kept on playing although it did sound rather flat with just the rhythm guitar. Everything got worked out and form then on it was smooth sailing. To use Scott's words they were experiencing technical difficulties of the jackass variety. One extremely cool surprise was when Scott polled the crowd as to whether we wanted to hear Panic or Deathrider. The noise of the crowd came down firmly on the side of Deathrider so Joey came up with a great compromise, why not play both? Hell yes!!!!!!!!!!!

The sound was excellent. No one instrument dominated any of the others and they all came through loud and clear. Except for the crowd being louder than the band and singing along with every word. The volume was of a most acceptable level for a heavy metal show, and although it wasn't Motorhead loud it was just fine all the same. Throughout the entire show it was abundantly clear from the exuberant looks on Joeys face that he was both humbled and overjoyed from the reactions of the crowd. Especially when they began to shout "Joey, Joey, Joey........" I think that he's really going to try and make the most out of this second chance that he's been given. The smile on his face that night was truly a beautiful sight. And he can still wail with the best of them. The rhythm section of Scott, Charlie and Frankie proved again why they're one of the best in metal. With some more practice and gigs under his belt I think that Dan will be more than able to bring things right back to the levels of the good old days. My only real complaint with the night was I'm the Man. I could really do with never hearing this song again. Sure it was great in it's time but we need to recognize it for what it really is: a novelty record. If they're going to do it, at least do it right. Part of the novelty was Joey getting behind the drum kit and Charlie getting to come out front to participate in the chaos. Both me and the guy I was standing next to felt compelled to comment on this. All in all, I think that's a pretty minor bitch compared to the rest of what I got to see.

The moshing was old school and definately a departure from what the kids today do. Too bad the audience was of an older persuasion and started to peter out about 1/3 of the way into the show. I guess the older we get, that's just the way it's going to be. Still, small pits of up to 10 people continually broke out around me in addition to the very large central pit. As much as it hurt my body I just couldn't stop moshing and/or headbanging. Old school all the way, baby. The show ended up with the guys having a pic taken of them in front of the crowd. All in all, a most excellent evening of old school heavy metal done right. Hopefully this turns into a full blown reunion - complete world tour, new album and all of the works. I must say that Anthrax met and/or exceeded all expections that I had of them going into the evening. Here's to the next time, guys!

The setlist:

Among The Living
Got The Time
Caught In A Mosh
A.I.R.
Madhouse
N.F.L. (Efilnikufesin)
Keep It In The Family
Panic
Medusa
In My World
I Am The Law

Encore:

Be All End All
I'm The Man
Deathrider
Metal Thrashing Mad
Indians

Band:Anthrax City: Chicago The Reunion show! Writer: Disruptive Entity (aka Andy York) Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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