Review by Michelle O’Rance
The Hi-Fi in Brisbane has filled up early in preparation for the first of the Brisbane sidewaves ahead of the festival on the weekend.
All attention quickly turned to the stage as local band Malakyte launched into their opening track ‘Zero Hour’ and the speed and ferocity of the music roars out over the crowd enticing everyone to bang their heads to their balls-out brand of pure thrash metal.
The first two songs seem to have a couple of technical issues for all involved but by ‘Fall To Khaos’, their latest single, the band had found their stride and the mosh pit has really begun to move.
Malakyte debut their new singer Tommy Muz on this show, and for someone who hasn’t had long to learn the songs, he pulled off a great performance. Bassist Trip Walker has always had a way with facial expressions and poses on stage and he pulled out all the stops as he gyrates around while coaxing some sweet sounds out of his bass guitar.
Guitarists Laggy Von Laggy and Dalton Quade were not to be outdone and they vie for the fastest riffs and Liam Guy, the man with the sticks, is also given his moment to shine as he pulled out an awesome drum solo towards the end of the set.
It is arguably, one of the best opening supports from a local band Brisbane has seen.
While the crowd is suitably warmed up for one of the best thrash metal bands in history, the 45 minute break between the two bands was a bit of an anti-climax after the opening bands awesome efforts.
However at promptly 9:45pm, the lights dim, the backing track goes quiet and with a roar from the crowd the mighty Anthrax stormed the stage.
With a stage presence that belies their age, Joey Belladonna and his cohorts show no sign that they are ready to slow down as they tore into the opening track ‘Caught In A Mosh’. Which is exactly what the Hi-Fi did.
There aren’t many front men who have the audacity to be able to wear their own band shirt on stage, but Belladonna pulled it off easily. Some front men are woeful at conversing with the crowd, but Belladonna had everyone eating out of his hand.
There was some disappointment amongst fans after the announcement that drummer Charlie Benante wasn’t able to join the band on this tour due to personal reasons, but his replacement, Jon Dette, has stepped up to the task. Dette’s talents were not only shown here, but he will also be bashing the skins for Slayer across this tour as well.
Another blow to the old school metal heads was the announcement of the departure of Rob Caggiano on guitars a month before the tour of Australia. He was replaced by Shadow’s Fall guitarist Jon Donais.
Despite these changes Anthrax did not let the fans down and with Belladonna telling the crowd that this was no warm up for them, they wanted to give it their all, give it their all they did.
Strutting around the stage like a man possessed, Belladonna’s vocals were brutal and the band ripped into every track with relish, showing off their tight, polished performances. The thrash metal veterans worked their way through their hefty back catalogue and pulled out only the best.
‘Indians’, ‘Madhouse’, ‘Medusa’ and ‘Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t’ were all on the list but the real standouts were the AC/DC cover of ‘TNT’ and ‘I Am The Law’ which rounded out the energetic set.
Fans of Anthrax can now remain satisfied that they have witnessed one of the best thrash metal bands of all time and who are still producing memorable performances after over 30 years on the job.
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Photos by Charlyn Cameron