Photo – tnddrummer_photography
Each band brought decades of legacy, blistering musicianship, and crushing setlist’s. It was nothing short of a masterclass in the enduring power of thrash.
Testament could well be one of the best opening bands I’ve ever seen in this venue as they instantly whipped the venue into a frenzy with unrelenting precision, diving into a truly unexpected set of deep dives featuring, ‘WWII‘, ‘Children of the Next Level‘, ‘The Formation of Damnation‘, ‘Return to Serenity‘, and ‘Souls of Black‘.
Chuck Billy commanded the stage with his usual ferocious energy, alongside some of the nights best guitar work from Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson. Bringing a headlining experience loaded with pyro, swagger and confidence, Testament simply ruled for the duration of their set. Ending with ‘Electric Crown‘, ‘More Than Meets The Eye‘ and ‘Into The Pit‘. If this was anything to judge by, the 3Arena is in for one hell of a night.
Photo – tnddrummer_photography
Kreator followed, delivering a set that felt like a sonic blitzkrieg. The German titans unleashed ‘Hate Uber Alles’ to set the tone, and proceeded to throttle us with a stunning setlist featuring, ‘Enemy Of God‘, ‘666-World Divided‘, ‘Betrayer‘ and the excellent ‘Satan is Real‘, to name but a few. As always, Mille – who was relentless, urging the crowd into a frenzy of circle pits, to which the crowd happily responded – oversaw the chaos unfold before him, and led the band to victory with ‘Pleasure to Kill‘, as their show closer.
Kreator always bring a truly immersive experience to their live shows, however with caped corpses hanging by noses from the rafters, confetti, pyro, and giant variations of their iconic mascot, Violent Mind, perched on either side of the stage, and behind the drum riser, they win the most METAL production of the night. Awesome stuff indeed!
Photo – tnddrummer_photography
By the time tonight’s headliners, Anthrax hit the stage, the energy was at a fever pitch in the venue. Kicking off with their 40th anniversary video intro (featuring a cast of Metal royalty), the band launch into ‘A.I.R.’ before ‘Got The Time‘ echoed throughout the arena.
With an incredible, eight years since the bands last album, ‘For All Kings‘ (2016), Scott, Joey, Frank, Charlie and John hit the stage with energy levels peaking and proceeded to rip through, what I was hoping would be some deep cuts from ‘Spreading...’, ‘State of Euphoria’, ‘Persistence of Time‘, and even some unexpected classics from ‘Among…’, but that’s just me being selfish.
Photo – tnddrummer_photography
From Scott Ian’s infamous stage stomp to Frank Bello’s infectious presence. and let’s not forget Belladonna’s pristine pipes, the band smashed through a setlist which included, ‘Be All, End All‘, ‘Metal Thrashing Mad‘, ‘I Am The Law‘, and ‘The Devil You Know‘, before ‘Indians‘ (featuring a tip of the hat to Thin Lizzy’s ‘Cowboy Song’), led way to the classic ‘Gung-Ho‘ as their final track. What the band lacked in production, they made up for in stage presence. Here’s hoping for the new album to be with us sooner rather than later in 2025.
From Testament’s technical prowess to Kreator’s unrelenting aggression and Anthrax’s anthemic party vibe, the night felt both nostalgic and forward-looking, but one thing is for sure, tonight was a celebration of Thrash, and how it’s been the very corner stone to an incalculable amount of bands that have referenced all three of these legends tonight.
Long may it continue!
Check out all photos below…
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie
