THE FILLMORE - Minneapolis, MN
Aug 6, 2022
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
ANTRHAX brought their 40th Anniversary Celebration to The Fillmore in Minneapolis for a SOLD OUT amazing show with co-headliners BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and openers HATEBREED in tow. First off, let’s be clear .. this was a very special show to begin with as a lineup like this should not have been in a venue as small as The Fillmore. This should have been down the road at The Armory. But that made it even more special for every one in attendance. A big show in a smaller venue to never be repeated again.
HATEBREED brought things to frenzied start with the 1-2 punch of “Proven” and “Destroy Everything”. If that’s not a way to start off a legendary night like this, I don’t know what is. The pits were going nice and early the whole way thru for Hatebreed who threw in a special cover of Exodus’ “Bonded By Blood” for the occasion, which they should also record.
What can I say that I haven’t already said about Hatebreed? This is a band that it doesn’t matter where they play … and there’s probably not many stages in the Twin Cities that they haven’t crushed yet … it doesn’t matter what they play, they are always going to dominate. Going thru a career retrospective set for all the fans that have been there since 1997 to those in the crowd seeing them for the first time, it definitely was 40 minutes that went by WAY too fast. A band that always looks like their having fun on stage, it’s always exciting to see them live and I look forward to their next trip to town again.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY came out and the crowd erupted when the BLS curtain dropped and ZAKK WYLDE was whipping his hair around and shredding the guitar like the big Viking Guitar God he is. Like Hatebreed before and Anthrax after .. Black Label Society is on top of their game. “Destroy and Conquer” from the new album Doom Crew Inc was hands down the stand out of the set.
BLS shreds like no other band out there, it’s all guitar fireworks from start to finish. The guitar duel between Zakk and Dario during “Fire It Up” was absolutely crazy and the ability of JD and Jeff to keep the rhythm flowing freely while the two guitarists face off is amazing in itself. The victory lap of “Stillborn” showed the band with smiles on their faces enjoying every minute of being on stage with everyone.
ANTHRAX came out swinging with “Among the Living” right in to “Caught in a Mosh” ensure the entire house was going crazy right out the gate. ANTHRAX themselves sounding stronger than ever. JOEY BELLADONNA still has his amazing pipes and sounds in top form tonight. FRANK BELLO making use of every inch of that stage running all over banging his head with the masses. CHARLIE BENANTE looking fantastic behind his massive drum hit with the coolest bass drum heads with his Funko Pop in them! SCOTT IAN and JON DONAIS crushing the stage with their massive guitar tones. This is a band that crushes it 40 years in to their career just as hard as they did when they first started. Every band should want to have the ability of dominating stages still like Anthrax does.
One could argue that the set list was too short at 12 songs. But they clearly show the power of Anthrax’s entire catalog including a massive version of the John Bush era “Only” which I can only hope they re-release with Joey on vocals. It sounded absolutely amazing. The b-side could be the next song in the set “Bring the Noise” with Scott Ian handling Chuck D’s verses! Those two songs right there were worth the price of admission alone making tonight a very special set for everyone in attendance.
If you missed out on this tour, what were you thinking? This is a tour to make any metal head extremely happy. To Anthrax, Black Label Society and Hatebreed – thank you for making this an extra special touring event of the summer. Jam packed show like this don't come often enough.
See more of Brett's pictures of ANTHRAX, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and HATEBREED here!
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