CONCERT REVIEW :: ANTHRAX CELEBRATES 40 YEARS WITH A SOLD OUT FILLMORE SHOW

CONCERT REVIEW :: ANTHRAX, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, HATEBREED
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!

METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR SURPASSES ALL EXPECTATIONS!

METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR
MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM, HATEBREED
SEPT 28, 2021 – The Armory, Minneapolis

Photos by Brett - Review by Nick

First off – it felt super good to walk back in to The Armory again after 23 months since the last time I was in the building.

The SOLD OUT and unfortunately now the last night of the Metal Tour of the Year 2021 ended at The Armory in Minneapolis, MN on a Tuesday night and the crowd was packed in there from the moment HB took the stage until Megad closed it down.

HATEBREED came out swinging with the classic “Empty Promises” right in to “Tear It Down” proving that this tour was going to live up to it’s name. Jamey Jasta declaring “I want everyone to have sore necks tomorrow!” The crowd obliged during the always crowd pleasing “This is Now” that always pits the left half of the crowd vs the right half to see who can be louder. The right side of the venue didn’t stand a chance! A lot of fans in the crowd very happy when they threw in their Slayer cover of “Ghosts of War” which was a very nice surprise. The surprises didn’t end there though! “Looking Down the Barrel of Today” was a huge pit starter. The crowd erupted when Art from LoG came out to take over for Matt on the drums for “Destroy Everything”. Art bashed those drums making that song harder than ever before and then Randy came running out to join in on the last part of “Destroy” and the crowd lost their minds. HATEBREED’s set everything you had ever wanted from the last night of a tour! HATEBREED did what HATEBREED does best, gets the crowd riled up for the rest of the night to try to top - which is always a friendly competition.

TRIVIUM came out with a very empty stage … only having the drums on stage, no amps or video screens. Just the four guys doing what they do best. Dominating. Straight out of the gate with the crushing “In The Court of The Dragon” from their Oct 8 album of the same name. They had the crowd in the palms of their hand from the first note. Coming up on having two albums out since they last toured, Trivium had plenty of material to choose from for their 40 min set. They played two from “What the Dead Men Say” next, the super catchy “Catastrophist” into “What the Dead Men Say” before the melodic part of the set came out with “The Heart From Your Hate”, “Strife” and the latest single “Feast of Fire”. Saying melodic as there are plenty of riffs to go around in those three songs. Closing out the (guitar, bass or drums .. your choice) clinic was the always crushing “In Waves” which I swear gets heavier every tour. I look forward to having them come back around on their own as they have a lot of new material to play for the masses.

LAMB OF GOD put on an arena sized performance from the moment the black curtain dropped after the intro to “Memento Mori”. This was a band that was clearly planning on how they could top their previous live shows in the downtime from the pandemic. LOG put everything they had in to the last show of the tour, laser focused on getting every ounce of energy out of the crowd that was pent up from the last 18+ months. “Ruin” showed up early in the set followed by the pyro heavy “Walk With Me In Hell” so hot you could feel the flames anywhere in The Armory. Being the good dudes they are, LOG paused after the first 3 songs so that the medics could get a fan out who needed medical attention. Wasting no time after it was cleared launching back in to “Resurrection Man” from the self titled record. The pits were loud and proud for “Now You Got Something to Die For” and “Set to Fail.”

I spent time wondering if anyone from HB or Trivium were going to come out and prank LOG during their set as if it was going to happen, it would be during their set … nothing happened. We came to the last 3 songs of the evening – a whirlwind “Contractor” followed up in break neck speed by “Laid to Rest” and “Redneck”. Lamb of God just showed that they are ready to headline festivals and arenas worldwide. Give them the sign and they will tear it down.

MEGADETH came out to a loud crowd with "Hangar 18" right out of the gate. Great visuals backed the band as they tore thru some classics in their massive catalog. The always fantastic "Sweating Bullets" sounded as great as ever with the crowd singing along! Where I was standing .. some of the crowd did the actual words and some of them did Dave's guitar part. Dave kicked throat cancer's ass and sounded fantastic. Closing out the night with 3 songs you can't argue with even if you tried "Symphony of Destruction", "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due".

Dave said that they would be resuming this tour next year as they didn't get to play any of the Canada dates on the tour due to the pandemic. Even if it's the same 4 bands again, I will gladly take a second round of this fantastic tour!

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PICTURES OF TRIVIUM AND HATEBREED HERE!

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PICTURES OF LAMB OF GOD AND MEGADETH HERE!

CLUTCH and HATEBREED tear it down and go wild at the Myth!

CONCERT REVIEW: DROPKICK MURPHYS, CLUTCH, HATEBREED, AMIGO THE DEVIL
Myth in Maplewood, MN
October 1, 2019
Photos by Brett Zisler

When this tour was announced – you knew it was a show you cleared your calendar for. DROPKICK MURPHYS and CLUTCH teamed up for a co-headlining fall tour bringing out HATEBREED with them along to make this an unforgettable package with AMIGO THE DEVIL opening. Those 3 bands can all headline on their own (and have headlined this very venue on their own) but by teaming up this is a show for music fans of all types. Not to mention one they will probably never see again!

CLUTCH came out and launched right in to “How to Shake Hands” and instantly had the crowd engaged. Neil Fallon was all over the stage being the terrific energetic frontman that convinced even the toughest Dropkick fan. Tim Suit was riffing in fantastic form and probably the closest to the edge of the stage as I've ever seen him. Dan Maines and Jean-Paul Gaster were laying down the groove thick. This is seriously one of the tightest bands in the business. I stood there in awe most of the night just watching Jean-Paul bring the beat.

Stirring up the crowd real early with "The Mob Goes Wild" the set never had a lull. Clutch was bringing fan favorite after fan favorite tonight. "X-Ray Visions" went straight into "Firebirds!" which brought us to "Gimme the Keys" before giving us a little bit of a breather after "Burning Beard"! This is where I saw Clutch win over some Dropkick fans. That's seriously fun to watch when a band makes a new fan.

I don't know who's set went by quicker Hatebreed 30's minute set or Clutch's near perfect 60 minutes. While I was disappointed we weren't treated to "Evil" or "Precious and Grace" from their new Weathermaker Vault Series, we did get "Willie Nelson"! "Electric Worry" was raging but it seems weird not be followed up by "One Eyed Dollar" but we got perhaps the best version of "Rats" I've yet to hear!

I saw lots of extra mics on stage so I'm hoping this means a new live record as this is the best Clutch has ever sounded. This band has been on fire touring in support of Book of Bad Decisions and that's saying something with as massive as this band's catalog is and as much of a stand out live band they are.

HATEBREED had a quick 30 minute set compromised of 9 songs. (I still think they got 10 in but I can't remember the extra song they played either) "To the Threshold" and "Live for This" got the pits running real early! The band didn't have a whole lot of room on stage but they brought it a little harder to make up for not being able to move around much. One of these days they'll get me out of mosh retirement and in retrospect, this probably would've been the perfect time.

"Before Dishonor" and "Empty Promises" made the set from Satisfaction for all the people around in '97 and they brought it all the way to their recent release with the big pit turner "Looking Down the Barrel of Today"! While I miss Jasta just calling out the songs, it was good to see them stick to the same set list to make the most of their 30 minutes to get the crowd amped up for Clutch and Dropkick Murphys! Leaving the stage, they said they'd be back next year with a new album. Can't flippin wait!

The only disappointing factor in the show was the long waits in between bands. HATEBREED had the crowd amp'd up but then had to wait 30 minutes for CLUTCH to come out. Then there was 40 minutes between CLUTCH and DROPKICK MURPHYS to where the fans were getting extremely antsy waiting for The Boys to come back looking for trouble. In the end, everyone definitely got the price of their ticket and then some from this once in a lifetime bill! If this tour hasn't went thru yet and you got a chance to go, don't miss it! You'll kick yourself after words if you're not there.

SEE MORE OF BRETT's CLUTCH, HATEBREED and AMIGO THE DEVIL PICTURES HERE!

CLUTCH's set list
How to Shake Hands
Ghoul Wrangler
The Mob Goes Wild
H.B. is in Control
X-Ray Visions
Firebirds!
Gimme the Keys
Burning Beard
Vision Quest
Spirit of ‘76
In Walks Barbarella
Willie Nelson
Electric Worry
Rats

HATEBREED's set list
To The Threshold
Live for This
Before Dishonor
Last Breath
This is Now
Destroy Everything
Empty Promises
Looking Down the Barrel of Today
I Will Be Heard

LIVE : GWAR, HATEBREED, MISS MAY I and RINGWORM in Portland, OR and St. Paul, MN

GWAR, HATEBREED, MISS MAY I, RINGWORM
October 16, 2018 – Roseland Ballroom in Portland, OR
October 27, 2018 – Myth in St. Paul, MN
Photos by Brett Zisler

Not very often you get a chance to see two shows on the same tour – let alone 11 days apart from each other. I jumped at the opportunity to see this tour in two different venues in two different cities.

RINGWORM is a great opener for this tour. Metal with some thrash thrown in. The pit was going in both Portland and St. Paul. I don’t know too much about them but I’m guessing their set was close to the same in both cities. In St. Paul, I saw quite a few people walking around with Ringworm merch after their set!

MISS MAY I really impressed me in Portland. I had not seen the band in quite a while so I was very interested in seeing the band live again. Their set was the same in both cities coming out swinging with “Swallow Your Teeth” from their new album and going right into “Hey Mister” from At Heart. In both cities, the pits were circling and people were singing along to certain songs in the set. This band has come a long way since I saw them at Warped Tour on the At Heart album cycle – they are tighter musicians who put together a well crafted set. There was two slower songs that didn’t go over as well in St. Paul as they did in Portland. Both crowds were ready to mosh and Miss May I gladly gave the crowd what they wanted ending with “Under Fire” and “Shadows Inside.” I’m really looking forward to what this band does next. Listening to Shadows Inside again in between the Portland and St. Paul shows, they really have crafted their best work with this new album.

HATEBREED dominates every time you see them live. It’s cathartic. The best part about seeing Hatebreed live in two different cities is that you get two different sets. Yes, there were songs that were played in both cities. Jamey calls out the songs and Matt, Frank, Chris and Wayne crush it every time. I was going to jot down each song they played in St. Paul and I gave up about 5 songs in. I was too busy enjoying the show and I knew I missed a song. I never get tired of hearing songs from Satisfaction and Perseverance. The St. Paul set included a few more songs from The Rise of Brutality, which is now celebrating it's 15 year anniversary. Time to go back and revisit that album a little more!

Both Portland and St. Paul had fans coming out of “Mosh Retirement” for their set and at multiple points in both shows, I don’t know who was having more fun – the band or the crowd? That’s what keeps me coming back all these years later. I know Hatebreed are going to put on a phenomenal show filled with crowd interaction and at least one song you never thought you’d hear in the set (“Doomsayer” in St. Paul)! Next year will be the 25th Anniversary of Hatebreed and I can’t wait for them to come around again! I’m putting in my request right now for “Last Breath”!

One would think the crowd hit their peak during Hatebreed’s set. No, that was just them stretching. Portland’s Roseland Theater is easily half the size of St. Paul’s Myth – both in the overall size of the venue and in size of the stage. At the Myth, GWAR really got to spread out and utilize every inch of the space. In Portland, things seemed a little crowded but it never got in the way of the performance.

I’m not sure I want to admit this but these were my first two GWAR shows. I wish I would’ve saw them with Oderus. Reguardless, GWAR does not disappoint EVER. If you thought they did, then you didn’t engulf yourself in the show enough. I’ve never seen so many white t-shirts in my entire life at a concert and it was quickly pointed out why. It’s the ultimate souvenir! How much blood did you get on you?

People bring their families to this show. Long time GWAR fans bringing their kids to enjoy the experience with them. Who would’ve ever thought family bonding could be so much fun!?! This would prove to be extremely fun to watch just how these kids couldn’t believe what they were seeing, making new GWAR fans every night.

While I'm thinking about it ... how do they play so damn well with those huge costumes on? I don’t want to give away too much about the show as I don’t want to spoil it for someone who hasn’t seen the tour yet. The fun started off right away with “War on GWAR” and continued into “I’ll Be Your Monster”. "Saddam a Go-Go" showed up early in the set to many surprised fans! The VIP’s in St. Paul, were coming unglued waiting to be fed to the meat grinder. It wouldn’t be long and their dream would become a reality. Ending with the 1-2 finisher of "F*** This Place" and "Sick of You" and well, hopefully you survived. All that was missing was their cover of AC/DC's "If You Want Blood, You Got It" even though there was enough of that to go around.

The behind the scenes of a GWAR show would be extremely fascinating. One day I would be very interested to find out exactly how much blood they go thru each show. Who has to make all that blood each day? Who cleans up after a GWAR show? All questions that might never be answered but one asks anyways. Just enjoy more of Brett's pictures...

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRETT's GWAR, HATEBREED and MISS MAY I PHOTOS HERE!

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/26/18 - HATEBREED

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/26/18
GUESTS :: HATEBREED

HOUR 1
RAD OWL - "Aladdin's Castle" // madison beast
MERCY'S OWN - "this kiss goodnight" // self inflicted
THE MISFITS - "monster mash" // cuts from the crypt
THE SLAIN - "the vampire bat" // the slain
RED FANG - "not for you" // only ghosts
SIMS - "what they don't know" // more than ever
WEATHER CHECK - "sanity" // weather check vol II
THROW THE FIGHT - "skeletons" // skeletons - single

ARMS FOR ELEPHANTS - "vagrant" // all rise
BEARTOOTH - "you never know" // disease
KNOCKED LOOSE - "deadringer" // laugh tracks
DISKORD - "who am I?" // distance to nowhere
DIVIDING EDEN - "forever" // forever - single
7TH ASCENT - "misery loves company" // misery loves company - single
FALSE FLOOR - "seize the gravity" // seize the gravity - single
ENEMY X - "until you're free" // enemy x

HOUR 2
HATEBREED - "final prayer" // perserverance
HATEBREED - "looking down the barrel of today" // the concrete confessional
HATEBREED - "last breath" // satisfaction is the death of desire
MISS MAY I - "shadows inside" // shadows inside
HATEBREED - "A.D." // the concrete confessional
HATEBREED - "spitting venom" // supremacy

GWAR - "I'll be your monster" // the blood of gods
HATEBREED - "tear it down" // the rise of brutality
GWAR - "if you want blood (you got it)" // the blood of gods
SOULFLY feat RANDY BLYTHE - "dead behind the eyes" // ritual
GOUGE AWAY - "hey mercy" // burnt sugar
EVERY TIME I DIE - "floater" // hot damn
DESSA - "shrimp" // chime

**SPECIAL THANKS to MATT from HATEBREED for sitting down with the Midwest Beatdown tonight! GWAR and HATEBREED destroy the Myth in Maplewood, MN on Sat, Oct 27 with MISS MAY I and RINGWORM (ALL AGES SHOW)! HATEBREED's latest album "The Concrete Confessional" is out now via Nuclear Blast!

HATEBREED & CROWBAR @ First Avenue in Minneapolis 3/21/18

HATEBREED, CROWBAR, THE ACACIA STRAIN, TWITCHING TOUNGES
20 YEARS OF SATISFACTION & 15 YEARS OF PERSERVERANCE TOUR
FIRST AVENUE, MINNEAPOLIS - 3/21/18

A good live show makes you forget about the outside world and everything going on while you are there. A great live show provides a release. You’ve left everything at the door to let everything out.

I missed Twitching Tounges opening set but made it just in time for The Acacia Strain to take the stage. The band had a tight 30 min set and sent songs out to local favorites After the Burial, Disembodied and Martyr A.D. This is the third time I’ve seen the band live and they are good at what they do live. If you're in to deathcore, you'll be in to The Acacia Strain.

Crowbar took the stage and the crowd was ready for the sludge masters to take to the stage. Kirk and company were in fine form picking songs from throughout their entire catalog for their 13 song, 45 minute set that went by in a breeze. It seemed like everyone’s favorite Crowbar song was represented in the set. “All I Had (I Gave)” showing up early in the set. “Walk with Knowledge Wisely” sounded even thicker and heavier than on the record. I also realized I need to dig a little more in to the Crowbar catalog. Which in the end, isn’t that what a great live band should make you wanna do?

Hatebreed came out to a hero’s welcome. Launching right into the first track on Satisfaction is the Death of Desire, “Empty Promises” and the pit raged. Instead of going straight into “Burn the Lies” and “Before Dishonor” as the tracklisting goes, those songs instead appeared later in the set. If my memory serves me correctly, Jamey Jasta called out “To the Threshold” instead. Which was a sigh of relief, giving Brett 8 minutes to take pictures down front instead of 6 minutes.

I can’t remember exactly how the set list went as Jamey calls out the songs just before they play them. Even having guitarist Wayne Lozinak having to mouth them back to the other members if they didn’t catch it. This could be tragic for most bands, with someone playing a different song while the rest of the band plays the song called out. This would make for a lot of fun for everyone involved and an inevitable YouTube clip. But Hatebreed are professionals, folks. I'd like to see any other band try this with successful results.

I do know that not all of Satisfaction was played like on the first leg of the tour. But I’m sure that probably ended up growing old for the band using the first 28 minutes of their set just playing Satisfaction in it’s entirety. Then throwing a good chunk of Perseverance in there in the second half while leaving room for the last couple songs to come from their other 5 albums (not counting “For the Lions”) to close out their set.

Instead the band mixed up the set, grabbing songs from throughout their entire catalog and even managing to go back to Under the Knife for one song to send out to local legends Disembodied.

Former guitarist Sean Martin, came up to the stage for the last 4 songs – three of which came from Perseverance (the album which Sean played on). I don’t remember exactly what the last song was but it was not “Destroy Everything.” It’s omission from the set list would become the biggest surprise of the night.

The pit kept going the entire time, which was one of most active pits I’ve seen at First Avenue in a long time. The set was roughly 20-22 songs long and it left the crowd wanting more. But there was no encore. When the band left the stage, the overhead music came on and the band was done.

Whether you worked out frustrations in the pit running in a circle or screamed it out at the top of your lungs, you left it all on the floor and felt a calming sense of relief at the end of the 60 min set. Hatebreed proved exactly why 20+ years in, they are still on the top of their game. These are 5 guys that care as much as they did about the music and the fans now, just as much as they did then. This show was no different from any other show I’ve seen from them - good for the mind, body and soul. Catch them the next time they roll thru town.

Hit the jump to see more of Brett's pictures from Hatebreed and Crowbar!