Exodus – The Prophet Bar – Dallas, TX – September 7th
So on a day off between the Amandla and The Moistboyz tours, Ryan and I thought we would have some fun and go see Exodus. I personally hadn’t seen them since my senior year of High School, and Ryan, who has kept up with their output for most of that time, had been really excited about their new sound. He played me their last two records in full and I would have to say I agree that they really evolved into something that’s kept them alive and exciting, instead of dormant and repetitive. That mixed with some good ol nostalgia was enough to get us to go. Ryan has become increasingly choosy, so when he’s excited about a show, it’s hard not to be as well.
I hadn’t been here I think since it was the Prophet Bar, I remember coming here when it was the Gypsy Tea Room, but the staff here now are really hard to take. It seemed like everyone in line in front of us their was a problem with something, and then when we get up there its no different. I just went and found Eric, my good friend and Exodus’ Tour Manager and he straightened everything out.
Not a big crowd (probably less than 200 people) and the first person I see is Fred Flintstone (from the Rock N America entry) it was his birthday, so I get him a quick shot and then Ryan and I take our spot.
Now this band has been together for almost 30 years and has survived the death of two singers, and a few other lineup changes, but had a great mixture of the old sound with the new.
…and speaking of nostalgia, one of the first concerts I ever went to was the Headbanger’s Ball Tour w/ Exodus/Helloween/Anthrax (and John Tempesta’s first night on the drums) with my childhood friend Steve. The show was at the Fair Park Coliseum, so being around the Cotton Bowl and the Fairgrounds, and I remember my sister dropping us off. Well this was at the height of slam dancing at shows that was now referred to as moshing and the creation of a mosh pit. Like at that age, getting the t-shirt is as much if not more important than seeing the band, it seemed creating and participating in one of these mosh pits was just as crucial. We had seen it on TV and talked shit about how when its our turn we were gonna fuck shit up.
Secretly I was terrified of this, and never really thought for some reason that I would have to face that, or maybe thought that Steve also harbored some fears about it. However the minute we arrived he spots the pit in full swing, and makes a beeline for it. I was shitting myself, thinking “how the fuck am I gonna get out of this without looking like a total pussy?”.
Exodus had a hit song at the time called the Toxic Waltz (as everyone at the time seemingly was trying to claim this practice as their own by re-naming it).
Steve was a intimidating force and wasn’t a small kid, where as, I barely weighed 100 lbs at the time, and was kinda the target of alot of his outbursts because of it, so I had no choice to jump in.
When I did, I realized that, sure it was pretty violent, but not nearly as horrifying as I had feared and was pretty communal. I went on to spend quite a few nights in this type of environment eagerly as well, but since have grown a bit weary (and older) of the real violence that its kinda become.
But on this night, even though along time has passed I was wondering if they were gonna play it as the hit. And sure enough they did, and I have no idea what came over me, because now I would be the last person to do this, but as the first notes hit, I took of my glasses and handed them and my wallet to Ryan, who looked simultaneously shocked/supportive of this and into the pit I went.
Now because of the lack of attendance, it was one of those really lame ones, where only like 4 people are participating, but just to get myself to do it was enough for me (and enough to leave with a bleeding foot). Good times.
Ok so this was three days of seeing shows in a row, and quite a diverse mix. I had been greatly anticipating this show for a number of reasons. One other the obvious, was as I mentioned in the Exodus post, that when I was a teenager, the Thrash Metal movement was my freaking life. When I was 15, back when the only way to hear about upcoming shows was via radio announcement, our jaws hit the ground when we heard that a tour was gonna start in Dallas called Clash of the Titans – that featured Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth (and a little unknown band at the time called Alice in Chains)
The only band that was missing was Metallica as people were already referring to this elite group as the Big Four. Metallica had moved way ahead of the pack and was set for world domination with the upcoming Black Album and really had nothing to gain by making the collective association (and as time would tell with Nirvana’s Nevermind coming out later that year) and everything to lose. Though the other three bands were at the height of their popularity and at the top of their game they had not reached the ability to play venues this large individually, but collectively it was a not-to-miss event. A friend and I even camped out for tickets and got us and our whole crew front row seats.
The fact that this exact same concert (sans Alice in Chains naturally) was happening again in the exact same location and city as the first time around was enough to get me in the building. Not to mention to add to the festivities, Slayer was gonna do arguably their best LP Seasons in the Abyss in its entirety. as well as Megadeth giving the same treatment to their Rust in Peace LP. Also, Anthrax, who had barely toured with the Joey Belladonna reunited lineup in 2005 (and skipped Texas altogether) were now back with Joey after several severe missteps.
It wasn’t without some brouhaha however – after all this time, why can’t we get all four of the Big Four? – This tour was born after some obscenely large, nostalgia fueled offers were made to do a Big Four tour of festivals in Eastern Europe, were the four bands actually performed all in one show for 7 dates. The Bulgaria date was even simulcasted where you could see it via closed circuit at a local theater (and Ryan and I did exactly that…see April 2010 entry).
Make no mistake about it this was a Metallica production and I’m sure a hedged bet to see if would be a good idea to bring this tour Stateside, and the film’s ticket receipts would be the proverbial proof pudding. Apparently it didn’t do that well, cause Metallica decided not to pursue it any further, but the other 3 bands, fueled by all the new interest and high-profile activity, brought the tour stateside with just the three of them as the Jagermeister Tour.It was an early start time and I was meeting singer-dude at the show and I was running late. I couldn’t find parking anywhere but thankfully when I did, as I was crossing the street, he saw me and picked me up. We still missed the first two songs from Anthrax but if he hadn’t seen me we would have missed most of them and they were the main band I wanted to see since Joey was back and I’ve seen the other two bands probably 20 times each since I was a teenager.
It was sad to see how much peer-ship Anthrax has lost over the years. Though they will always be apart of this legendary club, they are really only riding a residual wave, as they have been treading water for years, through a series of poor lineup changes, mediocre albums and down-right baffling career choices. At the first Clash of the Titans the bands went in this order:
Slayer
Anthrax
Megadeth
with all bands having basically equal stage time and production. This time around, Anthrax’s backline was pushed all the way to the front
and might as well have been playing a small club with how much stage room they were given. Their name wasn’t even printed on the tickets, their logo pushed into almost obscurity under the tours namesake and now that guitarist/face-of-the-band Scott Ian is a professional poker player, they had to wear Ultimate Bet gear, likely just to pay for the tour, fucking sad for sure.
But they made good with the short time they had, and if nothing else, it was really great to see them and Joey again.
Setlist –
Caught in a Mosh
Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
Madhouse
Antisocial
Indians
Only
Metal Thrashing Mad
I Am the Law
Next up was Megadeth, who I loved as a kid and seem to still see every couple of years, however haven’t owned anything they have released since Countdown to Extinction. Leader Dave Mustaine who is known for a being difficult to work with and am sure was a long-holdout for any Big Four type of event due to his long, over-stated issues with Metallica, always seem to have a new lineup every couple of years. You don’t even really pay attention anymore, and if you had your choice bassist Dave Elefson will be there too, but as long as Mustaine walks out, its a Megadeth show. And let me tell you something, as much as you wanna hate Mustaine, and as much as you want to hear that in-spite of Elefson’s presence that they walked out there with two other faceless jobbers and embarrassed themselves, its the exact opposite. They stole this show, and this new lineup is their best in the band’s 25 + year history.
They fucking killed – Just walked out and played so intensely, and spot on, with zero bullshit. Even their newer, lesser known material did nothing to stop their momentum that just took off as they started the show with Rust in Peace from start to finish.
Setlist –
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Hangar 18
Take No Prisoners
Five Magics
Poison Was the Cure
Lucretia
Tornado of Souls
Dawn Patrol
Rust in Peace… Polaris
Encore:
Trust
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Next up is the indefatigable Slayer – who I also tend to see about once a year or so. Now, nothing can be said that can detract from the sheer brutality of this band, but the last few times I have seen them, it seemed to be a bit phoned it (as much as this band is capable of such a thing). But tonight we were benefiting, if nothing else, from perhaps maybe a little bit of competitiveness, cause after Megadeth blew things wide open, here comes Slayer with both barrels.
They did just two numbers, both off their newest record World Painted Blood before Tom Araya, asks the crowd in his most sadistic voice “Are you ready?” as we all knew that signaled that the entire Seasons in the Abyss LP was about to begin.
Setlist –
World Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Blood Red
Spirit in Black
Expendable Youth
Dead Skin Mask
Hallowed Point
Skeletons of Society
Temptation
Born of Fire
Seasons in the Abyss
Encore:
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
Aggressive Perfector
Angel of Death
Between Megadeth and Slayer, I walked out to the lawn area to see Ryan, who was sitting out there by himself (by choice, my man is very specific about his comfort) and shared our excitement, and were texting each other a bunch during Slayer’s set. Maybe one day the States will get to see all four of the Big Four together?