05/20 - Toronto, ON – Sound Academy

[frightfan]

My name is frightfan and I'm a recovered hair-metal fan.

I know. And I'm sorry.

This was my first Testament show and my first time actually hearing them at all, frankly. To me, Testament was always extremely important in metal and in thrash, but back in the 80s/90s, I just wasn't into "real" metal yet. However, I did sense their importance and maintained a respect for them in the back of my mind.

Having been there in person now, I can definitely say I've been schooled.

I went with my brother who was there just to see 'Unearth' and had not even heard of 'Testament'. When getting the tickets, he asked for "the Unearth show" -- which I was thoroughly aghast at. He was uninterested until I explained to him that although even preppies have been known to (ironically) sport a Slayer or Metallica shirt, only the "scary kids" ever wore Testament.

It was one hell of a show, to be sure. Beer, boobs, blood all over the bathrooms and on the floor, bodies left and right, up and down and all the while the furies of Hell were stirring the molten audience more and more vigorously. We were exhausted!!

I don't have the set list, or I'd be happy to post it. Actually, I wouldn't mind finding out what songs I heard, if anyone from here was there. From what Billy actually named, I believe we were hearing the 'C' setlist, or a variation thereof.

I am curious about one song which stood out because the first half of it was slower than usual and actually sung, while the rest was sped up to the usual fury. Could it have been The Legacy perhaps? It seems in my mind that it was around the early 2nd half of the show.

Anyway, to the guys in Testament, you have earned 2 new fans for sure.

 

[one man]

That's a cool story, thanks for sharing. The slow song was probably "The Legacy", like you said. It's from the "Souls of Black" album (1990). You might want to check out their other balladish stuff, which is "Return to Serenity" (from 1992's "The Ritual"), "Trail of Tears" (1994's "Low"), "The Ballad" (1989's "Practice What You Preach") and the title track from "The Ritual" too. "Leave me Forever" off the new album is also slow and sung in the beginning and then turns to total madness.
Legacy, Return and Trail are also available in acoustic versions (with female back up vocals) on the album "Live at the Fillmore" (1995)

As for the setlist - they're not playing the exact setlist C. Some of the songs have been replaced, but if you check other topics here you'll find what they've been playing recently.
There surely was Practice What You Preach, Sins of Omission, Souls of Black, Electric Crown, Over the Wall, DNR, The Haunting, 3 Days in Darkness, The Persecuted Won't Forget, The New Order, Burnt Offerings, Disciples of the Watch, Into the pit, The preacher, More than meets the eye and The Formation of damnation. Some of these could have been replaced with stuff like Do or Die, Alone in the Dark, Raging Waters, Low, Henchmen Ride or Demonic Refusal.

Have fun with discovering the music of Testament - there's some really diverse stuff.