I've seen a lot of shows over the last five or so years. Some of them sort of historic. I was at Ozzfest in Philly when Rob Halford took the stage with Black Sabbath because Ozzy was sick. I was at Rolling Rock Town Fair when Disturbed beat the hell out of Finch onstage after members of Finch made some ugly remarks and then Disturbed came out later and stole the show from a still superb Velvet Revolver and completely upstaged Staind who were billed one higher.
I saw Pearl Jam at Philly last fall when they kept on playing after the lights came up and just refused to quit. I also saw PJ in Reading when bands were playing all over the State to support the Democrats in the last election. Also went to Audioslave/Seether at the Tweeter and man, can Cornell sing and Morello play guitar. I also saw the mighty Priest with an oldschool metal-playing Queensryche in NJ over the summer. Shit, I've been getting to every major and not-so major metal show I can afford. I was floored by Nickelback playing Metallica's Sad But True in Hershey and attended Summer Sanitarium where the big M closed down Veteran's Stadium. Historic to say the least...
I've seen Jackyl three times on the same stage at Crocodile Rock... all of them incredible, and it's hard to top a fucking chainsaw serenade.
The show on Tuesday trumps them all. It was equaled only by Scott, Charlie, Bush, Caggiano and Vera at the Trocadero on the Greater of Two Evils tour when I swear they were playing just for me and my buddy. I stood in front of Scott in awe, headbanging like a motherfucker that night. Got a big ass smile from Bush while screaming out the lyrics to What Doesn't Die. (I had a dorky Zelda shirt on, if you remember Mr. Wu). The energy that Anthrax has on stage in any lineup is equaled by very few. Sevendust has it some nights. Disturbed too. Judas Priest ALWAYS have it. They're the Metal Gods after all...
To make a long story short, I've been to a lot of shows. This one sits right up there at the top because 'thrax is what Metal is all about. You go out and you blow off every last bit of steam you have. You get rid of all your anxiety. You run out of breath. You pull muscles you didn't know you had. Most of all, you sing and scream because the power of the beats and the riffs compel you to. As Scott said after I'm The Man, it's about FUN. The fun of ripping it up like you're in the band as that elusive sixth man, providing the amped up energy everyone needs to get off. Wherever the band goes from here, I'll be back for more.
So thanks for the show once again to both band and fans. Hope to see you all somewhere down the road at another massive metal mixup. I'll be at 7Dust in Philly on the 28th. Back at the Croc for Loudness in April... \m/ ^_^ \m/
