Here's the full review, hope you like it guys. Special thanks to gabo03, Leo, Lauro, Saul and Victor for helping me fill up the blanks!
REVIEW
After the tremendous influx of concerts that have been parading into Monterrey, it was amazing to see how many people came out disappointed of one of the most awaited concerts, the legendary Boston group, Aerosmith. After much anticipation, they offered a "by the numbers" concert, with nothing to write home about, and a very short set list that left everyone wanting more, and not in a good way. Luckily, the bad taste didn't last long. Another legend came to town to show how a concert should be done, with style..
Monterrey was introduced to Testament's Legacy
While Thrash was dominated by the Big Four, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer, Testament has always been considered the unofficial number 5, and more than one educated fan considers they maybe should occupy a place in the aforementioned big four. April 20th, Testament made their return to Mexico, and presented themselves for the first time ever in Monterrey, at the usual rock escape place, Café Iguanas, located at Monterrey's club scene, Barrio Antiguo. The image that never grows old while waiting for access is that of 500-700 hairy metalheads, dressed in black with demons all over, armed to the teeth with chains and spikes, while the "nice" people go to their "nice", trendy clubs to dance the latest Britney Spears song, and they have to actually walk trough this black sea of metalheads hungry and thirsty for blood. The scared shitless faces make it a Kodak moment if there ever was one.
On a pretty full Iguanas, close to 500 people, 5 figures made their way unto the stage, and we could only see how the biggest figure let out a shrieking scream: "THE PREACHEEER!!!" With all guns blazing, Testament unleashed the delirium and the massacre on Monterrey. We were treated to this current incarnation, which consists of almost the whole original lineup. Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar, Greg Christian on bass, the amazing Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Nick Barker (ex-Cradle of Filth) on drums, and the emblematic Chuck Billy on vocals, ready to demonstrate how a legend performs for their audience. The lethal combo of the aforementioned " The Preacher" and "The New Order" were the first salvo for an impressive mosh pit, that didn't stop beating the crap out of each other since the first note until the very end of the concert.
As the absolute lords of the place, Testament gave us a concert focused pretty heavily on their early records, "The Legacy" and "The New Order", probably to better suit the technical wizardry of Alex Skolnick, a pretty wise move. If "the Haunting" hadn't hooked you in yet, "Electric Crown", with the intense riffing of Peterson and Skolnick's searing solos would have completed that mission. Throwing more wood into the mosh pit's fire, "D.N.R. (Do Not Resucitate)" came on, and you could only see body after body lunged unto the air, not all of them guaranteed of a safe landing. Like beasts, Nick Barker was a jackhammer on the drums, doing an excellent job, and it was impossible to take your eyes off Greg Christian, on a very good night, and probably the most unorthodox bass playing I can remember, like a possessed spider man but every single note was high quality stuff, tonight, Testament was a well oiled machine firing on all cylinders.
With the song set they had brought on, there was no way of slowing down the insanity this well seasoned Bay Area Trashers brought upon us. "Three Days in Darkness", "Over the Wall". Chuck Billy decided to measure the devotion of the Monterrey audience, by checking out if they "Practiced What you Preach" PREACH!! The smashes and trashes got harder on the pit, and Chuck calmed em down with the excellent ballad, "The Legacy". While not the mountain of muscles he used to be, Chuck is still a massive figure, with great charisma that really connected with the audience, as he seemed genuinely happy to be there, and for us, who hadn't seen him since before his publicized battle with cancer (which he came out victorious off, testament (no pun intended) of Chuck's toughness), any doubt about the quality of his voice was cleared with this song, still displaying the amazing versatility and different ranges he has always been famous for. There's a good reason he is considered an icon of Thrash Metal, and we Mexicans were more than happy to see it on full display tonight.
To thank the support from the fans, he called up the pit to get even MORE brutal, with the adequate "Into the pit". A little bit more, and you would have seen bones flying out of that thing. Truly a sight. Greg Christian then led everyone into the classis, "Souls of Black", and they closed with "Trial By Fire", before an audience that was not ready to let go.
In quite possibly the most honest thing I've seen in concerts, Chuck asked if we wanted one, two, or maybe even three more songs and said they were not gonna trick us and then come back, they were just going to the back for a couple beers, then coming back to sing em. Honest sonovabitch, aint he???
Pretty much the most sung along song of the night, and very fresh on the metalhead's minds thanks to the Herenwen girl's excellent cover a couple months ago at the Metal Fest, Testament came back with "Alone in the Dark", this time by the originals, in the flesh, and it's an absolute guilty pleasure to see Alex Skolnick go insane while soloing at arm's length. The man is really one of the most talented and classy guitarists on the thrash genre, and this is a genre already known for it's six string geniuses. "Burnt Offerings" and lastly, "Disciples of the Watch" proceeded to close the metal feast we were offered, all the while security was going crazy with a bevy of human torpedoes that came flying one after another. Tough shit, that's metal, and exactly the way a thrash concert should be!
Testament left the stage triumphantly. They demonstrated how a metal legend gives the crowd what they came to see. I have said it before, there is nothing like a band that enjoys being there for the crowd, and Testament was completely into it's crowd. This band inspires respect, deserves respect, and shit, DEMANDS RESPECT! The blood, sweat, bruises and neck pain from the crowd was our way of demonstrating the level of respect we had for this lords of metal, from whom we already anxiously await their return. A true icon of the anger and fury that is this music, Thrash!!
Set List:
*The Preacher
*The New Order
*The Haunting
*Electric Crown
*D.N.R. ( Do Not Resucitate)
*Three Days in Darkness
*Over The Wall
*Practice What you Preach
*The Legacy
*Into The Pit
*Souls of Black
*Trial By Fire
*Alone in the Dark
*Burnt Offerings
*Disciples of the Watch
REVIEW
After the tremendous influx of concerts that have been parading into Monterrey, it was amazing to see how many people came out disappointed of one of the most awaited concerts, the legendary Boston group, Aerosmith. After much anticipation, they offered a "by the numbers" concert, with nothing to write home about, and a very short set list that left everyone wanting more, and not in a good way. Luckily, the bad taste didn't last long. Another legend came to town to show how a concert should be done, with style..
Monterrey was introduced to Testament's Legacy
While Thrash was dominated by the Big Four, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer, Testament has always been considered the unofficial number 5, and more than one educated fan considers they maybe should occupy a place in the aforementioned big four. April 20th, Testament made their return to Mexico, and presented themselves for the first time ever in Monterrey, at the usual rock escape place, Café Iguanas, located at Monterrey's club scene, Barrio Antiguo. The image that never grows old while waiting for access is that of 500-700 hairy metalheads, dressed in black with demons all over, armed to the teeth with chains and spikes, while the "nice" people go to their "nice", trendy clubs to dance the latest Britney Spears song, and they have to actually walk trough this black sea of metalheads hungry and thirsty for blood. The scared shitless faces make it a Kodak moment if there ever was one.
On a pretty full Iguanas, close to 500 people, 5 figures made their way unto the stage, and we could only see how the biggest figure let out a shrieking scream: "THE PREACHEEER!!!" With all guns blazing, Testament unleashed the delirium and the massacre on Monterrey. We were treated to this current incarnation, which consists of almost the whole original lineup. Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar, Greg Christian on bass, the amazing Alex Skolnick on lead guitar, Nick Barker (ex-Cradle of Filth) on drums, and the emblematic Chuck Billy on vocals, ready to demonstrate how a legend performs for their audience. The lethal combo of the aforementioned " The Preacher" and "The New Order" were the first salvo for an impressive mosh pit, that didn't stop beating the crap out of each other since the first note until the very end of the concert.
As the absolute lords of the place, Testament gave us a concert focused pretty heavily on their early records, "The Legacy" and "The New Order", probably to better suit the technical wizardry of Alex Skolnick, a pretty wise move. If "the Haunting" hadn't hooked you in yet, "Electric Crown", with the intense riffing of Peterson and Skolnick's searing solos would have completed that mission. Throwing more wood into the mosh pit's fire, "D.N.R. (Do Not Resucitate)" came on, and you could only see body after body lunged unto the air, not all of them guaranteed of a safe landing. Like beasts, Nick Barker was a jackhammer on the drums, doing an excellent job, and it was impossible to take your eyes off Greg Christian, on a very good night, and probably the most unorthodox bass playing I can remember, like a possessed spider man but every single note was high quality stuff, tonight, Testament was a well oiled machine firing on all cylinders.
With the song set they had brought on, there was no way of slowing down the insanity this well seasoned Bay Area Trashers brought upon us. "Three Days in Darkness", "Over the Wall". Chuck Billy decided to measure the devotion of the Monterrey audience, by checking out if they "Practiced What you Preach" PREACH!! The smashes and trashes got harder on the pit, and Chuck calmed em down with the excellent ballad, "The Legacy". While not the mountain of muscles he used to be, Chuck is still a massive figure, with great charisma that really connected with the audience, as he seemed genuinely happy to be there, and for us, who hadn't seen him since before his publicized battle with cancer (which he came out victorious off, testament (no pun intended) of Chuck's toughness), any doubt about the quality of his voice was cleared with this song, still displaying the amazing versatility and different ranges he has always been famous for. There's a good reason he is considered an icon of Thrash Metal, and we Mexicans were more than happy to see it on full display tonight.
To thank the support from the fans, he called up the pit to get even MORE brutal, with the adequate "Into the pit". A little bit more, and you would have seen bones flying out of that thing. Truly a sight. Greg Christian then led everyone into the classis, "Souls of Black", and they closed with "Trial By Fire", before an audience that was not ready to let go.
In quite possibly the most honest thing I've seen in concerts, Chuck asked if we wanted one, two, or maybe even three more songs and said they were not gonna trick us and then come back, they were just going to the back for a couple beers, then coming back to sing em. Honest sonovabitch, aint he???
Pretty much the most sung along song of the night, and very fresh on the metalhead's minds thanks to the Herenwen girl's excellent cover a couple months ago at the Metal Fest, Testament came back with "Alone in the Dark", this time by the originals, in the flesh, and it's an absolute guilty pleasure to see Alex Skolnick go insane while soloing at arm's length. The man is really one of the most talented and classy guitarists on the thrash genre, and this is a genre already known for it's six string geniuses. "Burnt Offerings" and lastly, "Disciples of the Watch" proceeded to close the metal feast we were offered, all the while security was going crazy with a bevy of human torpedoes that came flying one after another. Tough shit, that's metal, and exactly the way a thrash concert should be!
Testament left the stage triumphantly. They demonstrated how a metal legend gives the crowd what they came to see. I have said it before, there is nothing like a band that enjoys being there for the crowd, and Testament was completely into it's crowd. This band inspires respect, deserves respect, and shit, DEMANDS RESPECT! The blood, sweat, bruises and neck pain from the crowd was our way of demonstrating the level of respect we had for this lords of metal, from whom we already anxiously await their return. A true icon of the anger and fury that is this music, Thrash!!
Set List:
*The Preacher
*The New Order
*The Haunting
*Electric Crown
*D.N.R. ( Do Not Resucitate)
*Three Days in Darkness
*Over The Wall
*Practice What you Preach
*The Legacy
*Into The Pit
*Souls of Black
*Trial By Fire
*Alone in the Dark
*Burnt Offerings
*Disciples of the Watch
