Photo Credit: Martin Smith (23rd – Eventim Apollo, London)
This was set to be a special night of thrash metal music with no less than three bands on the stage as Anthrax, Kreator and Testament bring the energy for this last night of the UK leg of the tour. Upon entering the OVO Hydro for a very early 6.30pm start, the first thing we noticed was that the top tier seating was not being used tonight, instead the standing area and the seating behind would be filled to capacity making for a more intimate show.
We arrived at the standing area drink in hand just in time for the Beastie Boys intro with Fight For Your Right, the arena was around half-full by the time Testament took to the stage as they began the set with Do Not Resuscitate taken from the 1999 album The Gathering. This was quickly followed by 3 Days In Darkness from that same album, thing are heating up already as flames shoot up into the air and the fans are all nodding along. Vocalist Chuck Billy then moved into a couple of tracks from last album release Titans Of Creation, released in 2020 which was unbelievably their thirteenth album since forming in Berkeley, California in 1983. The track WWIII is very relevant right now as the first waves of crowd surfing begin and it certainly wouldn’t be the last! Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick are standouts on guitar during the thirteen track set with the best moment being the last song, Into The Pit when a massive mosh pit opens up before everyone gets a well deserved rest after a thrilling hour-long set. 9/10
After a short turnaround it was now time for German band Kreator to try to match the energy of Testament and that they did big time, the OVO Hydro was now packed as metalheads young and old stood side by side in varying types of clobber (and hairstyles!). As we all sing along to Iron Maiden track Run To The Hills the curtain falls down and the stage setup is jaw dropping with massive demons dotted around the stage and corpses hanging from the above the stage, for sure one of the best stage setups we have saw at the OVO Hydro. Just last week Kreator released the Live In Chile album but their last actual studio album was 2022s Hate Uber Alles and that is the first track of thirteen during the seventy-five minute set and it’s the same energy as the opener with a wall of death added in for good measure. The Glasgow crowd are right up for this one tonight! Kreator were formed way back in 1982 with a few line-up changes during that time, Mille Petrozza on vocals and rhythm guitar and drummer Jurgen Reil are the only original members in the band. Playing a good mixture of tracks old and new from their astounding fifteen studio albums Enemy Of God and 666-World Divided were early highlights from the set while it was hard to keep our eyes off the crowd as there was always something going on with mosh pits, crowd surfing and walls of deaths the order of the night. As two demons took to the stage holding flame candles they proceeded to light two effigies to the delight of the crowd, Hail To The Hordes and Satan Is Real from the Gods Of Violence album kept the energy high but the highlight for us was Violent Revolution from the album of the same name. Anthrax now have a lot to live up to! 9/10
We have now had well over two hours of music and the main act aren’t even on the stage yet, a decision was made to find a seat for the Anthrax set where we could watch in a more relaxed manner. The whole arena was buzzing with anticipation for the main act that were formed in New York City in 1981, guitarist Scott Ian may be the only original member but drummer Charlie Benante joined in 1983 and has been an ever present since then while bassist Frank Bello and vocalist Joey Belladonna have came and went with Jonathan Donais on lead guitar being the most recent addition in 2013. There was a prolonged video montage with stars of music and film paying tribute to one of the “Big Four” Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer being the other three, each one of them receiving a cheer from the crowd. With the biggest cheer going to horror writer Stephen King who comments “Fucking Anthrax, rock on you son’s of bitches” with Tom Morello and Lady Gaga also contributing among many others. The band were still behind the curtain at this point playing the opening notes of A.I.R and as they hit the main riffs the curtain came down and the fans went wild. If that wasn’t enough to get the crowd worked up then next song Got The Time did as the cover of the Joe Jackson track gets the mosh started once again, this track is taken from the Persistence Of Time album and one of their biggest songs. Scott Ian is strutting around the stage having the time of his life and defying his years and seems to have the energy of a 21-year-old while Joey Belladonna is putting on a great show on vocals. The energy reaches palpable levels during Caught In A Mosh as that very thing breaks out among those standing, it’s the biggest one of the night for sure while Madhouse is another big moment from the Anthrax set and their biggest streamed song with over sixty-six millions streams. The set was a track short of Kreator’s at twelve but they seemed to be longer songs, the best of the dozen were I Am The Law and Antisocial. After a short break they were back at it with Indians before finishing off with Gung-Ho, to be honest everyone was absolutely exhausted by then. The following day the media reported that Scott Ian had popped into Glasgow pub The Pot Still for a pre-gig whiskey and why not! We hope to see these guys back in Glasgow soon. 10/10
As we all exit the arena after 11pm some may not be making it to work in the morning (this guy still made it up at 04.45) but it was well worth it as Rainbow track Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll played us out of the OVO Hydro. Make no mistake this was not just another metal gig, this was a three and a half hour celebration of thrash metal that rocked the OVO Hydro to the core. To end what was already a great night there were two young lads at Kilwinning train station proudly flying an Anthrax flag and singing the songs proving that a new generation of thrash metal fans are already out there.
Written by: Alan Brown
