The stage is cloaked in darkness and on comes Anthrax , thrash legends , a quarter of the Big Four , veterans . The band clearly don ’ t show their age as they bound across the stage and open with a fan selected setlist that goes down tremendously well . The production is medieval looking but with the added pizzazz of lasers and smoke machines . The mosh comes almost instantly and with the younger attendees feeling like a crowd surf will maximise tonights intensity and scenes inside the O2 Academy . Guitarist and icon Scott Ian head bangs and provides backing vocals to frontman Joey Belladonna who tonight is on exceptional form .
After a slight interval the 5 piece re-emerge to the sound of ‘ Among The Living ’ and this is where the fun really starts to amp up . Hit after hit , sing-a-long after sing-a-long with ‘ Caught In A Mosh ’ being a particular highlight from a professionally polished and throwback set . Charlie Benante gets all over his enormous drum kit and never misses a beat whilst bassist Frank Bello swaggers around the stage with his trademark mischievous grin plastered across his face . The only downside to tonight is the crowd . A lot of the audience are far too drunk , arguing , fighting or being inconsiderate to others around them which is not what our world is about . Whether they ’ ll remember witnessing Among The Living in full is unknown , if not , then they definitely missed something special .
Words and photos by Joshua Clarke .
Anthrax
Support : The Raven Age O2 Academy Bristol 11th february 2017
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