Anthrax "classic" line-up
By Tim Den
Monday. May 16, 5:35 AM
live at House of Blues (Chicago, IL) April 30th and May 1st, 2005.

Finally, after months of hype and anticipation, the “classic” Anthrax line up – vocalist Joey Belladonna, lead guitarist Dan Spitz, rhythm guitarist/backup vocalist Scott Ian, bassist/backup vocalist Frank Bello, and drummer Charlie Benante – made their live debut on these brisk evenings in front of their beloved Chicago. Okay, so they played one show the night before in Detroit, but who cares? Chicago has been and will always be the band’s favorite city, so naturally these shows felt more like the real beginning of the whole reunion parade. The electricity in the air was palpable! This was history in the making!

Night One: a documentary of the band preceded the monumental unveiling, drawing massive response from the sold out crowd as fans sang along to bits of songs playing in the background. When the film reached the point where Belladonna was replaced by current vocalist John Bush, there was an equal amount of boos and cheers. But no matter, cuz soon the lights dimmed and the pre-recorded intro of “Among the Living” filtered through the speakers… the shit was ON.

The crowd roared so loud I was squinting. The band was firing on all cylinders as one classic after another pummeled the audience. I don’t think there was one person in attendance who wasn’t singing along: “AMONG THE LIVING!” Fucking A, earth shattering! “Got the Time” and “Caught in a Mosh” followed, as bodies flew overhead and the floor exploded into a humungoid pit. There was even an actual circle pit going on at one point! More importantly, there was no tough guy posturing or show-off karate hijinks: everyone had a smile on their face and looked liked they were in ecstasy. People were having WAY too good of a time to act “cool.” The look of disbelief as “classic” Anthrax ripped through their hits were on many youngsters’ faces. Ah, the memories.

Packed in right at the front, I screamed and threw my fists into the air with every word like the 14 year-old metal dork I use to be. Cuz personally, this was a day that I had waited 15 years for. Back in ’90, my two favorite bands were Iron Maiden and Anthrax. When the two bands announced a tour together that included my hometown of Miami, I spent a week’s worth of allowance on buying a ticket. My dreams of gigantic metal goodness, however, were dashed when Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson got laryngitis and cancelled the entire Florida leg. I got my refund, but not my innocence restored. My hopes of moshing my equally pimpled / scrawny / mulleted friends had been violated. Not even Clash of the Titans could redeem what I lost: the Miami show sold out before I got a jump on it. And though I would get to see Maiden on the Fear of the Dark tour – witnessing Dickinson before he quit – I never got to see the Belladonna-era Anthrax. The Sound of White Noise tour was just not the same.

On this night, however, my childhood scars were healed. Motherfucker, they played “A.I.R.” and “In My World!” Shitballs!!! I sang “I’M NOT AFRAID!” so loud that people near by were giving me high-fives. Fuck yes! “Efilnekufesin (N.F.L.),” “Antisocial,” “Deathrider” (the “groovy,” The Greater of Two Evils version), “Madhouse,” “Medusa,” all the classics. They even whipped out “Lone Justice!” Joey’s voice sounded great (although he ran out of breath a few times from running around so much) and Danny (who looks like a bodybuilder nowadays) played the solos note-for-note. Magical.

Closing the set with “I Am the Law,” I thought the walls were going to fall down from the crowd chanting the chorus. Scott brought out the Dimebag signature guitar and tore it up. Right on. Had we had enough? What do you think? The band returned with “Be All, End All,” “Metal Thrashing Mad,” “I’m the Man,” and finally “Indians.” Joey wore a Chicago Blackhawks jersey during most of the encore (much to the fans’ delight), and even put on a headdress during “Indians.” But nothing beat the two guys in the crowd who brought their own headdresses. As they crowd surfed during the song, Frank was laughing so hard at the sight that he almost fell over. That shit was golden.

Of course, the “WARDANCE!” breakdown part was the most vicious of the night. I think I saw people getting trampled. And wait… holy poopmongrel is that Keanu Motherfucking Reeves in the pit!!!??? And comedian Brian Posehn headbanging!!!??? Am I in The Twilight Zone?

As the first night came to a close, my voice was hoarse and I was still in disbelief that I saw the “classic” Anthrax line up. And to think, another night was to come!

Night Two: having completely geeked out the night before and in much better control of my emotions / bodily functions, I stood near the back on this night and tried to be more nonbiased toward my returning heroes. Blurrily I remembered that the night before was not all picture perfect: Joey’s rants and continuous shout outs to his “doper” friends (stage right) were jarring, there was obvious distance between the band members (kinda like old friends trying to catch up and figure out each other’s senses of humor again), and Danny seemed apathetic at times. Joey was also so overly eager that he repeatedly cut off Scott’s in-between-song speeches. Still working out the kinks for sure.

But if I was looking for improvements, I was not getting any. The second night turned out to be somewhat of a mess. First and foremost, Danny’s guitar rig (and at times Frank’s bass rig) was having technical problems throughout the first five, six songs. Each time he would get pissed, take the guitar off and stand off-stage in a whirlwind of anger. The last time his rig fucked up, he literally threw the guitar into a roadie’s hands and walked backstage. In the middle of a song. The band finished the tune, but it was obvious that confusion had set in. Should they kick the guitar tech’s ass? Be mad at Danny? Keep playing? Wait and fix the problem? Thankfully, Joey kept the crowd’s enthusiasm alive by bantering about how appreciative he is of the band’s decision to reunite. Indeed, this was the one instance where Joey absolutely saved the night. His true gratitude showed and he carried himself like a great frontman, gripping the crowd in his hand while difficulties were being sorted out. The next song soon followed with all equipment at 100%: awesome!

At one point last night, Joey announced the wrong song and the front row reacted by chanting “Joey fucked up!” a la the live version of “I’m the Man.” But this night it was all the band’s fault: during the second verse of (ironically) “I’m the Man” and the very beginning of “Indians,” there were major derailings that borderlined on amateur hour. Perhaps the band partied too hard after last night’s victory? Cuz they were rusty as all hell. At least the band were able to turn the “I’m the Man” fuck up into a part of the song’s tradition: everyone yelled “Scotty fucked up!” till the man himself said “reminds me of childhood” to loud laughter. Another obstacle cleared!

The setlist this night didn’t differ much from the night before, save no “Lone Rider” but yes “Panic.” Oh, and “Keep it in the Family” too. What a fucking song, Belladonna or Bush. One of the band’s best, I’d argue. Slow and simmering. I was looking forward to “Gung Ho,” “Armed and Dangerous,” “Intro to Reality,” and “Belly of the Beast” (all of which Detroit got; some of which were written on the setlist but skipped over), but alas no dice. Chicago Blackhawks jersey again, but no headdress or movie star cameo this time.

The crowd, half of whom presumably didn’t witness last night’s triumphant glory, loved every minute of the show and didn’t give two flying fucks about the glitches. And though the band retreated this night a bit more wounded, it didn’t matter: “classic” Anthrax’s road to reconquering the throne had begun. Who knows how long it will last or where it will take them, but for two nights – warts and all – it was 1986 all over again. Hallelujah.

(read an interview with drummer Charlie Benante here)
www.anthrax.com

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Tim Den

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