Music > Live Reviews

Anthrax

The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

18/02/17

If you’d have said to me back in 1989, when I walked out of Hammersmith Odeon, that it would be 28 years before I saw Anthrax live again I’d have laughed in your face. If you’d told me that the next time I saw them would be in Norwich, I’d have laughed even harder. At the time they were rightly one of the biggest metal bands in the world - pioneers of the thrash movement, awash with credibility. Changing tastes and changing lead singers though meant that the next few decades didn’t always keep the momentum on an upwards curve. However, since the turn of this decade the band have released two highly regarded studio albums and there is a genuine sense that they are reclaiming lost ground.

Before the main event we had support band The Raven Age, an up and coming Brit metal band featuring George Harris, son of Iron Maiden bassist Steve. I’m not particularly interested in the current metal scene so I may not be in the best position to judge their set but I’m afraid I found them incredibly boring. A lot of bluster, trying too hard for little reward without the merest whiff of attitude. Their emo tinged alternative metal may well find an audience with a younger Download crowd, but the response here was polite rather than enthusiastic.

The LCR has become a slightly more corporate venue in recent years, but there’s no denying that as a venue there’s nowhere better in Norwich to see a big band. Once you’ve squeezed onto the dance floor, great views are guaranteed and the stage is large enough to give a sense of scale to the show. Anthrax made full use of this with excellent lights, a huge backdrop and, during the second half of the show, the all important ramps. We got two sets, the first featuring some classic tracks and a selection of songs from their recent records. As an hour of live music, set one was pretty much gig perfection. The band played like a well drilled machine, the sound was perfect, the newer material getting a brilliant response from the lively crowd. Actually as crowds go this was about as full on as it gets in Norwich - a large mosh pit kept going for most of the night, with some impressive circle pits as well. New tracks like Breathing Lightning more than held their own alongside early cuts like Medusa.

After an hour we had a brief 20 minute interval before the band returned to play their classic 1987 album Among The Living in full. It’s moments like this when the passing of time hits you like a sledgehammer - I saw them on the original tour 30 years ago. Where’d it go, huh? One of the best things about the gig was how much the band were enjoying themselves - singer Joey Belladonna was just fantastic. The fact that he is a singer not a shouter always helped to make Anthrax stand out from the pack, and his voice and appearance seem to have been untroubled by the passing of time. Charlie Benante on drums was phenomenal, a veritable two armed octopus, locking in tight with bassist Frank Bello. New guitarist Jonathan Donais may not have the same level of love from the crowd, but he sure could play. Which just leaves us with the heart and soul of the band  - Scott Ian. Apart from Malcolm Young I can’t think of a better example of rhythm guitar playing than Scott’s - never have I admired another man’s right hand technique as much as Scott’s, he was like a surgeon, precision key to his power.

The album order was changed to better suit a live setting, and tracks like I Am The Law, Caught In A Mosh and Indians sounded every bit as groundbreaking as they always have. Their hardcore influences were evident, and the occasional hip hop beat was also there, showing how Anthrax were always so much more than just another metal band. The crowd pretty much kept up the energy levels, but it also felt at times that they’d gone out too hard in the first set and there were definitely moments when the band seemed slightly frustrated with how little they were getting back, even though as I mentioned earlier this was about as rowdy as a Norwich audience gets.

This was a textbook example of a big league metal show - well over two hours of brilliance. If I was being picky I think I would have rather had the album played in full during the first set, with the second set reserved for the new material and classics - hearing my favourite song Madhouse so early in the evening was great, but even better had it been the final song of the night. Anthrax have spent a lot of time in recent years playing festivals or as part of package tours, and incredibly this was their first run of UK headline shows in 10 years. They proved that they are still a quality headline act, and actually there’s no need to play old albums in full to draw a crowd - whatever set they had played, a packed LCR would have been out in force and loving every minute of it. So - Slayer in Norwich next please.