I Still Don’t Know What They’re Striking Back At
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 1:39 am
Good morning,
I just got home from The Bay Strikes Back Tour, which had three bands on the bill: Death Angel, Exodus, and Testament. Here’s the initial takeaway:
1. Milwaukee is a thrash town. Great attendance, for these three bands.
2. The show was run more efficiently than any other show I have ever seen. The ticket said the show would start at 6:50p, and it was off by maybe thirty seconds.
3. Death Angel went first; as I am rather unfamiliar with Death Angel, I can’t comment too much on the songs. Ted Aguilar played his signature ESP through a Mesa head, but I swear I saw a Kemper rack and an Axe FX II in the rack case. Must have been Rob Cavestany’s. Fun show; I’ll definitely check out more Death Angel.
4. Gary Holt is playing Jubilees through his signature cabs, as we all saw in his most recent Rig Rundown. It sounded great.
5. Holt makes his playing look effortless, unlike most of the guitarists on the bill, save for Alex Skolnick. I will discuss Skolnick later. You can definitely tell he was a disciple of Kirk Hammett; he used that wah constantly.
6. Steve “Zetro” Souza is a hilarious vocalist. What I mean is, he sings like he’s explaining the lyrics to you. He is also a vocalist who, at first sight, you can tell how he will sing.
7. Tom Hunting, the drummer, showed his gastrectomy scar - he had stomach cancer for the past few years, and his recovery was a major factor in the tour’s delay; it also gave Exodus time to complete Persona Non Grata, the new album, which has some killer songs.
8. There was a lady in a wheelchair in the pit during some of Exodus’ set, and she was body-passed a few times. This did not go unnoticed by the band. I applaud her; there’s no way a wheelchair should have to spoil her good time.
9. Testament had some mix issues. For some reason, Eric Peterson and the drummer, who I will discuss next, drowned out Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick.
10. Dave. Fucking. Lombardo. He looked completely serious (the rest of the band, especially Alex Skolnick, did not), and it was just natural for him to be behind the kit. Never mind the fact that the last time he was in Testament was for The Gathering, back in 1999. He sounded like he had been there since day one, and it was absolutely perfect.
11. Skolnick had some tasty licks, as always. He made his playing so fluid, it almost looked fake. But it wasn’t.
12. Steve DiGiorgio is otherworldly fluid on bass, as well.
13. Back to the mix: How the fuck can a Kemper and Dave Lombardo on drums drown out everything else?
14. Good setlist, from the majority of their catalog. A lot of Titans, and Chuck probably put the most into Native Blood, for obvious reasons.
14. There were a fair number of attractive women there, many of whom were with doughier guys than I, which gives me hope. The crowd was pretty diverse, in terms of age.
15. Is it a Bay Area thing, or do all frontmen take extreme interest in whether or not we are enjoying ourselves? And Zetro really doubled down on the safety. Then again, he sings like a damn seminar, with the most ridiculous voice, and you know that’s what he’s going to sound like, so maybe I shouldn’t read too much into it.
I’ll write more later. I want to go to sleep.
Thank you.
I just got home from The Bay Strikes Back Tour, which had three bands on the bill: Death Angel, Exodus, and Testament. Here’s the initial takeaway:
1. Milwaukee is a thrash town. Great attendance, for these three bands.
2. The show was run more efficiently than any other show I have ever seen. The ticket said the show would start at 6:50p, and it was off by maybe thirty seconds.
3. Death Angel went first; as I am rather unfamiliar with Death Angel, I can’t comment too much on the songs. Ted Aguilar played his signature ESP through a Mesa head, but I swear I saw a Kemper rack and an Axe FX II in the rack case. Must have been Rob Cavestany’s. Fun show; I’ll definitely check out more Death Angel.
4. Gary Holt is playing Jubilees through his signature cabs, as we all saw in his most recent Rig Rundown. It sounded great.
5. Holt makes his playing look effortless, unlike most of the guitarists on the bill, save for Alex Skolnick. I will discuss Skolnick later. You can definitely tell he was a disciple of Kirk Hammett; he used that wah constantly.
6. Steve “Zetro” Souza is a hilarious vocalist. What I mean is, he sings like he’s explaining the lyrics to you. He is also a vocalist who, at first sight, you can tell how he will sing.
7. Tom Hunting, the drummer, showed his gastrectomy scar - he had stomach cancer for the past few years, and his recovery was a major factor in the tour’s delay; it also gave Exodus time to complete Persona Non Grata, the new album, which has some killer songs.
8. There was a lady in a wheelchair in the pit during some of Exodus’ set, and she was body-passed a few times. This did not go unnoticed by the band. I applaud her; there’s no way a wheelchair should have to spoil her good time.
9. Testament had some mix issues. For some reason, Eric Peterson and the drummer, who I will discuss next, drowned out Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick.
10. Dave. Fucking. Lombardo. He looked completely serious (the rest of the band, especially Alex Skolnick, did not), and it was just natural for him to be behind the kit. Never mind the fact that the last time he was in Testament was for The Gathering, back in 1999. He sounded like he had been there since day one, and it was absolutely perfect.
11. Skolnick had some tasty licks, as always. He made his playing so fluid, it almost looked fake. But it wasn’t.
12. Steve DiGiorgio is otherworldly fluid on bass, as well.
13. Back to the mix: How the fuck can a Kemper and Dave Lombardo on drums drown out everything else?
14. Good setlist, from the majority of their catalog. A lot of Titans, and Chuck probably put the most into Native Blood, for obvious reasons.
14. There were a fair number of attractive women there, many of whom were with doughier guys than I, which gives me hope. The crowd was pretty diverse, in terms of age.
15. Is it a Bay Area thing, or do all frontmen take extreme interest in whether or not we are enjoying ourselves? And Zetro really doubled down on the safety. Then again, he sings like a damn seminar, with the most ridiculous voice, and you know that’s what he’s going to sound like, so maybe I shouldn’t read too much into it.
I’ll write more later. I want to go to sleep.
Thank you.