Gig review: ANTHRAX – Hammersmith Apollo, London, 23 November 2024 It’s been a while. 35 years in fact, since I last saw Anthrax. March 1989 at this very venue. I had to look it up, but I needn’t have bothered. During a mid-set chat, Scott Ian listed all the times the band had played the Hammersmith ‘Odeon’ as he loyally called it. That packed 1989 gig was their most recent treading of these hallowed boards.

Tonight it was sold out again. This triple-header was a mouth- watering prospect for thrash fans and I’d bagged my ticket way back in January. I missed Testament’s tea-time slot, but arrived to get a loaded earful of co-headline act Kreator. The German masters packed an intense punch and relentless power. The old balcony was shaking. This was no place for the feint-hearted.

I picked out early material such as ‘Pleasure To Kill’ and ‘Terrible Certainty’. ‘Betrayer’ also hit like a hammer drill. Tracks came from right across their long career, including bang up to date cuts from ‘Hate Über Alles’. The choreographed headbanging and the hard-driving rhythms brought enthusiastic reactions from the crowd. The atmosphere was suitably super-charged in advance of Anthrax.

Their stage was set with a video montage of luminaries from music and film paying respects to the band. Tom Morello and Lady Gaga got the biggest cheers. Behind the curtain, the band had picked up their instruments and were grinding out the intro to ‘A.I.R’. and hit the main riffs as the curtain dropped on cue. An effective piece of simple theatre.

One of the finest tracks in their canon, I wasn’t sure if this was peaking too early or merely setting the right tone. It was the latter. ‘Got The Time’ from ‘Persistence Of Time’ followed quickly, perfectly illustrating Anthrax’s knack covering unobvious artists and making the tracks stick. In this case, from Joe Jackson’s new wave phase.

‘Caught In A Mosh’ completed the opening salvoes, quickly establishing that, as well as being mighty and heavy, this gig was also thoroughly entertaining and animated. The punters caught in an actual mosh down in the stalls pit needed no second invitation and I was particularly warmed to see stewards helping crowd surfers out of the melee and back into the hall. All very good natured, too. Water was distributed to those at the front half way through the gig and on more than one occasion I saw band members high-fiving the stewards.

‘Fight ‘em Til You Can’t’ comes from frontman Joey Belladonna’s comeback album with the band, ‘Worship Music’, in 2011 and went down as well as any of their classics, bringing a violent riff and Belladonna sounding absolutely top-notch.

This heralded full-on audience participation in one of those aforementioned classics, ‘Madhouse’. Such a great celebration and the band were loving it. Belladonna, founding member/rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and long-time bassist Frank Bello defying their years and charging around the stage runway like demented teenagers.

It was the newcomer on lead guitar, Jonathon Donais, who shone on the next track. ‘Be All, End All’ was brutal in its riffage and incisive in its soloing; and came across as the most intense and powerful track in their setlist tonight.

Time for original drummer Charlie Benante to become the focus of attention as he powered the band through a furious (as you would expect) version of ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’ from their 1984 debut platter and then into another mass sing-along for one of their more melodic masterpieces, ‘I Am The Law’.

‘The Devil You Know’ stood up well, again featuring a booming riff, but ‘Anti-social’ surpassed it. Another riotous crowd pleaser with everyone around me bellowing the refrain.

‘Indians’ really hit the mark in this joyous hall, with the mid-section instrumental break particularly impressing.

This marked the end of the set proper, though the band were barely into the wings before they bounded back for the headlong charge of ‘Gung-ho’. Surely the only way to end the gig, though I see that elsewhere ‘Indians’ has wrapped things up.

This band have such a strong back catalogue and the setlist was very good. I’d happily have settled for everything of ‘Spreading The Disease’, but somehow the tracks themselves weren’t as important as the vibe. This felt like a party tonight. Some kind of potent homecoming to a spiritually important venue where the band’s enthusiasm and energy were exactly what was needed. Long live thrash.

Review and photo by Dave Atkinson

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)