Anthrax at Nokia Theatre, Times Square, New York Concert Review

Probably the greatest thing about being a fan of metal right now is that a number of classic lineups are coming back together to go on tour. Nostalgia, money, or a desire to get back to the good times might all be motivations for these reunion tours, but for those among us who didn't get to see these bands in their prime back in the day, reunions are a godsend. It also doesn't hurt that these bands still know how to rock. The classic 80's lineup of Anthrax, currently on tour, is no exception.

Although the band first did a reunion tour last year, culminating in the release of the Alive 2: The Music album, this time around the tour's theme was the old and the unusual, mixing in songs that haven’t seen the light of stage in fifteen or twenty years and of course, showcasing the return of singer Joey Belladonna and guitarist Dan Spitz to the fold. The result was a show that brought out all of the music the fans knew and loved while delivering with a hammer-blow of sheer metal energy.

Anthrax Loved Us...

I could tell right from the start that we were in for a good show because it was clear how excited the band was to be playing, especially in front of a home crowd. Repeated invocations to the great New York audience, appreciation for both the fans who had heard these songs live back in the 80's and the sizable crowd of teenagers in the audience, bassist Frank Bello dancing around the stage with a manic grin on his face, Joey Belladonna trading devil horns with the people standing 10 feet away from him on platforms to the side of the stage, the enormous amount of energy that flowed from the musicians on stage to the crowd on the floor...all made very, very clear that Anthrax wanted to play for us as much as we wanted to hear them.

...And We Loved Them Right Back

The audience made sure to reciprocate: we screamed out tag lines to choruses, pumped our fists in the air, head banged for all we were worth and flooded the whole house with moshers and so many crowd surfers that security was almost overwhelmed. When Joey thanked the other bands for playing that evening, he stumbled for a moment on the name God Forbid, then got lost for a moment, staring into the sea of adoring faces in the audience. Then the crowd started chanting his name and he came back, arms raised in triumph. I watched as guitarist Scott Ian directed everyone to form a massive circle pit in the center of the floor and was not surprised at all to see most of the crowd follow along – at that moment, the concert had moved beyond a show and into an event. It was, in short, exactly why you’d go to see a band in the first place. If you have the chance to see this tour as it comes through your area, you definitely owe it to yourself to go.