I’m going to be blunt here, Exodus has some hardcore fans. They range from old school thrashers that grew up with the scene in the 80’s all the through to 10 year olds. That’s right, there was a kid, age 10, front and center at the show. More on that later. The point is, there was some quality friendly violent fun at the Gramercy Theatre in New York last night.
The show opened with Korotory whom I missed because of delays on the LIRR. Next was Bonded By Blood and they got things going. Their lead guitarist was highly talented, showing some flashy work on his solos and the rest of the band was full of energy. The audience loved them and when they had to leave the stage, the Gramercy was a chorus of chants of “One more song!”
After their set I went to the Gramercys lower level to check out the merch offerings for the evening and ran into none other than Exodus bassist Jack Gibson. We chatted for a few minutes before he had to head back to the dressing room. For those of you familiar with the Gramercy, you know that many of the band members will come out to the downstairs merch area during the course of the night and fraternize with the fans. I’ve had the opportunity to meet various band members at several shows as a result of this.
Holy Grail was next. A decent speed/ power metal outfit, they weren’t fantastic but didn’t put the crowd to sleep.
On a trip back downstairs to see if I could have another chance encounter with a member of Exodus, I found myself walking downstairs behind Exodus vocalist Rob Dukes. He was en route backstage, but I had enough time to exchange greetings and that Exodus kick some ass. You’ll see later in the review, we got it.
Now, in my experience of seeing Exodus, they’ve always brought out a solid death metal band as direct support. In 2006, it was Immolation (side note, Ross Dolan was present at the show last night hanging out in the crowd. We exchanged greetings as he saw my Immolation t-shirt). In 2008, Goatwhore. 2010 has brought Malevolent Creation. Each band has been a tough act to follow but Exodus always shown that they are at the top of their game. Back to Malevolent Creation. I can describe their set in 2 words, holy shit. They totally drove the place nuts and were absolutely brutal from start to finish.
Time for the reason everyone was doing the Toxic Waltz all last night, Exodus. After what had already been a night of intense metal, Exodus had the crowd in their palm before they played a note. Ongoing chants for the band preceded their set and when they came on stage, a full on frenzy erupted. Bodies were flying in every direction and the band, specifically vocalist Rob Dukes, encouraged an increase in intensity any chance he got.
Their set opened with “The Ballad of Leonard and Charles” and “Beyond the Pale” both from their most recent release. These songs were fast on the album and 1,000 times faster and more brutal on stage. Dukes was moving about like a rabid dog on a leash and his bark is as vicious as his bite. Holt and Altus played brilliant guitar while Gibson slaughtered on bass. Hunting was a monster on the drums, encouraging speed as well as quality all night long. Dukes announced his delight in being back home in NY and promptly started a “Let’s go Rangers” chant. Prior to “Children of a Worthless God” he went on a tirade about the ills of organized religion and proudly proclaimed that he was wearing a t-shirt that read “Infidel” because that’s exactly what he is. Their set was the same as the rest of the tour with the exception of having Bob Tyrrell come out and perform a song with them.
The end of the night brought the fan favorite “Toxic Waltz” during which Dukes would throw the microphone to anyone up front to sing along with the chorus. “Bonded by Blood” started off the encore and then brought “Strike of the Beast,” complete with a Rob Dukes orchestrated mosh pit wall of death at the breakdown. It was the best one I’ve seen of theirs to date. The night came to a close with “Good Riddance” which I can easily see as being Exodus’ closer for some time to come.
As promised, I’ll explain this business about the 10 yr old. I’m assuming he was there with his father, but during the show, Gary Holt saw him on his dad’s shoulders and had security bring him across the barricade to stand right next to the stage. This kid was beaming with delight and Gary handed him a guitar pick and a setlist. Honestly, it was just awesome to see that kids this young love the music and that the band gave this kid a night to remember.
So although the band only played 3 new songs and didn’t vary things up too much from their last tour, Exodus still came with ferocity unmatched by many of the bands out there these days and totally slaughtered the crowd. I’m hoping that next time they come around they add in some new songs like “Class Dismissed” “Nanking” and “March of The Sycophants” as well as classics like “A Lesson In Violence” and possibly the return of “Funeral Hymn.” Still, it was a great night for metal and Exodus can still fly the thrash flag with pride.
Setlist:
The Ballad of Leonard and Charles
Beyond the Pale
Iconoclasm
Children of a Worthless God
Pirahana
Fabolous Disaster
Deathamphetamine
Blacklist
War is My Shepherd
Toxic Waltz
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Bonded by Blood
Strike of the Beast
Good Riddance
Photos: Bonded by Blood and Holy Grail – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041044&id=1574410252&l=7e5a226df0
Exodus and Malevolent Creation – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041045&id=1574410252&l=8264bdc96e