LIVE – Testament, San Francisco, CA, January 30, 2013

Venue: The Fillmore

City: San Francisco, California

Date: January 30, 2013

Reviewer: Robert Kitay

This was the opening night of what will be one of the top thrash metal packages of the year. Unfortunately, Flotsam and Jetsam wasn’t on the bill for this show like they are for most of the tour, but a hometown show for Testament and a rare San Francisco appearance for Overkill was enough to bring the metalhead masses to the Fillmore on a Wednesday night.

Local band The Butlers opened the show at an early hour of 6:45, which means that unfortunately I missed all but the last song, which was a great sounding Thin Lizzy cover. It seems like I am constantly missing The Butlers when they play due to early start times. From the sound of it, I’m missing out on seeing a really good band. I really need to catch them. Next up was Australia’s 4Arm. This was my first time seeing them and I have to say that I was impressed. They are a solid thrash band and they got a very good reception from the crowd.

Truth be told, I was at this concert more for Overkill than any other band. Although I like Testament, I have seen them a number of times over the last 2 years. Overkill on the other hand rarely plays the Bay Area. Last year they cancelled their San Francisco show on the day of the show, and with their fantastic “The Electric Age” CD being one of my favorite releases of 2012, I was very anxious to see them. This would, in fact, be my first time seeing them. As far as the quality of performance, they did not disappoint. They sounded great and put on an energetic performance. Bobby Blitz was in fine voice, and it was interesting to see him disappear from the stage when there were no vocals only to run back and reappear at the microphone just in time to sing again. Unfortunately, however, it was a very short performance clocking in at only 50 minutes. Given the short set, obviously there were more than a few songs left out that I wanted to hear them play. They played The Wrecking Crew, Elimination, Electric Rattlesnake, Rotten to the Core, and Iron Bound (which he dedicated to Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers), and Fuck You, but I was very disappointed to not hear Welcome to the Gutter, In Union We Stand, Old School, as well as more songs off fantastic The Electric Age release.

After a fairly long break, Testament took the stage and put on a very fine set. As I mentioned before, I’ve seen Testament a number of times, including several times over the last couple years, and I must say that this was as good a show as I’ve ever seen them play. Nice to see them change up the setlist and include songs such as Burnt Offerings, Riding the Snake and Eyes of Wrath alongside the staples. They had an impressive stage set up, which was much larger than what most bands use when they play the Fillmore, and a very good light show. The sound was great as well. Chuck Billy, as usual, had a half microphone stand that he uses to simulate guitar solos, but this time around it was lit. He was in very fine voice and the entire band was solid and tight.

Setlist:

Rise Up  – More Than Meets the Eye – Burnt Offerings – Native Blood – True American Hate – Eyes of Wrath – Into the Pit – Dark Roots of Earth – Practice What You Preach – The Evil Has Landed – The Haunting – The New Order – D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate) – Riding the Snake – The Formation of Damnation

Encore: Over the Wall

Category: Live Reviews