Metal Alliance Tour: Anthrax, Holy Grail, Exodus, Municipal Waste and Shadow Falls @ The TLA.
Text and images by Chad Sims.
After extensive experimentation, I have determined that attempting to take photographs while headbanging is really hard.
Unfortunately for photographers everywhere, this is a problem when attending an Anthrax show. At first, I thought it was just me who couldn’t stop my head from moving in time with the music. Then I looked to my sides and noticed it was all the photographers I could see.
The Metal Alliance Tour is a celebration of thrash metal new and old, where it is going and where it has been.
Holy Grail
First up was Holy Grail (for our interview with guitarist Eli Santana see here). For a show that started promptly at 6 PM, there was a decent-sized crowd. They were amazing as always but they were victim to the curse of many opening bands – bad sound. Though they shredded out their trademark guitar pyrotechnics, at times it was hard to hear some notes because of the sonic murk. Hopefully, next time they come through town they will get the sound they deserve.
Shadows Fall played next. SF is not exactly a thrash band but rather a band with some thrash tendencies. Honestly, I have never been that into the band. However, I have to say they put on a really good performance. They had tons of energy and sounded really great.
Municipal Waste
After Shadows Fall, the self-described “speed metal punks” of Municipal Waste were up. These guys are a ton of fun. The only thing is I really want to see them in a smaller venue. They strike me as a band that would be unbelievable in a small club.
Next were the thrash legends Exodus. These veterans of the Bay Area have been playing metal since the early 80s.
While Exodus’ set was strong, there were some problems creeping into the show. By this point in the evening the TLA was packed and incredibly hot. Also, it may not have been a good idea to have MW and Exodus play back to back as they were probably the most similar sounding bands of the evening causing a bit of thrash fatigue.
The lack of crowd participation (moshing) caused lead singer Rob Dukes to berate the audience between songs. This verbal barrage did little until Dukes referred to the crowd as a bunch of “Broad Street pussies.” This insult finally ignited the crowd for a bit.
After a fair amount of setup time, Anthrax finally took the stage, and it was awe inspiring. They played their entire 1986 album Among the Living. This album is considered a classic of thrash metal, and it is even better live.
One of the high points of the evening was Anthrax playing AC/DC’s “TNT.” Their version was so close to the original for just a moment I had to ask myself if I was mistaken and it was actually an Anthrax show.
Overall, this was an outstanding show, and I can’t wait to catch Anthrax again.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 
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