Dark Roots of Thrash tour kicked off at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The tour takes Testament, Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam and 4ARM across the US in 25 shows. The first show was at Testament’s home court and it definitely could be felt in the air.
The night was started by The Butlers, who marched a list of Bay Area musicians on stage to have fun playing and performing including Rob Cavestany and Mark Osegueda of Death Angel as well as Phil Demmel of Machine Head. This really helped to get the party started. As more and more people flocked into The Fillmore 4ARM took the stage. This Australian band’s straight up no-nonsense thrash got the audience moving and surely made some new fans in the progress. The act could have been taken directly from Bay Area Thrash scene with flare, speed and aggression that was approved by the demanding crowd.
Overkill’s Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth marched his troops onto the stage next. The cocky, at times offensive performance really lit the room on fire. Moshpit was swirling and the audience was singing along to the hits from this veteran crew. And why not? The bands repertoire included legendary Thrash pieces like “Electric Rattlesnake”, “Rotten to the Core” and “Ironbound”. Overkill ended their set with a cover of The Subhumans “Fuck You!” and really got the crowd riled up for Testament.
The waiting of the crowd was fully rewarded by Testament. It was obviously a joyous moment to the band to get on stage in front of the home crowd. Chuck Billy, the singer, chatted with the crowd, showered them with guitar picks and acknowledged his family, friends and fans in the audience. Both guitarists, Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson were in true form with Alex handling most of the lead duties with long and explosive solos. Greg Christian did his thing on the bass and wandered up and down the two level stage and visibly enjoyed the evening. The latest addition to the band, Gene Hoglan is a machine of a man behind the drums and handled old and new material with ease. Testament played songs from the latest albums, “Dark Roots of Earth” and “Formation of Damnation” but didn’t disappoint even the oldest of fans. The set included “Burnt Offerings” and “The Haunting” that were on the bands first album and written by Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza (Exodus, Hatriot), Peterson and Skolnick in ‘87. With 25 years worth of material to choose from it’s hard to include everything, but nobody should have left The Fillmore unsatisfied.
‘Dark Roots of Thrash’ 2013 Tour Dates:
01/30 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Filmore (no Flotsam And Jetsam)
01/31 – Anaheim, Calif. @ House Of Blues (no Flotsam And Jetsam)
02/01 – Tempe, Ariz. @ The Marquee (no Flotsam And Jetsam)
02/02 – Hollywood, Calif. @ House Of Blues (no Flotsam And Jetsam)
02/04 – Albuquerque, N.M. @ Sunshine Theater (no Flotsam And Jetsam)
02/05 – Austin, Texas @ Emo’s
02/06 – Houston, Texas @ House Of Blues
02/07 – Dallas, Texas @ House Of Blues
02/09 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Masquerade
02/10 – Charlotte, N.C. @ The Fillmore
02/12 – Silver Spring, Md. @ The Fillmore
02/13 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Trocadero
02/14 – New York, N.Y. @ Best Buy Theatre
02/15 – Huntington, N.Y. @ The Paramount
02/16 – Worcester, Mass. @ The Palladium
02/17 – Buffalo, N.Y. @ Town Ballroom
02/18 – Toronto, Ontario @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/20 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart’s
02/21 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ The Intersection
02/22 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ The Rave
02/23 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
02/25 – Denver, Colo. @ The Summit Music Hall
02/26 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ In The Venue
02/27 – Reno, Nev. @ Knitting Factory
02/28 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace Of Spades
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