MIAMI & CAYMAN ISLANDS -- Whether they're playing a cramped Emo's in Austin -- as they did in April 2010 -- or on board Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, Overkill doesn't hold anything back.
Even when the band is held back by circumstances beyond its control, Overkill's performances are often worth the wait. Such was the case on the second annual 70000 Tons of Metal cruise Jan. 23-27, when the underground thrash veterans of nearly 30 years had their set on the pool deck pushed back two days because of a roughly six-hour delay in construction of the stage. Scheduled to play shortly after the ship sailed at 5 p.m. from Miami, lead singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (check out our interview here) was relegated to announcing the postponement to fans from all over the world who were hanging out on the deck -- and in jacuzzis.
"Overkill isn't sorry for anything," Ellsworth began shortly after midnight with what basically amounted to an apology that wasn't the band's fault. He then introduced Cannibal Corpse's set.
Fast forward two days, and you were treated to Overkill at their crushing best. Ellsworth and original bassist D.D. Verni once again teamed with guitarists Dave Linsk and Derek "Skull" Tailer to play old favorites such as "Rotten To The Core," "Wrecking Crew" and "Hello From The Gutter" and three tracks from 2010's Ironbound: "The Green And Black," "Ironbound" and the neckbrace-inducing "Bring Me The Night" (see setlist on slideshow, left).
Considering each of the 42 bands played two sets apiece, it was disappointing when a group played the exact same set the second time around. Overkill was one of those bands.
On one hand, bands did it figuring that many fans who came to the second show were unable to attend the first. Due to the pool stage delay, more shows overlapped with sets being played on the other two stages "inside" the ship than the 2011 inaugural cruise, so that line of thinking was justifiable. On the other hand, it was also done out of convenience for the bands that likely didn't want to rehearse more songs beforehand and/or felt the cruise was supposed to be more of a vacation.
Thus, Overkill's second set the following night inside the cozy, yet spacious, Chorus Line Theatre differed from the pool-deck show on only two aspects:
- Ellsworth explained the absence of drummer Ron Lipnicki the first night by simply saying he broke his hand (the band enlisted the services of sound man Eddy Garcia of the former El Paso group Pissing Razors as his fill-in). On the second night, Ellsworth showed his infectious sense of humor by telling the crowd that Lipnicki "broke his hand jerking off again."
- Overkill ended both sets with their traditional closer, the cover of The Subhumans' "Fuck You." But on the first night, they bookended the tune with AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (see my video, top left).
As Ellsworth revealed in our interview, Overkill's next album will be called The Electric Age, and it will be released March 27.
You'll have plenty of time to learn the new tunes for the band's return to Austin on May 5 at the new Emo's East. Tickets can be purchased here.
For my review and slideshow of Overkill's previous visit to Austin and other related coverage, click the links below.
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