My cousin Zachary and I went to see 3 out of “The Big 4” of Thrash Metal bands.
They called the tour American Carnage, but really, it was the Clash Of The Titans tour all over again, because these bands toured together with that tour name in the early 90s.
Comedian Jim Florentine, also known as one of the hosts of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show and in 2023 a YouTube show called That Rocks, did a stand up comedy set in between each act. It was cool to see Jim. I even met him briefly at the soundboard. Cool guy.
Anthrax started the show. Singer Joey Belladonna had recently rejoined the band for the 3rd time, while the rest was the same as it had been for many years (Guitarist Scott Ian, Bassist Frank Bello, Drummer Charlie Benante, and Guitarist Rob Caggiano).
It was a short but great set of classic Anthrax songs.
They’re always great live and it was great seeing Joey back in the band.
Megadeth played next and they played all of their classic Rust In Peace album, plus other Megadeth greats.
I honestly think Megadeth got the best crowd reaction on this night.
They were awesome, as always.
The lineup this time was founder Dave Mustaine (Vocals/Guitar), returning Bassist David Ellefson, Drummer Shawn Drover, and Guitarist Chris Broderick.
Again, Dave has had a lot of lineup changes in Megadeth, but they’re always great.
Slayer closed the night by playing all of their Seasons In The Abyss album, as well as other Slayer greats.
It was still the original lineup at this point (Singer/Bassist Tom Araya, Guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, and Drummer Dave Lombardo).
Sadly, this would be the last time I saw Jeff play in person. He sadly passed away in 2013. He will be forever missed.
But anyway, Slayer were always great live (they ended in 2019) and if you were a fan, you knew what to expect and probably would not be disappointed.
All these bands are favorites of mine. And it was awesome to see them all together in one night.