This was the first headlining show of Anthrax in Greece. It was preceded by two shows back in 2005 (Rockwave Festival) and 2010 (Sonisphere) but it wasn’t the main band on the bill.
The Greek thrash outfit of Exarsis appeared as the support act. That’s a real good and hard working band that its sound has a lot in common with Anthrax. I must say that I was quite impressed by Exarsis’ overall stage presence and musicianship. The only thing that really bothered me were the peculiar lead vocals. This is my personal opinion and after all what counts is the fact that the crowd had a good time throughout the 40-minute set of Exarsis.
At 22:00 sharp and after we have been entertained in the meantime by the music of KISS (a favorite band of Anthrax) that rushed through the speakers, the headliners hit the stage with the all-time fan favorite “Among The Living” causing delirium in the venue! The set list was consisted of many interesting and classic tracks like “Medusa”, “Indians”, “Deathrider” (quite surprisingly, I must say…cued from “Fistful of Metal”), a superb cover of AC/DC’ “TNT” while their last album “Worship Music” was represented by three tracks. The band itself was in great spirits, especially Joey Belladonna who was constantly moving around the stage.
The show was ended with “Antisocial” after 85 minutes and the crowd was evidently quite satisfied. Maybe they should have played more but we must admit that the heat was unbearable in the club as the air-conditioning system was almost off throughout the night.
Last but certainly not least, we must point down that Charlie Benante is temporarily replaced during this tour by Jon Dette.
Dimitris Kazantzis
Set list: Among The Living, Caught In A Mosh, Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.), In The End, Deathrider, T.N.T., The Devil You Know, Indians, Medusa, Got The Time, Fight ‘Em ‘Till You Can’t, I Am The Law, Madhouse, Antisocial
