A wild thrash concert ripped straight from the 80’s
By Rachel Walz
On Sunday Nov 24, Exodus stopped at Magic Stick, a subvenue of Majestic Theater in Detroit, on their ‘Battle of ‘24’ tour. The thrash metal titans were supported by thrash revival band Havok, hardcore punk band Candy, and crossover thrash band Dead Heat.
The venue was in a less than prosperous part of town, but the tickets were cheap, and concertgoers were able to keep warm in the theater’s lobby and bowling alley, rather than lining up outside. A small bar and a pizza restaurant was available to customers while they waited for the upstairs venue to open up. At 6 PM, concertgoers were ushered upstairs. The upstairs had its own bar with doubled prices as a convenience fee, but considering that PBR and Stroh’s were still only $5 a piece, this was hardly a deterrent.
The opener was Dead Heat. Their crossover thrash style combined hardcore punk and thrash metal to create a fun yet powerful sound. They put out a great performance to start the show off. Next came Candy, a hardcore punk band focused more on aggression than technicality. This band was not quite as good as Dead Heat, but was still a decent band to tide the crowd over as they waited.
Havok was next. Havok is notable for being part of the modern ‘thrash revival’ bands, alongside Municipal Waste, Power Trip, Warbringer, Lich King, Evile, and Gama Bomb. The band played their hits with gusto, stirring the crowd into a frenzy of headbanging and moshing. They also showed just how influential bands like Exodus were on them.
Finally, it was time for the main show; Exodus. Exodus is one of the oldest thrash metal bands. Notably, their early line-up featured Kirk Hammett as a guitarist before he joined Metallica. But long standing lead guitarist Gary Holt did not disappoint, shredding along to hits like “Blacklist”, “Brain Dead”, and “Blood In, Blood Out”. It was little wonder to see why Slayer chose him to fill in for Jeff Hanneman; Holt is arguably one of the best guitarists in thrash metal. Singer Steve “Zetro” Souza snarled along in a very AC/DC like tone, hyping the crowd up. He even noted his delight to sing songs from albums he hadn’t originally performed on, such as “Metal Command” and “Strike of the Beast” from Exodus’s debut “Bonded By Blood”, which had Paul Baloff on vocals, and “Deathamphetamine” from “Shovel Headed Kill Machine”, which had Rob Dukes singing.
The crowd was a wild storm of moshing from start to finish. Whether it was Candy and Dead Heat just trying to warm up the crowd, Havok rocking out on “Hang ‘Em High”, or Exodus shredding their classic pit anthem “The Toxic Waltz”, the mosh pit was full of metalheads who had paid the $30 entry fee to essentially be beaten up by their fellow moshers to the rhythm of the bands. The pit was a zone of chaos where all were equally able to thrash and be thrashed; whether it was the sweaty shirtless guy passing a joint around, some young teenager who seemed to stage dive and crowd surf just about once every song, the tiny blonde woman in an Anthrax shirt getting tossed around like a sack of potatoes, or the big tall guy with flail-like dreadlocks headbanging in the center, the pit showed little mercy to those who entered its circle.
Yet fans took the time to look out for their comrades in arms. Crowd surfers and stage divers were supported by all, and set down gently to avoid a head or neck injury. Those who fell in the pit would almost immediately have two or three metalheads right beside them to help pick them up. As Steve Souza pointed out “This is a real thrash concert! This is what it was like before they had the barricades everywhere.” Indeed, few watched the moment through the screen. It just couldn’t compare to actually being there, on the edge of the pit, feeling the cool rush of air as headbangers stomped by or the splash of beer as some idiot chucked a half full can across the room.
All in all, while Candy was a bit of a forgettable but decent hardcore act, Dead Heat was an excellent opener to set the tone for the concert, Havok was very good as the main support act, and Exodus was nothing short of mindblowing. Many metalheads claim Exodus is a band on par with the Big Four(a sentiment shared by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Scott Ian of Anthrax), and it is one hundred percent true.
