Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks
It is fairly common knowledge that thrash metal originated from here in San Francisco starting in the early-mid 1980’s with most of the heavy hitters like Metallica, Death Angel, Testament, Forbidden, Exodus, and Vio-lence, among others. The east coast, however, also had some major thrash metal bands brewing, with Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Overkill leading the pack. Cut to today, and most of these bands are still around and still continue to rage, almost as good or better than they did all those years ago!
One of those bands actually travelled 3,000 miles from their east coast home to begin their tour here in San Francisco. Hailing from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, the seminal 1980’s band Overkill came to town to show-up their Bay Area thrash metal brethren, and in the process, laid waste to the Great American Music Hall, proving that after 43 years and 20 albums, they still thrash as well or better than most of their Bay Area metal counterparts… and everyone else!
The stage at Great American Music Hall may have been too small for Overkill though. Their huge backdrop was raised as high as it could go, covering all of the venue’s permanent stage lighting fixtures. Good thing they brought their own! With Jason Bittner‘s drum riser and the backline of amplifiers and guitar boats taking up 65% of the stage, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, D.D. Verni, Derek Tailer and Dave Linsk didn’t have much room to wander around, although that eventually would not matter to anyone anyway.
With the addition of another drum set on the remaining 35% of that stage for all of the other bands to use, space was tight for Exhorder (from New Orleans), the Bay Area’s own Heathen, and unannounced tour opener Sunlord (from New York).
After Sunlord kicked off the show, Heathen hit the stage in front of their loyal Bay Area fans and thrashed their way through a great set. Allegedly due to personal commitments, original member Lee Altus (also of Exodus) was unfortunately not able to be on this tour, but Kyle Edissi (humorously known on tour as ‘Where’s Lee?’) of Ontario metal band Invicta was in fine form as his replacement.
Exhorder also has a lineup of luminaries on this tour. Jason VieBrooks (formerly of Heathen) on bass and Pat O’Brien (formerly of Cannibal Corpse) on guitar, and longtime drummer Sasha Horn (formerly of Forbidden) join mainstay Kyle Thomas on this current incarnation of the band. Pat hasn’t been with Exhorder for as long as the others, and they still sounded great, as if they have been performing together much longer than they have. Exhorder is obviously not death metal like Cannibal Corpse but his tone and riffage was a welcome addition to the songs.
As great as those bands were, though, the excitement for Overkill was palpable. When the house lights finally dimmed, the band ascended on stage, and immediately hearing that remarkable and unique voice, it can mean only one thing… that Overkill is about to crush the crowd-surfing, circle-pitting, and moshing masses who were more than ready to help them destroy Great American Music Hall… and that enthusiasm never stopped until the last song an hour-fifteen later!
The lack of space on the small stage didn’t seem to matter, as Derek and Dave were busy blasting out the killer riffs, and D.D. was laying down that distinctive bass. As observed from the balcony, during almost every guitar solo, Blitz usually wandered off-stage to behind the amplifiers to grab some oxygen, some beer, and a few seconds of downtime before running back to retain his rightful place at center stage for the next vocal or the next song intro.
The setlist hit their first five albums, and then practically skipped over the 1990’s and 2000’s to focus on the past 13 years, including three songs from their amazing new album Scorched. With 20 albums worth of material, and at least four classic songs that they practically have to perform, it must be a huge task for Overkill to even come up with a reasonable setlist!
Click below for a slideshow of full-size images of Overkill:
1. Scorched (Scorched 2023)
2. Bring Me the Night (Ironbound 2010)
3. Electric Rattlesnake (The Electric Age 2012)
4. Hello From the Gutter (Under the Influence 1988)
5. Powersurge (Taking Over 1987)
6. Wicked Place (Scorched 2023)
7. Coma (Horrorscope 1991)
8. Horrorscope (Horrorscope 1991)
9. Long Time Dyin’ (From the Underground and Below 1997)
10. The Surgeon (Scorched 2023)
11. Mean Green Killing Machine (The Grinding Wheel 2017)
12. Ironbound (Ironbound 2010)
13. Elimination (The Years of Decay 1989)
Encore:
14. Overkill (Feel the Fire 1985)
15. Rotten to the Core (Feel the Fire 1985)
16. Fuck You (EP 1987)
Occasionally, the dedicated staff of Spinning Platters gets the opportunity to attend, photograph, and review shows outside of our comfortable Bay Area confines, and on July 23, our resident metalhead will brave the excessive heat and rain of Florida to attend yet another show on this fantastic Scorching the Earth tour at House of Blues in Orlando!
See more photos of all of your favorite Metal musicians at Alan Ralph‘s photo portfolio.
