This summer features a few strong concert packages, including Ozzfest (featuring Ozzy, Metallica, Cavalera Conspiracy, Shadows Fall, Apocalyptica) and Rockstar Mayhem Fest (featuring Slipknot, Disturbed, Dragonforce, Mastodon). There is another package tour featuring a quartet of metal legends, that is the Metal Masters tour with Heaven and Hell, Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Testament. Now, some of those older guys can't play every night, which works to the advantage of some. This means that Testament has some free time with which to schedule dates at smaller venues along the way. This worked out great for me, as Testament made Poughkeepsie, NY, one of those stops, sandwiched between shows in Virginia and New Jersey. I am glad they did.Doors opened at The Chance Theater at 7:30, greeting an initially small crowd. I made my way inside, checked out the merchandise and then found a decent place to set up camp for the evening. As I stood there, waiting for the show to begin, I couldn't help but feel some of the electricity that was going through the crowd. Testament certainly has their die hard fans, and they were here, and here early. I really like Testament, but fear I cannot be considered one of the die hards; however, believe me when I say that I was not going to miss this performance. I saw them for the first time last year, and that was a great show. I came here hoping for a repeat performance.
The show got off to an inauspicious start with local act Times of Solitude, at least that's what I think their name is as I did not hear it clearly and that was the only name left on the ticket. They came up and played nearly half an hour of generic sounding rock music. Frankly, they did not really fit the bill. Now, it is not that they could not play their instruments or that they performed poorly, the problem is that the songwriting is not all that strong. On top of that, some of the riffs sounded awfully derivative, I could have sworn I heard them somewhere before. The best I can say about them is that their drummer had great timing and was very solid behind the kit.
The second act did not fare much better, although they were at least metal. The band is called Catacomb and they reminded me a little bit of Lamb of God. They had the heavy riffs and the guttural vocals requisite for the genre. One thing I really did not like about them was their guitar sound. This is nothing against the man playing, as he ripped off some impressive solos, but it sounded really, how to put it, fuzzy. It was something like a faulty ground or similar, I have to believe that there was a technical problem, I cannot believe this was their intended sound. Anyway, their music had a lot of energy while the band did not, their stage presence left something to be desired.
Thrash Ratchet was the third band to hit the stage, and this is where the show began to swing upwards. I have seen Thrash Ratchet a few times before, and they always put on a good show, although I never really thought of them as a good band. This time was a little different, they sounded a bit more metal, before they were solidly in the heavy hard rock arena. A big part of this is a line up change. The band is featuring a new lead singer, or at least new since the last time I saw them. He brings a strong vocal presence to the band and they seem to headed in an upward direction. In addition to this new found vocal strength, they also feature some good guitar playing. Still, I do not see them becoming a great band, but one that is definitely worth seeing live.
By this time of the night, the crowd was starting to get anxious for a little Testament goodness. They all would have to wait a little bit longer as there was one more band in between us and the thrash legends.
The final opening act is an extreme/death metal style act called Left in Ruins. These guys are solid, heavy, and brutal. However, while they put on a great performance, I did not find any of their songs to be instantly memorable. On the other hand, not many bands do upon early listens. These guys did throw down the gauntlet and put the finishing touches on getting the crowd warmed up. By this point the floor had filled and the crowd definitely wanted their Testament. While everyone wanted the legends, Left in Ruins did not give any ground, led by a three guitar attack delivering brutal riffs as well as smooth, fast leads. These guys are definitely worth keeping an eye on.
With all of the preliminaries out of the way, it is time to clear the stage and prepare for the coming of Testament. The drum kit was uncovered and the banner raised, all with anticipation rising among the fans. In between all of the acts, the house was playing Dream Theater, but with mere minutes before Testament was to hit the stage, the system went silent only to return with Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town" greeting our ears. We all know what that means, the nearly completely reunited Testament was mere moments away.
As the Thin Lizzy tune went silent, the sounds were replaced with those of the Testament classic "Over the Wall," a track that helped close out their 2007 show here. That was followed by another pair of classics in "Into the Pit," which sent the pit into a frenzy, and "Practice What You Preach." The vast majority of the set was taken from their early albums (The Legacy, New Order, Practice What You Preach, The Ritual, and Souls of Black), so nothing from the post Alex Skolnick era. While these albums did contribute the bulk of the set, we were treated to a trio of songs from their latest release, The Formation of Damnation (a great release, if you ask me).
As for their performance, they were spot on. I loved how Chuck Billy said that while the other acts on the Metal Masters tour were taking they day off, they thought they would come out and give us a full set of music, as opposed to the 30 minutes they get on the main tour. 75 minutes later, we were spat back into the night, tired, sweaty, ears ringing and completely satisfied.
Chuck Billy led the charge for the full set, the man-mountain delivering his signature vocals to the approval of the crowd. Behind him Alex Skolnick showed once again why he is so highly regarded. The guy is great with an axe, playing the riffs, blazing through solos, he did it. Not for nothing, his counterpart, and main songwriter Eric Petersen is no slouch himself, fattening up the sound and adding his own leads. Meanwhile. Greg Christian kept the load chugging on bass, as Paul Bostaph (full time replacement for original member Louie Clemente) pounded the drums like a man possessed.
At the hour point, the band left the stage for a break, Chuck imploring us to make some noise as they weren't done yet. After a short time, they came back and played more classic cuts before calling it a night.
I have to say that the night may have started on something of a weak note, it ended on a string one. Testament took the stage and proved just why they have lasted so long. They are that good.
Here is the set list to the best of my memory, I suspect I forgot a song or two and messed up the order, but this should be pretty close:
Over the Wall
Into the Pit
Practice What you Preach
The New Order
Electric Crown
More than Meets the Eye
Henchman Ride
Apocalyptic City
The Formation of Damnation
DNR
The Legacy
Alone in the Dark
Disciples of the Watch
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