Testament/Vio-lence - Orangevale review

[toilethead]

I was sick as hell but no way was I going to miss Testament & Vio-lence! My buddy flaked out on me, and my car stereo is busted, so the 2-plus hour drive to the show by myself with no tunes kinda sucked, but the show was well worth it!

I heard Vehemence cancelled cuz they got stuck in the snow. Not sure if Exhumed played.

The Boardwalk has some slow-ass people working the door. Tons of people were waiting outside for-fucking-ever in the rain. I heard the first two Vio-lence songs from outside as the line moved at snail's pace.

Finally I got in and made my way up to the front. The band was really pumped up and the crowd was way fucking into it as well. They slammed through all of Eternal Nightmare except "Serial Killer", and threw in "World in a World" and "Officer Nice". Troy's stage presence gets better with each show! Sean said that Portland had a 5-foot barrier so they were taking it out on us that night. And they did, as Sean jumped onto the crowd repeatedly, not missing a single lyric. Highlight for me was getting to shout "BODIES! ON BODIES! ON BODIES! ON BODIES!" into the mic as Sean interacted with the crowd like no one else can. One of my all-time favorite Vio-lence tunes.

By this time, I was feeling sicker than ever, and my energy was pretty much spent for the night. Testament sounded fucking incredible. Chuck was in full form again! Tempesta was fucking on it last night, you'd never know he'd been playing Zombie material the last 10 years, it sounded like he'd never stopped playing thrash. Smythe had a few technical problems, but tore it up on all your favorite Testament leads, the dude can most definitely shred and I'm looking forward to hearing him record some new Testament material! They kicked out some songs not played in a while like "Trial By Fire" and "Souls of Black", as well as all the mandatory Testament songs like "Disciples", "Into the Pit", "Raging Waters" (for which Jon Allen sat in on), "D.N.R." and tons more.

All I can say is, hopefully Testament & Vio-lence are able to play the remaining scheduled shows in spite of Halford's cancellation, cuz thrash metal bills don't get much better than this!

Big thanks to DeadlyEmbrace & Testament for the swag hookup... The longsleeve looks fucking killer!!!

 

[ChaosWithoutProphecy]

hell yea, sounds excellent!! i cant wait to go see the anahiem show on thursday!! i just keep praying that halford will cancel so testament can headline........

 

[MindInsane]

I saw them in Portland on Friday and they kicked ass as well! Chuck is sounding better than ever and Vio-lence was KILLER live (that was the first time I had seen them). You're right about Smyth..he can definetly shred! How about DiGiorgio? That guy is AMAZING! I kept watching him and I've never seen anything like it! The Bass guitar was set up on the right hand side of the stage before they came out and the whole crowd shifted to that side! He reminded me a lot of Cliff Burton with his stance and playing style..but I don't think Burton could touch him in the talent catagory..two words..fretless bass!!!

I'm so glad they finally came back up here! Last time I saw them was on the Demonic tour...and that's waaaay too long!!

Thank you Testament and Vio-Lence for a KICK ASS time!!!

 

[The Omnipotent Bob]

sounds like a killer show. I cant wait, 2 more days till the new yrs eve show

whats the deal w/ halford cancelling??? Is this for the entire minitour or just portland?

 

[hiddenlegions]

I don't think they will be playing the Anaheim show at all. I just checked the House of Blues website and it says the show is also postponed. From the looks of it, it's lost too..... but ya never know , I guess we'll find out this week WTF is going to happen.... *big sigh*

 

[Plague Witch]

Originally posted by MindInsane
I saw them in Portland on Friday and they kicked ass as well! Chuck is sounding better than ever

Absolutely, man! I was there too and it was totaly euphoria. I'd never heard Vio-lence before, but they had some great presence! There was a barrier, but that didn't stop the singer from getting in the crowd and letting the fans sing along. Vehemence was good too, much better than I expected. And what the fuck more can be said about Testament except that they're metal gods and they proved why that night! I was totally blown away by Steve Digiorgio-fucking insane! And Chuck looked SO healthy, it was great! It was a true honor to be there for his 2nd show back! And how suitable that they busted out with "Chasing Fear" (supposedly only the second time they've done it live, according to Eric Petersen)-that song completely sums up Chuck's battle. Can't wait for the new album and another tour!!!!!

 

[Plague Witch]

Originally posted by The Omnipotent Bob
whats the deal w/ halford cancelling??? Is this for the entire minitour or just portland?

Halford was never on the bill for Portland, but he's out of the entire mini-tour now due to Visa issues. Hopefully Testament will just carry on without him.

 

[VEHEMENCE]

Vehemence would like to say sorry for not making it to the Sacramento, CA show because of a breakdown in Portland, Oregon. We played the Portland, show but around the time it was to take our van out of the venue, we had some thermostat problems, and it was fixed the next morning at 10am, we left Oregon at 1pm because that’s how long we had to wait for it to get fixed. We were in the area of the show 4 hours past the time we were supposed to get here. We ended up staying at a friend’s house in South Sacramento. That’s what happened!

We know we had others on this guest list! Keeper Magazine/Dragonlord ect ect guys Sorry, till next time!!!! Spread the word!