Exodus at Slims - S.F.
It’s been more than a week since the Exodus show at Slims in San Francisco happened and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the events of that evening, to some degree. Why? I’ve been a huge Exodus fan for years - old Exodus. Classic Bonded By Blood era. Back during that time, there were only a handful of bands who could pique my interest the way Exodus could. Their raw power and energy embodied what S.F. thrash was all about. Through the years, Exodus has undergone various line up changes - some better than others, in my opinion. I confess… I lost interest for quite a while. Enter the Atrocity Exhibition, the newest effort from Exodus. I had heard through the grapevine that it was their best effort in years. So, apprehensively, I listened - only to be shocked by the epic guitar solos of Gary Holt and Lee Altus, the powerful bass lines of Jack Gibson, and the eminence of their newest member and vocalist, Rob Dukes. That said, I had no problem covering the show!
It’s a cold-ass Sunday night. I mean COLD. Rain is spontaneous, but prevalent. A line that that stretches for yards across, composed of both young kids discovering Exodus for the first time to those who’ve been involved in the scene for the last twenty-plus years are lined up outside of Slims, waiting to pay homage to one of San Francisco’s best thrash metal acts, Exodus.
Opening support was Warbringer, a young, up and coming thrash act from Southern California. This being the bands’ first national tour - opening for Exodus of all bands, it wasn’t difficult to sense their enthrallment. John Kevill, their excited vocalist literally bounced on stage with a big grin on his face as the guitars began to blare. “We are fucking Warbringer from Ventura, California!!!” he screamed, as the band plummeted into "Dread Command", a catchy, high energy, albeit recycled 80's trash tune that made many of us in the crowd forget that we waited through nearly an hour of sound check and lighting delays before the show actually began. Folks in the crowd, both younger and older were responsive from the get go and Warbringer happily fed off of it, delivering a sound quite reminiscent to some of the thrash that I grew up listening to. They exerted an energy that gave their music a sense of renewal - as if the world was experiencing this brand of metal for the first time. I’d say for an icebreaker, it could have been a lot worse!
Following were Goatwhore who really caught me off guard with their live set. I’ve never been a big fan of their southern-fried brand of black metal - at least not what I’d heard on disc. Their live performance, on the other hand, was something to be reckoned with and I don’t think that I was alone in my awe of their amazing set. Barely stopping to take a breath, or even to introduce themselves, the band wove tightly arranged and epic guitar solos, double and triple bass lines, powerful vocals and delivered their music with a conviction that left the crowd breathless and wanting more.
Still, with two strong supporting bands, Exodus stole the show. Opening up the set with a powerful "Riot Act," they plunged into an hour and a half of killer thrash, varying between material from their new album to classics alike, staying true to the spirit of the classic 80's thrash sound that gained them so much recognition in the first place. Had I not known better, I could have easily thought that Rob Dukes had been with the band since their inception. He delivered new and classic Exodus tunes alike with an amazing conviction and did Baloff justice to some degree, even.
The entire band, including Lee Altus (who is usually pretty reserved on stage) found themselves engaged to a lively crowd who happily sang along with Rob song after song through their entire set. I could hear the crowd chanting over Rob during "Lesson In Violence" as if it were a war cry; a sea of raised fists pounding into the air. Despite Slims' “no moshing” policy, a pit broke out nonetheless, knocking a few audience members to the floor during "Impact Is Imminent." The “guilty” moshers were quickly escorted outside.
After Exodus’ second encore, Dukes marched back on stage with a jar in his hands. “Here I hold in my hands the ashes of Paul Baloff,” said Dukes. No one really seemed impressed by what seemed to be a slight of sarcasm. “I think that it’s only fair that we play the next few songs to him - in his honor,” he continued. Still nothing from the crowd. Holt broke into his rendition of "You're In Love" by Ratt and the crowd went wild, both with laughter and amazement. Then came their rendition of "Walk" by Pantera. Random choices indeed, but I figured out the correlation pretty quickly - both Ratt and Pantera had members pass about the same time Baloff did.
For the first time that night, I looked around me. I was surrounded on all sides by excited, young kids who gave me a flashback of when I was their age, watching some of my favorite thrash acts play for the first time. I looked back remembering the experience of awe and raw power of some killer thrash for the first time in a live setting. I wasn’t alone. I looked around me to see people in the crowd, young and old, head banging to the order of thrash metal. Right then and there the age barrier seemed to be broken as I reminisced over those initial feelings. I could get a sense that folks who were older than even I were feeling something similar as the bond of metal united us. Exodus concluded the night with "Bonded By Blood," very much in the vein of the days of Baloff. It's safe to say that their set took me back to days of old.
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