Tag: Glasgow Garage

Exodus – Glasgow G2

[Photos from the gig are in this Flickr set]

My first time in the little dingy basement of the Glasgow Garage, and my second seeing Exodus. One of the original Big Four, starting in the Bay Area at the same time as Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica they just never seemed to catch the wave those four did. Anthrax seemed to take their place, which is a shame. There should have been a Big Five. Or they should have superseded Metallica.

I only caught the last song by Man Must Die as I got to the venue (a Slayer cover), then stood near the front barrier reading HG Wells‘ The Invisible Man on my phone while I waited for the headliners. Yes, I’m old. I also don’t know anyone to go to gigs with!

The band were greeted to chants of “Gary Holt!”, the only founding member still in Exodus and they kicked off. For a small crowd, there was a lot of action and things got nice and violent early on. Unfortunately, the sound’s definitely not as good in G2 as it is upstairs in the Garage proper, but things were fun regardless.

I’d also say that the set needed more old **** for the fogies like me in the crowd. If I’m right, the only really old stuff they did was “Bonded By Blood” and “Fabulous Disaster“, and the usual encore track “Toxic Waltz” was skipped entirely from the set.

What made the gig was the band’s banter with the crowd. The night took a haggis-based turn (similarly to Bowling For Soup the other week) when Rob Dukes mentioned that the bandhad never tried it. He requested one be brought to the band’s next show, whenever that would be, for them to try.

Two tracks later and one of the venue staff, I believe, handed him a polystyrene container from one of the many takeaways on Sauchiehall Street. The haggis had arrived! As Dukes and the guys ate it, the crowd broke into a chant of “Haggis Supper!”. Tom Hunting added a drum beat, the guitars kicked in and Dukes provided vocals.

I document here Dukes’ promise that the track “Haggis Supper” would be the bonus on their next studio album. Myself and the crowd from the G2 expect him to keep this promise!

Despite the lack of material I was hugely familiar with, this was a night of good, friendly, violent fun. As it should be.

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Annihilator – Glasgow Garage, Nov 14th 2010

Annihilator, Glasgow Garage 6
Annihilator, Glasgow Garage

[Photos: Flickr set for the gig]

Just a quickie little review of a great little show. The last time I saw Annihilator (in fact I think the last time they were in the UK) was around 20 years ago. I saw them opening for Judas Priest on their Painkiller tour at Newcastle City Hall. If memory serves, they were touring on their second album Never, Neverland. I was with Jon Toward and we were late so missed them hitting the stage.

This time I arrived about ten minutes before they came on. Just enough time to wait at the bar, fail to be served and save myself four quid. Bargain.

In honesty, I was a little taken aback by Jeff Waters‘ lack of hair. As I said, I’ve not seem them in 20 years, even if I have kept up with the music! The sound was excellent, though, and the crowd very receptive although it was nowhere near a packed house. Plenty of room to move around and get some good photos.

I’m old (school), so was waiting for the material that matched my wrinkles. I wasn’t disappointed with a great variety of it amongst some of the newer stuff. “King of the Kill” and “Hell is a War” were superb, the intro to the latter sending chills up my spine.

A surprise sit-down session occurred towards the end of the set as the band played two oft-requested tracks that haven’t been given a live airing before (we were told). “Phoenix Rising” had Jeff playing away with an expression on his face which spoke volumes. It said “I have the best job in the world and I ******* love it”.

Chants of “Jeff is God!” rang out as the band closed with a final flurry of thrashy goodness including “The Fun Palace”, “Phantasmagoria” and “Alison Hell”.

A great set, no showboating, an obviously happy band, mad crowd and top sound quality (thanks to the Garage once again). I only find it a shame that despite Waters being consistently rated one of the top guitarists in metal and a huge influence on many bands, Annihilator never reached the size of the likes of Metallica.

Having said that, I’d still rather pick up a new Annihilator album than one from the greedy Dane and his mates.

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