The Metal Alliance Tour brought a solid line up to Brooklyn Bowl LV, headlined by Overkill and Crowbar with support from Havok, Black Fast and Invidia for a night of full on horns top metal. Vegas was one of the shows the last week of the September tour, and the bands were not showing any road wear after a month of touring and blew the roof off the bowl with a packed show and non stop mosh pits.
Opening the show was Las Vegas' native sons Invidia, a good hard rocking metal band fronted by Evan Seidlitz on vocals, Brian Jackson on lead guitar, Matt Snell on bass, Marcos Medina Rivera on rhythm guitar and Darren Badorine on drums. The highlight of Invidia's set is hearing them play their hit single "Feed the Fire", and at the Metal Alliance show Evan went out into the crowd with the mic and asked the crowd to form a line behind him and follow him into a circle, as he started a mosh pit and encouraged everyone to join in. It was great to finally see Invidia on a big stage, and I force big things from this band in the future.
Indivia Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Black Fast - a thrash band out of St Louis - plays at frenzied pace and really got the crowd up and moving. Following Black Fast was Havok, from Denver, Colorado and are an American thrash band who had the honor of getting the crowd to open the first real full on mosh pit of the evening. Havok is a solid thrash band having toured with the likes of Testament, Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse and Anthrax just to name a few.
Black Fast Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Havok Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Crowbar is actually more of a sludge metal band and not thrash, which made their music seem kinda slow compared to the break neck style of the previous bands, but Crowbar as usual put on a hell of a show, and always pull a solid fan base for their shows in Vegas. Hailing from New Orleans, Crowbar features Kurt Windstein on on vocals and rhythm guitar, Tommy Buckley on drums, Matthew Brunson on lead guitar and Todd Strange on bass.
Crowbar Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Now it was time for New Jersey’s own Overkill. Formed way back in 1980, they are one of the most successful thrash bands to come from the east coast. Overkill has stayed true to their sound and have survived all these years since, with a loyal fan base and following over the decades. For Metal Alliance the band featured a full stage setup with a massive backdrop, and this was the band the crowd came to see. When Overkill took to the stage the crowd surged forward with arms stretched out and heads banging up and down singing each and every word. Singer Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth sounds an awful lot like Udo Dirkschneider, and made no apologies who the band was and what they sound like, and constantly reminded the crowd that they do things the way it is done New Jersey - fun, loud and proud.
Overkill Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos