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Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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5 | |
| Musashi's Review | 4 | |
| Go to Reader Reviews |
Death's Review (3/23/02, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ):
photos by CYNBlitz summed it up best half-way through Overkill's incredible two and a half hour set last Saturday night when he asked "how do you like us so far?" He quickly explained that he wasn't asking about that night's show, but rather the first seventeen years of Overkill history. "How you like us, SO FAR?" he asked again. The crowd roared with approval. So far, so good, as far as I'm concerned. Can't wait to see what the next seventeen years has in store.
When I heard that Overkill was playing a special show on a Saturday night in Jersey where the band would be taping a new live album and filming a DVD, I knew I had to be there. Blitz mentioned that Jersey folk were constantly asking him why all of the previous live material had been recorded in Cleveland, and so the band decided to hook the home state crowd up this time. The place was packed, and it was clear that many Overkill fans had traveled great distances this night. A last minute emergency had forced Abyss to stay back in Manhattan, but Hel, Musashi, Cyn, Ylana and I soldiered on and made the trip.
We got there just before the band Slack took the stage. The beer garden had this weird rule: you could only drink in between bands. Ouch. We guzzled what we could and returned to the theater to watch Slack--a proficient but generally unexciting band. That is, until the keyboard player started ripping up teddy bears and throwing them into the audience. That was fun! I wish I had a beer though.
Back to the beer garden to chat with the die-hards and slam beers before Overkill. Soon the main attraction took the stage. It was great to see Overkill with a big-time production, lots of lights and staging and cool Overkill banners everywhere, and a central day-glow green Overkill logo in the middle of the stage. The band played a pretty killer setlist, busting out some gems (as promised) which haven't been heard live in recent years like "The Years of Decay" and "I Hate". It was definitely a five-skull Overkill setlist, which included, to the best of my memory, the following songs (not in order) along the course of the two-and-a-half hour set: "Rotten to the Core," "Overkill (1)," "Wrecking Crew/Powersurge," "Deny the Cross," "In Union We Stand," "Hello From the Gutter," "Shred," "Fuck You/War Pigs/Fuck You," "Years of Decay," "Elimination," "Evil Never Dies," "I Hate," "Horroscope," "Spiritual Void," "Gasoline Dream," "It Lives," "Long Time Dyin'," "Battle," "Thunderhead," "Necroshine," and "Bleed Me". I'm sure there were others I'm forgetting, but you get the point: the set was killer, and the show fucking ruled.
Overkill are far from washed up. Blitz is a fucking maniac, and Verni is his usual stoic self. The band sounds great and obviously has loyal fans the world over. This was by far the longest and most extensive Overkill show I've ever seen, and I've seen them like 20 times. "Fuck You?" Fuck yeah. This show rocked. Can't wait for the DVD.
Hel's Review (3/23/02, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ):
If you've been to the Paramount Theatre in March, you know the deal - it's cold, and there are bizarre rules about alcohol. This time was only different in that my very favorite band in the world was about to play - and I'd never seen them at this particular venue before. The night got me reminiscing about various times and places that were the settings for the many other times I've seen Overkill live.
But before I could even hear a note, I had to endure torture. The cold trek out to the beer area, the cold beer area, and being chased out again just as I was handed a slice of overpriced pizza. After which I no alternative but to sit through one of the worst bands I've ever seen in my life. All I could think, as I was forced to sit there and provide that crap with an audience, was that I really, really, wanted to throw something at them. I was beginning to long for medieval times, when people would bring their rotten produce to sling at bad entertainers, when the scary, ugly girl in the bad band began throwing random things at the audience - my prayers were answered! I could finally throw something at them! And I wasn’t the only one… After the awful band finally ended, there was yet another round of beer garden torture.
Finally, Overkill! The front of the venue was mobbed, but fortunately the powers didn't decide to try to enforce the "keeping the aisle clear" rule that so many places religiously adhere to, so it was possible to get fairly close. I watched the latest incarnation of Overkill perform and, as I mentioned earlier, I could not help but remember the past. My first live experience with them was at a little venue called the Lost Horizon in Syracuse, NY, during the fall of 1991. I was already a fan at that point, but their status as my "favorite" was cemented by that first show. A couple of years later, I saw them for the third or fourth time under unusual circumstances. It was June of 1993, and Death and I were on our honeymoon in jolly old London, England, when we decided to see if any good bands were playing while we were there. Fate stepped in, and provided a tour featuring this line up: Nonfiction, Savatage, and Overkill. Not one, but two of my favorite bands! This proved to be the only time I would ever see Criss Oliva play live, and with Overkill as the headliner, well, metal-geek that I am, this is still one of my favorite honeymoon memories.
So here I am, in 2002, at the historic taping of their next live album and DVD. Certainly, it is bound to join the aforementioned gigs and others in my memory bank of the best of their best performances. On this night, one thing that has troubled me for years was finally addressed: my favorite band finally played my favorite song. At every Overkill show I've ever gone to, I have hoped in vain to hear, "I Hate" - my own personal anthem. Finally, at long, long, last it happened! It was clear from the moment the song began that I was not the only who had long been waiting for this song to appear in the set list. The drive down to Jersey and even the preceding torture were all worth it for this one song alone. Add to this, "The Years of Decay," and you start to get the picture! They must have played for over 2 and 1/2 hours, and there were still many wonderful songs unable to fit into the set.
In the end, of course, the journey was worth it. I blame the venue for booking that horrible opening act, and I refuse to penalize Overkill for the musical blight preceding their amazing performance. While it boggles my mind just to consider it, I know that there are many young metalheads out there who have never explored the land of Overkill, and I urge you to do so, for your own sake, as this is not an acceptable gap to have in your metal education. Go out today and buy yourself a copy of Years of Decay, and know going into it that Bobby Blitz has the most distinctive metal voice since Ozzy, then you’ll be on your way to completing your education. And if you’ve never had the chance to experience Overkill live, you will surely have to make a point of picking up the DVD when it is finally released, as it's sure to become an instant classic.
Musashi's Review (3/23/02, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ):
At the last minute, Abyss had to cancel and was unable to make the trek to Assberry Park. Therefore, I was granted the coveted spot on the Judgment Committee this week. I feel honored and will do my best to meet the challenge.I'd be lying to you if I told you I was a big Overkill fan. I'd also be lying if I told you I owned any of their albums. However, I am not lying when I tell you that Overkill is a great band that I always enjoy seeing. In the last four years I have seen Overkill four times. Every show of theirs is great. Overkill is a band that has been around for something like seventeen years and has really stayed true to their original sound and their original attitude.
Overkill takes me back to the Eighties and Nineties. It is a combination of the music, the attitude and the hair. Unlike many bands from that era that are now trying to cash in on nostalgia by doing reunion tours, Overkill is not fake and cheesy. Overkill has not sold out. When watching Overkill I never feel that I am watching a bunch of forty-somethings that are outdated and have let time pass them by, nor do I see a band that is just going through the motions. I see a band that is vibrant with a joie de vivre. They are still pissed off and have something to prove and do not change with every passing trend. They love metal and metalheads love them.
This show was being recorded and filmed for a live album and DVD. There were cameras all around the auditorium catching every nuance. The energy level was extremely high and the diehard fans were screaming and holding up banners and looking to get their face in front of the camera.
Bobby Blitz looked chiseled out of stone as he stood at the front of the stage in a constant state of flex. The band followed his lead and banged their heads in unison. The band was polished and tight. The guitar, bass and drums pounded out the music with machine-like precision. I was suprised to hear the drummer make some mistakes because the band is always so damn polished and I kept expecting Bobby, to fine him like Ike Turner, but they just kept playing and never let on that there was a mistake. There was nothing that couldn't be fixed later in the mix.
As well as writing for Abyss, I felt that I had to drink for Abyss. Since my strict training regime was derailed by some injuries, I was off the wagon and free to party. We went searching for the beer garden from the moment we were inside the theater. Just like at the Metal Meltdown, they were not serving alcohol inside the venue. We found that we had to take a walk outside in the cold (thirty degrees with a strong wind off the ocean) to the next building. So off we went to get some beer. No sooner had we started to imbibe, than they told us to clear out and go back to the theater. Apparently the beer garden was only open between bands. We were forced to watch the opening band, Slack, SOBER. What kind of sick torture is that? How can they let you have one beer and then make you stop? Don't they stand to make more money if they let us drink more? What drives people to make such stupid decisions? Is this why Abyss decided not to come to the show? So many unanswered questions.
The opening band was bad. How bad? Real bad! Okay the drummer, bass player and guitar player were okay. The problem was the singer. He looked like a less cool version of Jason Mewes (Jay of Jay and Silent Bob). He had the track pants and sweatshirt like some RUN DMC wannabe: long hair pulled back in a ponytail and was spitting out bad raps. But even his lameness was overshadowed by the hulking beast of a backup singer. They had some troll dressed in a bright red dress with her hair up in pom-poms and fishnet stockings that would hit buttons on the sampler and sing backup. She was scary. The highlight was when she opened up a footlocker at the front of the stage and took out teddy bears and tore their heads off and threw them into the audience. If I wasn't so painfully sober, I would have thought that this was some drunken hallucination. The spectacle only made my thirst stronger and I longed for the band to finish their set so I could get some more beer (hopefully killing those braincells which housed any memories of the opening band).
Finally, back at the beer garden we pounded beers as fast as we could in order to get a buzz going. Although we were all excited to see Overkill, our time in the beer garden was far too short. Once we were ushered out we quickly made our way down front to get a good view of the show. Now all the bad parts of this night were behind us: the opening band, the sobriety and the long drive to Assberry park. Overkilled played for a couple of hours and seemed like they would gladly have played a couple more. The fans were certainly willing to stay as long as Overkill were willing to entertain. As usual I had a great time with Overkill.
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