I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2026] Anthrax

I was a huge Iron Maiden fan starting with Number of the Beast.  But when Anthrax came out, I like them even more–I feel like they invented the word Mosh (probably not but hey certainly used it more than anyone else).  I liked that they were super heavy and also had a good sense of humor.

Amazingly, I had never seen them live.  Not sure how that happened.  Although in fairness, I haven’t really listened to them since the early 1990s.

But I really wanted to see them at least once.  Indeed, I probably wouldn’t have gone to this show if Anthrax weren’t opening (this was the only venue where they played).  So the fact that I almost missed them because of Newark police is insane.

They went on at 6:10 (originally 6:30) and I left my house at 4 for an hour drive.  And I walked onto the floor as the band played their first chord.  Because when I got near the Harrison bridge, the police rerouted my side of the road (if you were in the left lane, you got to cross the bridge.  If you were in the right lane, you had to go straight).  So I followed their detour and looped back around where I Was about to get on the bridge only to see that they closed off the onramp as well.  There were people crossing the bridge, but not us.  So we all had to drive past the bridge and go to one of the parking garages.  I happened to find one that was relatively close (and much cheaper) and then hoofed it back to the venue.

I arrived and then had to hoof it to the furthest back gate for GA admission (Gate D) and then, once we got in and were given the golden GA wristband, we had to walk all the way to gate C to get onto the floor.  And, it was the back of the floor–furthest from the GA section.  It was like everyone in on the show was trying to make it the least pleasant experience possible.

So I walked in as the band was introing Caught in a Mosh–which was awesome.  The sound wasn’t great, to be sure.  I did worry that I was too close to get a good sound, but it was definitely the venue.

I was certainly bummed that they were going on first and were only playing 7 songs, but you take what you can get.

I was fully settled in a decent spot by the time Madhouse came on.  The crowd was insane at this point.  I was relatively close to the stage (a bad spot at a small club, but a decent spot for a stadium) and off to stage left and weirdly, a fairly large mosh pit started right in front of me. I’m used to pits starting in the center, but this was pretty far from center.   I don’t mind a mosh pit at all, but I don’t want to be puhsed around by it or feel like I have to pay attention to them rather than the band.  So it was mildly annoying but not too bad.

Mostly I was super psyched that Joey Belladonna was back in front of the band (I mean, he has been since 2010, but he was out for a while).  As he is the voice of Anthrax to me.  Even if he didn’t sing on the debut album, and they played Metal Thrashing Mad–he hit those high screams like it was nothing.  He really sounded fantastic.

The crowd sang along pretty well, I thought, except for the guy next to me who wouldn’t even shout you’re anti, you’re antisocial.

They played one brand new song It’s for the Kids (Scott Ian’s introduction of this song was hilarious).  It sounded good and I will definitely have to check out the new album–I haven’t listened to any with the returned Joey, but maybe I should.

They played Joe Jackson’s Got the Time, which was a big hit for them back in the day.  Someone online complained that they played two covers in a 7 song set. I totally forgot that Antisocial was a cover although I did know about Got the Time.  I guess these two songs are such a part of the band’s history that I don’t think of them as covers anymore.  But I do see the person’s point.  It sounded great though and I suspect is a lot of fun to play.

Midway through the set, Charlie threw a drumstick into the crowd.  I was nowhere near it sadly.

After got the time, Joey asked if we were ready for a war dance.  This meant they were going to play Indians, one of my favorite Anthrax songs.  (Joey Belladonna (his real last name is Bellardini) is half Iriquois!  They started the song and I have no idea what Joey did.  He just wasn’t there.  Did he go into the crowd?  I have no idea.  But it was really funny because after playing the riff, they stopped the song and Scott told the audience that if they started a wardance, we had to stand up and dance.  It was a lot of fun.

The band sounded really good–Charlie is a beast on drums and Scott’s backing vocals were loud an intense.  And they can still play super fast.  I didn’t realize how much of the original band is still in the band.  In addition to Scott and Charlie, Frank Bello has been the bassist since 1984 (although I still think it’s Dan Lilker, since he was the first bassist–Dan also founded Nuclear Assault!).  There have been a lot of comings and going in Anthrax, especially singers, but otherwise its been relatively steady.  Except for lead guitarists.  Jon Donais played with them–I didn’t recognize him at all, although he’s been with them since 2013, so he’s hardly new.

At the end of the set, they threw all kinds of stuff into the crowd and I have made myself a promise that when they come back to Philly (which they must do since they have a new album out) I will be sure t go and I will try to get really close to the stage.  Seven songs just weren’t enough.

I see that for the first night they played Medusa instead of Antisocial.  Fair.  Either song would have been great to hear.

SETLIST

Caught in a Mosh ∇
Madhouse §
Metal Thrashing Mad ∑
Antisocial (Trust cover) ‰
It’s for the Kids £
Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover) ⊗
Indians ∇

£ Cursum Perficio (2016)
⊗ Persistence of Time (1990)
‰ State of Euphoria (1988)
∇ Among the Living (1987)
§ Spreading the Disease (1985)
∑ Fistful of Metal (1984)