A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE KREATOR/VOIVOD/NACHTMYSTIUM/EVILE/LAZARUS A.D. SHOW ON SATURDAY NIGHT

Kreator’s twenty-fifth anniversary tour, which features the very strong supporting line-up of Voivod, Nachtmystium, Evile, and Lazarus A.D., rolled through NYC on Saturday night, and, yeppers, I was there. I don’t have tons to say about it, but I did wanna give you a quick run-down, in the event that you are somehow on the fence about whether or not to buy a ticket when the tour comes to your town… so here are some quick thoughts about all the bands, in the order in which they appeared:

1. LAZARUS A.D. – I had high hopes for these dudes, and they didn’t let me down. Absolutely killer show. They have real chops and sounded tighter than Miley Cyrus before she met Bret Michaels. Bonus points for best synchronized headbanging of the night, during set closer “Revolution.” I can’t wait to see these guys to play a longer set someday soon…
2. EVILE – This is the band’s first time touring the States, and they made the most of it. It’s rare to see a band look so happy to be on-stage, especially since this is metal, where we’re all required to be grim and miserable-lookin’ all the time. Guitarist Ol Drake is especially fun to watch – he often crouches over, Steve Harris-style, and prances around the stage like he’s playing Gremlins in his head. They’ll be doing a second U.S. trek in the spring with Overkill, so if for some reason you can’t check ’em out now, you’ll get another chance soon enough.
3. NACHTMYSTIUM – Well, duh. They killed it. I think this is an almost entirely different line-up than the last time I saw the band, but there was no discernible difference in the quality of their performance. Really, my only complaint is that their set was so short. I’ve only them seen them play support slots, and it always feels like just when they’re getting warmed up, they’re done. Time for a headlining tour, dudes!
4. VOIVOD – Full confession: I missed Voivod because I was doing an interview during their set. The perils of being at “work” when you’re actually at a show. I’m sure they were swell, though.
5. KREATOR – Gotta say, I’ve always been indifferent towards Kreator… maybe because they’re German and my people have a not great history with zee Germans? I dunno. But they put on a great show, that’s for damn sure.

In conclusion: yes, the veteran headliners are great, but make sure you get to the venue early to check out the younger up and comers, too. Totally worth it.

-AR