Anthrax hadn't been in N.Ireland for close to 20 years before this gig, but they were coming here on the back of really strong album…."We've Come For You All ", so all augured well as we headed towards Belfast to see the New York/Californian group. All the reports of the UK leg of the tour were that they were playing really well to packed rooms, and leaving behind satisfied metal-heads…Sweet.

Myself, Kellz and Bopsy met Duck as arranged (a first!!!) and headed into the Ulster Hall…we were glad to see that the place was fairly full….not sold out, but a good crowd none the less! Fair play to Anthrax, I've seen "bigger' bands pull smaller crowds.

We had about 2 minutes to get settled before the lights went down and the roar went up………..the Blues Bros. Intro tape kicked in and so did the pit!! On came the boys and "What doesn't Die" screamed across the hall…….. the sound was the usual top drawer meaty sound that I've come to expect from the Ulster Hall. John Bush is one of THE great singers in metal and his voice was given all the clarity it needed throughout the night.

The crowd quickly split into 2 sections…….the PIT, in which kids were getting thrown everywhere and where good healthy violence was king….and after a 4 foot gap, all the old-school metallers quietly stood and politely nodded their heads in appreciation. Needless to say…all us boys were straight into the pit and spent the whole night there. Although I may be lying here.

Anthrax are a band who have to be admired…they simply refuse to accept that they might be finished. When Frankie Bello left last month, they barely felt it. Most bands would panic if they lost a founder member. Anthrax simply got on with it…they got hold of John Bush's former band-mate in Armoured Saint, Joey Vera and played on. You can hardly tell that the guy is only in the band a few weeks…he's on the money! Great Bass player, great stage presence and he can dodge a plastic bottle like no one I've ever seen.

Anthrax really are a well-oiled band at this stage of their career…. they go at this Belfast crowd like men possessed. All the songs hit the mark."Indians","Only", "Safe Home""Fueled" and the newly resurrected "Madhouse" are all greeted with near-hysteria…and the band are loving it.

At this point, I'd like to digress…back in the day ('80's); we had about 3 good gigs a year in this war-torn province that we call home. Needless to say, when we got the opportunity to see a good band, we went buck-spastic mad. As a result of this, when bands played here, they couldn't believe the reaction they were getting. Now that I'm a big boy (ahem!), I've had the dubious honour of having seen bands in other parts of the world…. it might sound slightly jingo-istic,but the crowds here are STILL lethal. And these days we have good gigs on a regular basis, yet show no signs of becoming spoilt and complacent like crowds over in the UK!!!

Scott Ian took the mike on a few occasions in Belfast to comment on the amazing crowd reaction, and has since done so on the Anthrax site as well (CLICK HERE). Fair play to the guy!!!!!He's right aswell…the place was jumpin'!!!!They even came back for an extra encore to pacify the audience,who simply wouldn't stop cheering!!

This was a great gig from a band that are really delivering quality music at the minute. Anthrax put Belfast through the wringer that night.

A brilliant gig.

DIXIE

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