Kerry King puts a thrashing on wild fans on his debut headlining tour with support from Municipal Waste and Alien Weaponry.
New Zealand thrash metal band Alien Weaponry hits the stage to loud cheers. Led by brothers Lewis de Jong (guitar and vocals) and Henry de Jong (drums), along with Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds (bass), they put out a cool mix of thrash metal along with some Māori vocals that give a tribal vibe to the songs. The show starts with Henry doing the Haka, which is a Māori war dance. The fans love it and let out cheers and applause after every song, along with fists in the air and a mosh pit breaking out early and running throughout their set. They play several songs from their album Tu from 2018 including “Raupatu,” “Holding My Breath,” and “Rū Ana Te Whenua.” In the middle of the set, they throw in their recently released single, “Mau Moko.” They wrap it up with their breakout hit “Kai Tangata.” They have the crowd fired up early.
Municipal Waste has been cranking out thrash metal and crossover thrash since 2000 and is always an entertaining live act. Tonight is no exception as they run through a dozen or so songs including many fan favorites. After a brief instrumental opening with “The Garbage Stomp,” they run through some hook-laden and familiar songs that have the crowd moshing and singing along. This includes “Sadistic Magician,” “Slime and Punishment,” and “Breathe Grease.”The band is highly active and engaging with the fans as they move from side to side, use the riser up front, and often meet at mid-stage for some group poses. The stage setup has several hazardous waste containers along with two skeletons atop them. The band consists of lead vocalist Tony Foresta, guitarists Ryan Waste and Nick Poulos, bassist Philip Hall, and drummer Dave Witte. Dave may be unable to move around the stage, but he lays down a wicked beat on these thrashy songs. Several times during their set, Tony pulls up his shirt and pats his belly. He sure likes to keep it loose and fun on stage.
“Grave Dive” fires up the crowd as they put up their horns and pump their fists in the air. After “You’re Cut Off” and Poison the Preacher,” they play a catchy instrumental called “Wave of Death” that keeps the crowd moshing and crowd-surfing. “Restless and Wicked” is a rapid-fire song that has the guitarists tearing it up. Winding it down they play the set staple “The Art of Partying,” the heavy “Demoralizer,” and finish it off with the very short “Born to Party” which leaves the fans amped for the headliner to come.
Metal guitar legend Kerry King and his band hit the stage, and the fans let out thunderous applause and cheers. Kerry has assembled an all-star band with Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) on vocals, guitarist Phil Demmel (Machine Head), bassist Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah), and drummer Paul Bostaph (Slayer). They lead off with “Where I Reign,” from the 2024 debut album From Hell I Rise. They follow that up with several other songs from the debut album including “Rage,” “Trophies of the Tyrant,” and “Residue” that has Phil tearing it up as the fans pump their fists in the air. Mark is all over the stage engaging the fans, and Kyle often whips his locks around as he headbangs and lays down a heavy bottom end. A circle pit starts early along with some crowd-surfing which keeps security up front busy.After “Two Fists” and “Idle Hands,” they play the Slayer song “Repentless.” This song has the crowd really fired up with headbanging and fist-pumping. Phil takes the lead on some songs and often he and Kerry trade off shredding. Kerry is a machine as he rips off note after note at a torrid pace on a cool Flying V guitar. Kerry is now 60 years old and has been rocking since 1981 but he is showing no signs of slowing down.
Following three more songs from the debut album, they play “Disciple” by Slayer which has Mark letting out high screams. This song gets loud applause and whistles from the fans. Mark takes a moment to recognize a band that has influenced them and many others before they tear through great covers of the Iron Maiden classics “Purgatory” and “Killers.”
“Cruxifixation,” “At Dawn They Sleep,” and “Shrapnel” set the stage for a song the fans have been waiting to hear, the Slayer classic “Raining Blood.” With the stage lit in deep red, the band stands with their backs to the crowd as Paul plays an extended intro on the drums before Kerry kicks in with the familiar riffs. The fans respond with huge cheers and a massive circle pit that extends almost from the barrier up front to near the bar at the back. They end it with “Black Magic” and the debut album title track. Before the last song, Mark tells the crowd they have been “absolutely f***ing brilliant” and “with that much energy and aggression, we’ll be back.”
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