One thing I learned from my trip to see these guys is that once I can afford one, I must get a GPS because one wrong turn and it takes me forever to get back on track. I left so I could be two hours early but ended up one hour early but it turned out all right. However, on my trip back I ended up going the wrong way and when I saw a sign that said Oklahoma City (I live near Dallas TX) I had to make up for almost half an hour of going the wrong way (I left the venue at about 11:20 and got back around 1:30). I'll get to the review but first I had a strange encounter. Next to me at the front was an older man (about Lemmy's age) who was very talkative and a cool guy but had less brain cells than Ozzy. Definatly a long time stoner, I could only understand about half of what he said, but he was definatly a hoot and a half. Now on to the concert.

First up was Lazarus A.D. and they were quite the thrash band, not in the classic sense but much better than most modern thrash bands. The lead guitarist was particulary impressive with some great solo work. Most people there didn't know them but after they were done it was obvious that they made some new fans.




Next up was Unearth. Up until now, I never heard these guys. I knew about them due to their hype but never listened because of all that type of hype being overdone. While they aren't anything new, their stage presence could not be ignored. The music was a mix of thrash, metalcore, and Fear Factory and they put on quite a show and the star had to be guitarist Ken Susi who was quite the character least of all due to his haircut which was a faux hawk with long side burns. His antics involved sticking his tongue down the thraot of an 18 year old chick (who was standing next to me), hocking a loogy into the crowd (I'm glad I was not in the path way of that-I don't enjoy being spit on), letting a string of snot hang from his nose while soloing, jumping up on speakers, and going out into the crowd. Not sure if I'd listen to these guys on a regular basis but they put on one hell of a show.








Finally it was the band I was here for. I had lost my position during Unearth from those teenage girls but they left (I figured they would, only real metal fans would be sticking around for Testament and I'm sure many were here just for Unearth) and I was back were I started. Testament was as awesome as I thought they would be. Chuck's voice was superb, Greg Christian's bass playing was great, Paul Bostaph was a monster behind the kit, and Alex and Eric shred the hell out of their guitars. Everybody seems to pay more attention to Alex, but Eric is quite the guitarist himself. Apart from being a great rhythm guitarist, he knows his was around a solo. The entire band put on a great performance and we got many great songs (not in order): Diciples Of The Watch, Practice What You Preach, The Preacher, More Than Meets The Eye, Into The Pit, Over The Wall, The Haunting, Burnt Offerings, The New Order, The Persecuted Won't Forget, Formation Of Damnation, and one other song that I could not remember (probably a song from Souls Of Black) nor do I know what it was called. Eric and Alex were throwing out pics but since I never seem to get any my way and I suck at catching I didn't attempt to get one however Eric had thrown one to me and it landed on my arm so I got a souvenir without even trying . Great concert and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if they did Return To Serenity, but I kind of figured that wouldn't happen (since most Testament fans didn't like The Ritual).



Eric and Alex



Alex


Chuck and Eric Giving A Thumbs Up (to who, I don't know)


Chuck & Eric again


Chuck




Eric


Greg (I tried to get a picture during a small bass solo but I accidently turned my camera off and by the time I turned it back on and got it to work, he had finished (maybe I need a better quality camera)


Chuck with some evil glowing eyes


Chuck playing air guitar with his mic stick (something I understand he always does)





The Whole Band (minus Paul Bostaph who was hidden behind his kit)


The pic I got from Eric

I got three shirts from this concert one of which was given to me by mistake and I didn't catch it until just now (which makes me extremely po'd at myself). I will sell this shirt for $15 (no S&H) which would sell for $5-10 more online or $10 more at a show. If there are any Unearth fans on here and the shirt looks like something you'd like, then PM me. They one I wanted was a Lazarus A.D. shirt and the design is of one that is out of stock online.

The Testament shirt I got front, back and on the sleeves:





The Unearth shirt I'm keeping:




Here is the shirt I can't keep (mainly because of the words on the back which have been blacked out for the sake of this board:

Testament is always a blast live. Such a killer band that should have been sooooo much bigger!

I went to the Raleigh NC show and it was fantastic! Lazarus A.D. was just great! Unearth was boring, but that one guitar player was all over the place. Testament was simply amazing...loved every second of it!

My son got the Testament shirt w/ the crest and the state flags on the back w/ tour dates...

Sounds like a great time. I'm jealous.

Thanks for the review and the photos!! Glad you had a great time even if you did make several wrong turns.

Nice review, and cool pix. I haven't seen Testament since the LOW tour in '94, glad to hear they still kick it live.

Does Chuck Billy still do his gross on-stage trick where he spits a gob straight up into the air and then catches it in his mouth again?

Caught this one when I was in MN. Lazarus AD converted me that night! Great new thrash band that does a good live show.

We didn't even bother with Unearth. One of a multitude of metalcore bands. They have 3 or 4 songs from all their albums that I like, other than those....boring. We played a yard darts video game while they were on stage.

Testament was great! Chuck has this massive stage presence (not to mention he's just a REALLY big dude)! Me and Greg (DeathCult) hung out and shot the shyte with Eric, Chuck, and Alex after the show. Chuck was really cool and seemed to be a fun-lovin' dude. Eric was shorter than I thought (probably around 5'7" maybe). He had a touch of the "rockstar" to him, if you ask me. Alex was VERY cool, in my book. I talked to him for quite a bit.

Even ditchin' out on Unearth (or probably because OF it) it was a GREAT night!

Glad you had fun when you caught the show DB!

thanks for the photos and review