Last weekend in Fresno, CA punk and thrash fans alike swarmed towards their local venue, Strummer’s, for a night worth remembering. It was announced on Friday that the show had been completely sold out, but it wasn’t until I arrived that I realized just how many people were anxious to see the kings of crossover thrash.
Once I made my way inside the building, it was hard to find a proper place to see the full stage. Soon enough, I found a friend of mine who had gotten there earlier and we both found a spot with a decent view. While we were waiting for the opening band, I took a good look around at the crowd, noticing everyone’s tour shirts ranging from Priest and Maiden to Overkill and Nuclear Assault.
While Testament‘s Into The Pit played on the PA, it made me appreciate the scene that I was surrounded by and all the people involved in it. I considered it a brotherhood of like-minded music lovers all coming together to see a band, even if it was on a small stage. We weren’t measuring them on sales or fame. We came to see them play and judging by that night’s ticket sales, this underground genre isn’t that deep below the radar.
After that “moment,” if you will, the opening band, Cursed, emerged on-stage and slayed through an energetic setlist including a track from San Francisco thrash act, Vio-lence‘s demo tape called Breed Like Rats. No one was unimpressed and it set the perfect standard for what was to come…
A few minutes later, a drum kit was delivered to the center of the stage as everyone stared and knew that Suicidal would appear any second. Soon enough, a guitar solo rang out from behind the stage and all 5 members rushed towards the audience: Mike Muir, Dean Pleasants, Jeff Pogan, Ra Diaz and Dave Lombardo.
Beginning the show with an extended version of You Can’t Bring Me Down filled with shredding guitar and intense tempo changes was the best way to start off the night ahead of me. Major highlights included the thrash masterpiece Trip At The Brain, War Inside My Head as well as the collaborative performance of Send Me Your Money. Although the stage wasn’t too wide, Suicidal made great use of it, running from side-to-side in rapid succession.
One thing that stood out to me at this particular show was the massive turnout. Even when Dead Kennedys came to Strummer’s a year prior, the venue didn’t seem to be as crowded. The amount of people stage diving one after the other was unbelievable and the pit was wider than I’d ever seen it before. Everybody was exhilarated for Suicidal and that was proven with each hour that past.
Finally, the band left the stage, but that wasn’t the end of the gig. Many left once the lights were turned back on and the PA began playing music again. But of course, Suicidal returned to play their encore: Institutionalized. It was the last song and everyone used what was left of their energy to stir up one final pit that even the staff volunteered in.
All in all, it was an epic sight to witness and it’s a band I’m proud to say I’ve seen live.
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