A little over halfway through their set, tapestries of Vinnie Paul and 'Dimebag' Darrell were draped over the walls of stage amps as BLS paid homage to their fallen brothers with the poignant track "In This River". It was at this point that the crowd took just a few minutes of calm in the insanity and cell phones lit up and maybe even a tear or two was shed as the tribute was performed. The craziness returned with the next song, "Trampled Down Below" and following "Set You Free" came "Fire It Up", a number I first remember playing on the very first installment of the Guitar Hero video game series, and during this performance beach balls were tossed out from the stage into the crowd. This track developed into a full-fledged guitar solo jam bewteen Zakk and Dario that seemed to go on forever, the highlight of which was when they both stood on top of risers at center stage and played their axes behind their necks simultaneously, precision perfectly I might add. From there they finished things up with the double shot of "Suicide Messiah" and what has become their trademark show closer, "Stillborn". It was another fantastic set that left the crowd spent and there was still one more band to come...

What can you say about ANTHRAX that hasn't been said a thousand times before? They've been kicking fans' asses for decades and after 40 years you really can't imagine these guys calling it quits anytime soon. Their evening began with a curtain draped over the front of the stage as a video montage played of a whole slew of fellow rockers talking about their memories of ANTHRAX which probably lasted at least 5 minutes with the last 30 seconds or so devoted solely to those rockers saying the name, ANTHRAX. Now at an absolute fever pitch, the crowd went nuts as the band launched into "Among The Living", the title track to the band's classic third album from 1987, and from there the band proceeded to lay waste to the Bayou Center. In just the first 3 songs alone that we photographers were allowed into the barricade to shoot we had to constantly dodge crowdsurfers as ANTHRAX put the pedal to floor and pummeled us with a set from across their storied history like "Caught In A Mosh" and third number "Madhouse".

To say that this was an intense show by one of the 'Big 4' would be an understatement as the sonic assault continued with "Keep It In The Family" and "Metal Thrashing Mad". And just when you thought it couldn't get any better they reached down and tightened the screws a bit more with "Antisocial" and "I Am The Law" before surprising us and going back to the John Bush era and giving a solid performance of "Only".

The band, vocalist Joey Belladonna, guitarists Scott Ian and Jon Donais, bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante, were energetic and engaging throughout their set with Belladonna frequently pointing to various members of the crowd and tossing guitar picks at every opportunity, including once while I was in the barricade shooting as he handed me a pick to give to a child standing at the front of the crowd. And as I stood in the crowd to watch the rest of the show there was a child of maybe 5 or 6 on their parent's shoulders with horns held high, a testament to the influence ANTHRAX has had on generations of metal fans.

The band concluded the final set of the night with two cover songs that they have really made their own, "Got The Time" (Joe Jackson) and "Bring The Noise" (PUBLIC ENEMY), and probably one of their most famous tunes, "Indians". If you've never had the opportunity to catch ANTHRAX live or even if you have a thousand times, this is one anniversary tour you do not want to miss!

Remaining Tour Dates:

• 2.13 Wichita, KS, The Cotillion
• 2.14 Oklahoma City, OK, The Criterion
• 2.15 Albuquerque, NM, Revel
• 2.17 Riverside, CA, Riverside Municipal Auditorium
• 2.18 Oakland, CA, Fox Theater

• "Among the Living"
• "Caught in a Mosh"
• "Madhouse"
• "Metal Thrashing Mad"
• "Keep It in the Family"
• "Antisocial" (TRUST cover)
• "I Am the Law"
• "In the End"
• "Only"
• "Got the Time" (JOE JACKSON cover)
• "Bring the Noise" (PUNBLIC ENEMY cover)
• "Indians"