In a year that has seen more concerts rescheduled for 2021 than performed in 2020, one San Antonio promotional group and several bands spit in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic Friday and said enough was enough. And some of those artists weren’t exactly slouches.
Billed as “End of Days,” a Halloween Eve program that was actually two years in the making was finally undertaken, and pulled off, headlined by Saliva. It also featured the eponymous band of Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, A Killer’s Confession (fronted by former Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis) and The Crowned along with various local and regional bands. The brainchild of Saliva drummer Paul Crosby and Nathaniel Villareal of promotional group Anthem Entertainment, “End of Days” sought to bring live music back to the people of the San Antonio music scene in a year unlike any in our lifetimes.
Mission accomplished. Were there glitches and hiccups? Of course. This is 2020 after all. But while national tours continue to be pushed back into next year and local bars just reopened at partial capacity the previous weekend after a 7 1/2-month shutdown, Anthem Entertainment and the bands on its bill did something many thought would prove impossible and/or canceled.
While the original plan was to have Sunset Station host the extravaganza with local and regional bands such as Last Battle, Relent, and 2020 Wacken Metal Battle state winners Hanna Barakat from Austin, the venue was switched 48-72 hours prior to the gig to the Anthem School of Music plaza along Interstate-10. Further, several bands were booted off the bill and replaced by the likes of teen thrashers Exitium from Houston, Magg Dylan and Layne’s Calling. While Villareal declined to get into specifics about the venue change, he did tell Alamo True Metal that “five or six bands” had to be let go due to “poor ticket sales.”
“They had 120 days to do something,” Villareal acknowledged, adding that San Antonio outfit Terror Form did the opposite and slightly improved its originally scheduled time slot to 4 p.m. by virtue of its preshow sale of tickets. Villareal also added by night’s end that 478 bystanders had come through the gates throughout the gig that lasted into Halloween morning before packing up to finish its trifecta of shows Saturday in Slidell, Louisiana, and Sunday in suburban Houston.
In a city that sports several metal promotional companies aimed at bringing live shows to town but that also often finds some of those outlets spewing assorted vitriol toward one another via social media and behind the scenes, Anthem Entertainment is the relative newcomer to the party. Figuring hey, you’ve gotta start somewhere, Anthem’s initial foray into the local scene was to host shows inside Rolling Oaks Mall. A couple of Friday’s local bands, Ammo For My Arsenal and Pigweed, were among those that played the shopping center 12 months ago, stuck by Anthem’s side, and were rewarded for it Friday (coverage here).
In addition to facing the mostly baseless hate from its peers, Anthem of course had to contend with the majority of the metal public choosing to remain cautious by not attending concerts thanks to Covid. And while roughly only half of the 478 wore masks, and pre-planned food trucks on site didn’t materialize, Anthem compensated by offering Bring Your Own Beer to patrons free of charge, folding chairs for those who spent $25 on tickets, general admission by the stage for those who spent $35 and plenty of space to congregate or spread out within the plaza’s parking lot. Enforcement of who could stand close to the stage, particularly as the night wore on, was non-existent however given the event was devoid of security.
As for the bands that did play, they were taking their own risks by appearing at the event. But they were also taking a stand that their way of life, and life in general, cannot simply come to a complete halt because of an invisible virus. Watch the majority of bands in action via ATM’s exclusive footage below and Facebook Live footage of Terror Form, Exitium, Kritickill, The Crowned, A Killer’s Confession and Ellefson.
Other highlights that can also be seen via the 131-photo slideshow below included:
Reavis becoming the funniest entertainer of the day, belying his group’s name of A Killer’s Confession. He implored the crowd to come to the front by saying, “We won’t give you Covid, but (guitarist) Tommy (Church) will give you chlamydia.” Reavis also called for a Ric Flair “Wooooo!” and found time to join Pigweed for their cover of Sepultura’s “Roots Bloody Roots.” A Killer’s Confession was co-produced by Ellefson vocalist Thom Hazaert and initially on Ellefson’s EMP Label Group, so Reavis said they’d play several songs from 2017 debut Unbroken as a thank-you to Ellefson for giving them their start
Singer/drummer Marc Coronado of The Crowned joined Hazaert on finale “Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying?” (see below). The Crowned is going on tour with Ellefson in a couple of weeks. The concert, meanwhile, was a miracle of another sorts for Hazaert, who went into cardiac arrest in July during Ellefson’s recording of covers album No Cover, several tunes of which were performed Friday including “Eat the Rich” by Krokus and “Wasted” from Def Leppard’s first album. The disc’s release was pushed from Oct. 2 to Nov. 20, coinciding with Ellefson’s and The Crowned’s upcoming tour. Ellefson’s band was in San Antonio since Wednesday shooting a pair of videos with Dangerous Toys vocalist Jason McMaster, though the longtime Austin resident and Corpus Christi native did not appear Friday night
Members of Kingdom Collapse were on hand including David Work and Jonathan Norris, both former guitar mates in now-defunct group The Taking. Norris now handles lead-vocal duties in Kingdom Collapse, and he jumped up on stage to join Saliva on “Always”
Kritickill’s vocalist complimented Pigweed on more than one occasion, saying he hated having to follow them because they kicked so much ass. Not to worry given that Kritickill easily had the most devoted following. The crowd from their town of Killeen, Texas, thinned out when their set finished, with many of their fans not sticking around for Ellefson and even fewer waiting out for Saliva, which went on at approximately 11:30 p.m. in temperatures that dipped into the low 50s and high 40s
Raise your hand if you had former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal as the only musician who would wear a face covering while performing. Now a member of Ellefson’s band, Thal donned a bandana throughout his playing of the double neck. Listen to our interview from February 27, 2017, here and check out ATM’s coverage of his solo performance from that December’s show at the Rock Box here. Do the same with ATM’s exclusive interview and coverage of Ellefson’s “Basstory” visit in October 2018 here.
Exitium, teen thrashers from Houston and one of the last-minute replacements, was the only band to mention the recent death of Eddie Van Halen, with guitarist Adam Vogt performing his rendition of “Eruption”
Did everything go off without a hitch? Come on, this is 2020, remember? With only one more song left on the evening, Saliva’s “Click Click Boom” was left to put the icing on the cake only to have the power fizzle. No matter, it merely resulted in a five-minute delay before Saliva finished off the night in style. Considering the numerous power outages that have plagued the concert scene at larger shows in recent memory, this one was just a blip on the radar and was eventually overcome.
When all was said and done, the bands, Anthem Entertainment and fans on hand had persevered through it all to defy the odds and take part in a show that other promoters, fans and artists may have shied away from — and undoubtedly are kicking themselves today for having done so.
