{"id":4535,"date":"1987-12-13T00:00:55","date_gmt":"1987-12-13T00:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4535"},"modified":"2013-04-27T21:01:46","modified_gmt":"2013-04-27T21:01:46","slug":"live-review-christmas-on-earth-festival-13-12-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/live-review-christmas-on-earth-festival-13-12-87\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas On Earth Festival (MEGADETH \/ OVERKILL \/ NUCLEAR ASSAULT \/ CRO-MAGS \/ KREATOR \/ L\u00c4\u00c4Z ROCKIT \/ VIRUS) – Queens Hall, Leeds, England (December 13th, 1987) | Live Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEGADETH \/ OVERKILL \/ NUCLEAR ASSAULT \/ CRO-MAGS \/
\nKREATOR \/ L\u00c4\u00c4Z ROCKIT \/ VIRUS<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nChristmas On Earth Festival<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nQueens Hall, Leeds, England<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nDecember 13th, 1987<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Mille Petrozza (Kreator)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Pic: Bernard Doe<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

It had to happen one day, the UK\u2019s first major thrash festival, but where were the people of the UK? Only 3,500 filled a hall built to hold 6,000 and there\u2019s only one UK band on the bill\u2026 what a disappointment! In fact, the day was full of disappointments, with the biggest letdown being the non-appearance of Voivod who were caught by the great customs service and stuck in Belgium.<\/p>\n

I was at a low ebb coming to this show, and it wasn\u2019t until L\u00e4\u00e4z Rockit appeared that my spirits were at all lifted. Virus had been given a disgusting treatment by the sound crew and organizers, and had rightly, in my opinion, refused to carry on after only 20 minutes of their set. Considering the organisers had asked Virus if they could provide some of the equipment for the bands that were following, they gave them some of the worst and most unprofessional treatment I\u2019ve ever seen dished out to an opening band. Whether you like Virus or not is not important, no band deserves to have their set destroyed.<\/p>\n

L\u00e4\u00e4z Rockit of course changed all that and I started to enjoy the show at last. \u2018Last Breath\u2019 opened the set and immediately it became obvious that favouritism was at work, because Rockit\u2019s sound was near perfect. Now, I don\u2019t blame the band\u2019s for the blatant difference, because all bands go out to please the crowd, the blame must lay firmly with the organisers on this. All I\u2019m saying is that if Virus had been given as fair a crack as Rockit, more people would have been happy.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Rockit were going through a really excellent set, pulling the best tracks out from their three albums; these included the pacey \u2018Backbreaker\u2019, \u2018Forced To Fight\u2019 and \u2018Say Goodbye M.F.\u2019. The band won the audience over very quickly and the fiasco wrongly attributed to Virus by much of the crowd was quickly forgotten. Michael Coons and the lads were very genuine and the crowd really respected them for their commitment to the show. Me, I loved the personal attack on Kerrang!<\/em>\u2019s Howard Johnson; whether he sucks dicks I wouldn\u2019t know, but the t-shirts make no bones about the band\u2019s attitude towards Mr. Johnson. All fair in love and war!<\/p>\n

L\u00e4\u00e4z Rockit really got the crowd going with some really heavy material, delivered with that famous panache that keeps the band out of the thrash circle and firmly on the road to an excellent metal band.<\/p>\n

Mike Exley<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although L\u00e4\u00e4z Rockit had gone down surprisingly well, it wasn\u2019t really until Kreator hit the stage that the Leeds audience started to resemble anything like a thrash crowd. Kreator also brought the first stage-diver of the day, who managed to slip past the rather heavy-handed security staff, climb to the top of the PA and hurl himself virtually head-first down into the crowd, some twenty five feet below.<\/p>\n

This was actually the first time I\u2019d witnessed Kreator live and I was most impressed indeed. The band powered their way through the likes of \u2018Behind The Mirror\u2019, \u2018Flag Of Hate\u2019, \u2018Pleasure To Kill\u2019 and \u2018Terrible Certainty\u2019 with lightning precision, and took away the initial disappointment of Voivod\u2019s non-appearance, which was announced just prior to Kreator taking to the stage.<\/p>\n

The only low point of Kreator\u2019s set was Ventor\u2019s drum solo. I\u2019ve never been over inspired with the guy\u2019s drumming on vinyl and I would have much preferred to see the band slip in another song than have to put up with an uninspiring solo in a relatively short set.<\/p>\n

But overall, an excellent performance from Kreator and hopefully it won\u2019t be too long before the German techno-thrashers are back on British soil, this time as a headline act.<\/p>\n

Bernard Doe<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the impact of Kreator it was quite difficult for the crowd to pull their acts together for the next band, but still they gave them a big welcome. The Cro-Mags had had a disappointing turn out in London, but here they seemed to have quite a substantial following. Some people had said to me that the Cro-Mags could be mismatched here, but as \u2018We Gotta Know\u2019 got into its stride I didn\u2019t feel that the band suffered from any problems on that front. The sound was quite good and the energy of the band was nice to see in front of such a big audience. Never over awed, the band debuted some new tracks, including \u2018Servant Of The Senses\u2019, and pulled a lot of the set from The Age Of Quarrel<\/em>, the successful album from GWR Records.<\/p>\n

More metal orientated than some of the US hardcore scene, it wasn\u2019t difficult for the Cro-Mags to please a majority of the audience. Early on they had suffered from the \u201cBritish Crowd Critical Eye\u201d, something often experienced by US acts new to the UK, but by \u2018Malfunction\u2019 and \u2018Street Justice\u2019 they seemed to have won the crowd over and began to capitalise on it. Much fun was had by all, including the members of the band; some of whom even managed to clear the moat between the stage and the crowd. The Cro-Mags had gone down well. Their sound and stage presence was good, but never over powering, and their music heavy enough to endear them to the crowd.<\/p>\n

Next band up were Nuclear Assault and I\u2019m afraid once again this was a disaster. Okay, so I\u2019ll admit that the enthusiasm of the band makes them hard to follow on stage from a sound engineer\u2019s point of view, and I realized the difficulties he had during the set, but at a top concert like this none of these difficulties should ever occur. The sound had picked up in leaps and bounds during L\u00e4\u00e4z Rockit, Kreator and the Cro-Mags, so why should it disintegrate again here? I don\u2019t know, let\u2019s just say that although the band tried hard the sound was a fiasco, not far off the Virus tragedy. \u2018Game Over\u2019 was audible, but when John Connelly began to sing it just seemed like a waste of effort.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
D.D. Verni (Overkill)<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Pic: Bernard Doe<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Nuclear Assault are a band that really get the audience going and on cue the crowd loved them, but it really was a shame that you couldn\u2019t hear any more than the guitar or the drums. \u2018Buttfuck\u2019 made its customary appearance, with Dan Lilker audible on the vocals, and so did a new track, \u2018Survive The Great Depression\u2019, which from what I could hear sounds like an excellent advert for the band\u2019s new recordings due out on an LP in a few months. Dan dedicated \u2018Stranded In Hell\u2019 to Voivod, stranded In Belgium, and John once again brought up the subject of a lack of UK acts on the bill.<\/p>\n

Nuclear Assault are very much a street band who play for the people, whatever the circumstances, and the sound was forgotten as they encored with a furious version of \u2018Hang The Pope\u2019. I\u2019m sure I speak for the majority when I say \u201chang the sound engineer\u201d, but nevertheless, I still enjoyed the sheer dedication that Nuclear Assault have to their fans and it was nice to hear some of the excellent sounds of \u2018Radiation Sickness\u2019 and \u2018Sin\u2019, even if they were distorted by a poor PA.<\/p>\n

Well, it proves something doesn\u2019t it, sound checks should have been done for all the bands. \u201cThis place is horrible for sound because it\u2019s so echoey\u201d, so went one sound engineers phrase as we discussed the fate of Nuclear Assault. Well I guess that says it all doesn\u2019t it, and it\u2019s unfortunate that the crowd always blame the band first before they blame the sound men or the organisers.<\/p>\n

Overkill had no such problems, their sound being the best of the day and their set being in my opinion marginally the best. The band started with \u2018Deny The Cross\u2019 and from then on they simply couldn\u2019t fail. Bobby Gustafson had more power under his fingers than seven guitarists could have had, and vocalist Bobby Ellsworth was given the freedom to fire his voice all over the arena. Drummer Mark Archibole (who has since left the band) was also excellent and a fine replacement for Rat Skates. Honestly, it was hard to fault Overkill who revelled in their chance to play so high up a bill that included bands bigger than them, at least among the English following. They packed some real meat in early on with \u2018Hammerhead\u2019 and \u2018Powersurge\u2019, and they proved that commitment really pays off.<\/p>\n

Overkill were never below their station on the bill and they certainly stole the show so far. \u201cWe Don\u2019t Care What You Say\u201d banners welcomed \u2018Fuck You\u2019, which was followed by my two favourite numbers, \u2018Electro-Violence\u2019 and \u2018Overkill\u2019. I revelled in the good sound and this was the best ten minutes of the day. Overkill were fantastic, something special on a day of disappointments and the crowd duly thanked them with one of the biggest roars of the day.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Pic: Bernard Doe<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Now, I believe Dave Mustaine isn\u2019t too pleased with my criticism of his attitude when the old Megadeth<\/a> line-up played in London earlier last year. Well, I firmly believe and stand by what I said then, but I would also like to say that Dave has redeemed himself in the eyes of the British audience. This Megadeth show was miles on from that Hammersmith debut, and Dave\u2019s behaviour to the crowd was exemplary, which was nice to see because it meant that nothing could damage the effect of great songs like \u2018Wake Up Dead\u2019, which opened the show, or the effect of new faces Jeff Young (guitar) and Chuck Behler (drums) on Mustaine master pieces like \u2018Looking Down The Cross\u2019 which followed. The sound could have been a little clearer early on, but there was no fiasco here so I guess we should all be happy about that.<\/p>\n

As you will all know, Megadeth have a new LP, So Far, So Good…So What!<\/em>, out in the near future and tonight gave Britain three chances to hear what the Mustaine brain has created for our delectation in \u201988. The first of these was an evil little number called \u2018Mary Jane\u2019, which has an eerie riff. Later, there was the doomy \u2018In My Darkest Hour\u2019 and \u2018Hook In Mouth\u2019. Then finally, not a new song but a rehashed \u2018Anarchy In The UK\u2019, which was an interesting version of the old Sex Pistols classic. In between came the whole of Peace Sells<\/em> as well, so there was plenty of good stuff to take in, especially when \u2018Devil\u2019s Island\u2019 and \u2018Peace Sells\u2019 were combined.<\/p>\n

The crowd seemed to have come alive at last and Megadeth went up and up the placings, threatening even Overkill\u2019s good performance. \u2018Mechanix\u2019 was the track that summed this set up with its electrifying sound.<\/p>\n

Megadeth have definitely made a trip to Britain this time, and Britain has finally witnessed the band as it should be.<\/p>\n

Mike Exley<\/strong><\/p>\n

Review taken from Metal Forces, Issue 27 (1988)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEGADETH \/ OVERKILL \/ NUCLEAR ASSAULT \/ CRO-MAGS \/ KREATOR \/ L\u00c4\u00c4Z ROCKIT \/ VIRUS Christmas On Earth Festival Queens Hall, Leeds, England December 13th, 1987 Mille Petrozza (Kreator) Pic: Bernard Doe It had to happen one day, the UK\u2019s first major thrash festival, but where were the people of the UK? Only 3,500 filled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[248,249,251,230,74,78,250],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cro-mags","category-kreator","category-laaz-rockit","category-megadeth","category-nuclear-assault","category-overkill","category-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4535"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11410,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4535\/revisions\/11410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}