It’s Friday evening and I’m coming to you from underground somewhere between Hoyt and Jay Streets. The train hasn’t moved in about ten minutes due to signal problems and my attempt to resolve it by checking the time on my phone every few seconds, saying “goddammit” to myself, sighing, then rinsing and repeating, doesn’t seem to be having an effect.
I was en route to The Rooftop at Pier 17 to join a sold out crowd to witness Acid Bath. But not before first bearing witness to the mighty Obituary. That is if this train would move. Goddammit. Sigh. Oh wait, there it goes.
I made it just in time — to find out that the set times were pushed back an hour. From nearly late to very early in an instant. This time the feelings played out in reverse; sigh. Goddammit.
The waiting didn’t seem to bother the crowd one bit, as they filed in early too and claimed their rightful spots with plenty of time to spare. They were ready to unleash all the energy that had been at a light simmer until the moment Obituary took the stage.
OBITUARY
The band were all smiles as they walked on and started “Redneck Stomp,” which eventually gave way to “Sentence Day” before frontman John Tardy joined his bandmates and leaned his mic stand forward to deliver his signature screams. Bassist Terry Butler signaled for a circle pit and the crowd was happy to oblige.
The band’s career-spanning setlist treated fans to selections across their expansive discography, and despite leaving it all on the stage, John Tardy wasted no time walking off and right to the barrier to meet and take selfies with excited fans.
ACID BATH
Anticipation for Acid Bath was piqued by the house playing Black Sabbath’s namesake anthem, which quickly became a full-crowd singalong. This wasn’t Acid Bath’s first show in the area since reforming for the first time in nearly three decades. The band had two sold out shows at Brooklyn Paramount under their belt, but the crowd’s reaction to them taking the stage still carried an enthusiasm akin to experiencing the reunion for the first time.
The amount of fan callouts of individual members followed by “I love you” and “you’re amazing” was a level of fan engagement reserved for pop stars, yet Acid Bath is anything but. Emphasis on the anything, as the band dips their toes into so many genres that it’s difficult to describe their sound. It’s as if a rock and metal fan’s album collection was dropped into a blender and out came a single record that somehow combines it all into a cohesive sound.
That’s an especially impressive feat given their limited number of releases: two albums, three if you count their demos compilation. The band covered a lot of sonic ground in a short period of time, and the set felt like quite the journey as a result. Fans greeted each song with an excited and satisfied “yes!” The set closed with “The Blue” — the opening track from their debut record — ending the night how the band’s career began.
Acid Bath will take a few weeks off before resuming the tour with a stop in my home state of North Carolina, at Asheville’s Orange Peel in early September. The band will hit the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre as well, followed by a tour closer at The Salt Shed in Chicago.
