Acid Bath might be one of my all-time favorite metal bands, but I never thought I would see them live. Their two albums solidified their legendary status, and while I have always caught Goatwhore or Dax Riggs when they rolled through town over the years, when I spoke to Sami, he always stressed the fact that when fans come up to talk to him about Acid Bath he was always surpised since no body made a big deal about them when they were together, making me wonder if he ever cocnsidered the magnitude of the impact those albums had? Much like Deftones, another 90s band that has seen a surge in support from younger listeners discovering them online, the same could be said of Acid Bath, and more credence should be given to this theory, considering how young the audience at tonight's show was.
The shows on the band's surprise reunion tour have been selling out and in much larger venues than the band ever dreamed of playing 30 years ago. We arrived at Jannus Live late due to car issues and the Pride parade in St. Pete that made downtown parking and traffic chaotic at best. So we missed RWAKE, who I was looking forward to, but was just thankful to still get a chance to see Acid Bath, Weedeater was left, and they bored the hell out of me, they were trying and had energy, but all their songs sounded the same, and the vocals were weak as hell. We worked our way closer just before Acid Bath came on; the music over the PA got better, including Misfits, Obituary, Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath playing just before they took the stage.
I originally considered going to Welcome to Rockville, just to see these guys, until this date was announced, though I watched YouTube videos, and it seemed early on Dax's voice was still warming back up into these songs, and it made me nervous. I'd rather not see a band and have the myth of greatness intact in my head than see a band who does not live up to my expectations, but as soon as Dax started singing, it made be thankful that I waited for them to get a few shows under their belt as a band. I told a friend of mine that it was very evident that Dax and Sammy have lived very different lives over the past 30 years, which was evident in their stage presence. Sammy was a bigger more dominant metal personality, power forward stage presence, whereas Daxy felt more in his head and perhaps even anxious. Though it set up a dynamic that reflects in how the band presents itself sonically,
Even though I knew the set list, seeing it play out live was interesting as they balanced out the darker melodic songs with the heavier overt metal songs. With the drummer from Goatwhore and bassist from Crowbar joining the original core of the band, it showed the newcomers opening up and showing another side of their playing to create room for melody. It was an interesting choice for them to play the Agents of Oblivion version of "Dead Girl." , Other highlights included stellar versions of "Venus Blue" Paegan Love Song." and "Bleed Me An Ocean", I was surprised they closed with "Dr. Suess is Dead", but it seems the pacing of the setlist was paced to fit where Dax is vocally, though he sounded better and by doing other styles of music post- Acid Bath, it felt like he brough new vocal colors to his performance.
He is one of my favorite singers, so his performance was the focal point for me, but everyone was impressive and grabbed my attention at some point. This makes it the best metal show I've seen since Iron Maiden, though these guys do something very different with much darker vibes, that feel more real than singing about Vikings and indians, making it a powerful music moment to solidify these guys as legends and giving me the show I needed from them.
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