Driving up to Denver without getting stuck in a traffic jam; CHECK
Finding reasonable parking during a Rockies home game; CHECK
Being able to watch another American Thrash Metal legend; PRICELESS
Yap ladies and gents, I finally got to see the mighty FORBIDDEN tear the shit up in Denver, CO. Our homegrown Thrasher’s HAVOK, the WHITE WIZZARD dudes from Southern California and Boston, MA natives REVOCATION were also part of the touring assemble.
The chosen site for this spectacle was the downtown Marquis Theater who just recently been named Nr. 3 of the best mid-sized venues by Denver’s Westword. Rightly so; with capacity of about 500 people and no bad seat in the house, nice and easy going staff and a pizza place on premises it’s hard not to like the venue.
Superskum and I knocked out the interviews with Revocation and Forbidden early on (click the links) so he had plenty of time to set up his camera to bring you all the enjoyment of some live footage of the show. Might wanna bookmark his site; some of the best live videos in the Denver area!
White Wizzard had the pleasure of being the opener that night. Familiar with the band only by hear say, I was actually looking forward to checking them out. Apparently the band has a new vocalist, who I thought did an awesome job, and the guys around founder (and only original member left) Jon Leon got the crowd going with their NWOBHM tunes. The venue was filling up nicely during their set as well so it was a good start to the night.Havok was up next; and just by watching them it is no surprise to me they are one of THE best retro Thrash bands around today. It’s always a pleasure to see Dave, Pete, Reece and Jesse performing on stage, but don’t take my word, check out some of SUPERSKUM’s live footage. No pictures this time, but you can get your Havok fix right HERE and might also like the interview we did while the boys were on tour with Malevolent Creation.
As I was standing at the bar; which right here I would like to praise the bartenders for doing an awesome job of keeping us thirsty patrons well hydrated that night, the stage was getting prepared for the next band up; REVOCATION. Last time I saw them they toured with JFAC and Cattle Decapitation and I was eager to hear some of their new material from Chaos of Forms even though the album will not be released until mid August 2011.
They started their set with “ReaniManiac” from their 2009 Existence is Futile which immediately spawned a mosh pit. This song has such pretty grooves, riffs and licks to it that one can’t help but to jump around or shake the head viciously up and down.
After playing “Cradle Robber” from their upcoming release Chaos of Forms, they jumped right into “Age of Iniquity” off their 2008 debut album Empire of the Obscene and this is when shit hit the fan.David Davidson (guitar, vocals) has recently been named the Nr. 1 Modern Metal Guitarist by Metalsucks.net and he definitely showed the fans that night why he was bestowed with that honor. God dammit the dude can shred!
Phil Dubois behind the kit wasn’t too shabby that night either. With the constant abuse on his kick drums and ever so subtle (!) banging of the cymbals he was not only a joy to watch but made sure to complement his fellow band members on each and every song.
Unfortunately the front of the stage was rather busy during their set which made it impossible to get from one side to the other to shoot some pictures.
But this fact alone proved that Revocation came to Denver to deliver, and they sure did.
For more pictures of Revocation check HERE and the interview with Dave and Phil is uploaded NOW
Make sure you also check out some live footage of the show right HERE
Setlist: ReaniManiac, Cradle Robber, Age of Iniquity, Dismantle the Dictator, Conjuring the Cataclysm, Unattained
Founded in the mid 80’s, broken up (twice), reformed (twice), on hiatus for over 10 years and fixing to take the stage in 2011 were San Francisco Bay Area Thrasher’s FORBIDDEN. Team 2011 consists of founding members Russ Anderson (vocals), Craig Locicero (guitar), and Matt Camacho (bass) with the addition of Steve Smyth (ex-Nevermore, ex-Testamant) on guitar and Mark Hernandez (ex-Vio-lence, ex-Heathen) behind the drumkit. 
While a bit older (and wiser!) those guys didn’t miss a beat over the years and showed the Denver audience what old school Thrash Metal is all about. After the kick ass intro “Alpha Century” they immediately came out swinging with the galloping speed monster “Forsaken at the Gates” followed by “Overthrow” both from their newest record Omega Wave.
Sporting a SF Giants jersey, Russ sounded as good as in the golden days. Even though his high pitched screams have gone notably softer he still delivered and belted every song with such relentless power and vicious energy and probably made some of the younger bands on the bill blush with envy.
Adding Smyth to the fold as a second guitarist was one hell of a move. His ability to shred those fast paced solo’s are the perfect addition to the incredible riffing of Mr. Locicero; a match made in (thrash) heaven. And this fact was very apparent on the next two songs the band played; “Off the Edge” and “Forbidden Evil” both off their 1988 debut album Forbidden Evil.
By this time the mosh pit was unstoppable and yours truly was sandwiched between the maniacs and the stage. Note to patrons; NO it is NOT OK to have a glass (!) of beer in your hand while standing in the second row and moshing going on behind you. Took one for the team that night, since it was either me or the monitors! The stage at the Marquis Theater is very low and thankfully I was leaning halfway over the monitors while I got your beer dumped all over my back. 
Anyway, once Forbidden played the title track “Omega Wave” all in attendance were in unity over the fact that the band still got it. And this fact was ever so apparent when the opening riffs of “Twisted Into Form” came over the speakers.Matt with his bass axe was all over the place the entire night, showing off his awesome playing abilities as well as his showman ship. And while “Through Eyes of Glass” was one of the later songs that night he whipped this shit out like its still 1988, wow!
But not enough can be said about Mark Hernandez behind his drum kit; underrated by some, but in my opinion one of the better thrash metal drummers still around. Holy crap! Not to take anything away from Bostaph and such but Mark proved to us all that night that he is a force to be reckoned with. His ever so smiling self was hitting away on those toms while utilizing the awesome sounds of his double bass drums.
Seriously, check out the videos below and you will see what I am talking about.
"Chalice of Blood" , "Adapt or Die" , "Twisted Into Form" , "Children of the Sea"
Forbidden only played songs from their first two and their newest album which was no surprise to me since the ones in between are regarded by a lot of fans as the “experimental” phase of the band. Kick ass set list all the way around and they ended the evening with their 1988 thrash anthem “Chalice Of Blood”. I know they played one more song right before Chalice but can’t remember what it was; Children of the Sea maybe?
Denver Setlist: Intro, Forsaken at the Gates, Overthrow, Off the Edge, Forbidden Evil, Step by Step, Omega Wave, Dragging my Casket, R.I.P., Twisted Into Form, Adapt or Die, Through Eyes of Glass, (?),Chalice of Blood.
Check out the rest of the Forbidden pictures and watch the Interview as well.