Show report: Over Kill, Prong and A Darker Day in Ottawa

Concert review: Over Kill, Prong & A Darker Day live at Mavericks, Ottawa (25/09/14)

It was a beautiful sunny autumn day on Thursday, September 25, 2014 when I decided once again to see an energizing show in the small metal pub Mavericks in downtown Ottawa. New Jersey thrash metal legends Over Kill played for the very first time in the Canadian capital and were supported by crossover thrash and groove metal veterans Prong from New Jersey as well as by a local crossover thrash metal band A Darker Day.

Around 7:35 PM, A Darker Day hit the stage and delivered a truly energizing set around thirty minutes despite the fact that there was a considerable lack of space on stage due to the giant stage structures of the main act tonight. Still, the four men tried to move as much as they possibly could and interacted in a joyous way with the steadily growing crowd. Especially the sympathetic bassist and the vivid drummer who would also perform most of the vocals conquered the stage and the crowd by storm. They felt visibly at ease with what they described as a big honour and one of the greatest moments in their career to open for their own personal idols. Some people in the crowd already started to bang their heads, raise their fists up in the air and sing a long to a few pitiless thrash metal anthems. This opening act was so enthusiastic that I’m already looking forward to see them again. I also hope that the quartet will come around with a first physical release anytime soon. These future local legends are definitely worth your attention and support.

Only twenty minutes later, the trio Prong went on stage to deliver a forty-five minute set of their greatest hits plus a few new songs from the last record ‘’Runing Lives’’. Prong were even more energizing than the excellent opening act. Guitarist and singer Tommy Victor interacted well with the crowd and motivated a few dozen people to start a few energizing circle and mosh pits. New drummer Arturo Cruz fits well to the other two members and had a lot of fun on stage. He was almost constantly smiling or making funny faces, got up after almost each song to motivate the crowd to get in action and threw a few drum sticks into the crowd as well. Bassist Jason Christopher simply looked cool and mean on stage and had a truly wild appearance. His bass play was just as tight and vivid. Especially the last few songs of the set such as ‘’Another Worldly Device’’, ‘’Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Necks’’ and ‘’Power Of The Damager’’ made the crowd go wild. I definitely wouldn’y have minded the band to play a couple more tunes. Prong surely are one of these bands that are much better on stage than on a regular studio record and I would really like to see them again. On a sidenote, the merchandise section sold the recent and hard to find live in studio record ‘’Unleashed In The West’’ which portrays the unchained live spirit of the band very well. You can also listen to this official bootleg on the band’s Bandcamp presence.

After a break around twenty-five minutes, the first notes of ‘’XDᵐ’’ announced the arrival of Over Kill in front of a crowd of several hundred fans in a packed metal pub. Hell definitely broke loose with the pitiless opener ‘’Armorist’ where the crowd already started to yell along. When the band then went on to deliver the band hymn ‘’Overkill’’, the whole place went mad including ferocious headbanging, fast moving mosh pits and even some occasional stage diving that had to be intercepted by the security even though the fans really tried to respect and help each other as much as possible. Over Kill seemed to be deeply impressed by the enthusiastic fan reactions and so was I. After having seen quite a few shows at Mavericks, I must admit that this concert had by far the most vivid ambience. The entire crowd cheered the band’s name after every song, no matter if the band played more recent stuff like “Pig”, ‘’Electric Rattlesnake’’ and “Bring Me the Night” or classic tunes like “Rotten to the Core”, “Wrecking Crew” or the energizing closer and The Subhumans cover “Fuck You”. At a certain point, even singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth needed a break and admitted that he would have a heart attack if he continued to perform at the pace of the unchained crowd that was constantly asking for more. From time to time, the singer even left the stage to take some short breaks during a few longer instrumental passages as in “Ironbound”. On the other side, there was nearly no break between the regular set and the three heavily celebrated encores and the singer’s angry, hoarse and raw vocals remained in top shape until the end of the show after a set of sixteen tunes in around ninety-five minutes. At this point, the band had not only managed to exceed the great performances by the two opening acts and to conquer the crowd by storm but to deliver one of the most memorable performances ever at Mavericks. Most of the band members are already in their mid-fifties but their performance had been at least as energizing as a show given by some unchained teenagers. After this show, I was bathed in sweat, had lost my voice and was also physically tired but I felt liberated as if I had fallen head-first into the Fountain of Youth. I decided to grab a limited and exclusive Canada Tour shirt, went back home by bus and couldn’t stop listening to the band’s latest killer album “White Devil Armory” even hours after this incredible show.