Overkill at Irving Plaza

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth

Overkill was among the first thrash metal bands, pre-dating Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and most other thrash bands by at least one year. Formed in 1980 from the ashes of a New Jersey punk band called the Lubricunts, Overkill started playing punk and metal covers on the Jersey club circuit before writing original songs and playing L'Amours. Overkill has gone through at least 16 line-up changes, leaving bassist D. D. Verni and lead vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as the only constant members. Overkill's current lineup also includes lead guitarist Dave Linsk, rhythm guitarist Derek "The Skull" Tailer and drummer Jason Bittner. Overkill has sold over 625,000 albums in the U.S., and over 16 million records worldwide. The band's 18th studio album, The Grinding Wheel, was released on February 10, 2017.

Overkill is headlining the current Metal Alliance Tour, bringing thrash metal back to Irving Plaza tonight. Ten of the band's 15 songs dated back to the late 1980s, while a handful originated in this decade. Over the years, the band shifted its sound a bit to the left and the right and back to start, so fittingly the performance was focused on thrash metal, but with inclinations toward 1970s hardcore punk, class metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Even a casual listener could have detected easily the influences of the Ramones, Motorhead, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. The consistency was executed in that the concert's fast and aggressive base locked into melodies while ripping into hard-driving riffs and rhythms. These diverse yet interlocking features made Overkill's concert still interesting even after 37 years of thrash.

Visit Overkill at www.wreckingcrew.com.

Setlist

1. Mean, Green, Killing Machine
2. Rotten to the Core
3. Electric Rattlesnake
4. Hello From the Gutter
5. In Union We Stand
6. Goddamn Trouble
7. Wrecking Crew
8. I Hate
9. Shine On
10. Electro-Violence
11. Ironbound
12. Thanx for Nothin'

Encore:

1. Horrorscope
2. Elimination
3. F* You (The Subhumans cover)