Overkill: March 7, 2020 @ the Gas Monkey Bar and Grill in Dallas, TX

Overkill’s Wings Over The USA 2020 Tour made its final Texas stop Saturday night at the Gas Monkey Bar and Grill in Dallas. The band’s arrival was hours from Daylight Savings springing forward 60 minutes but the time change would have no impact on the sets of Overkill, Exhorder or Hydraform.

With the chilly outdoors setting, the only accommodations put forth to combat the chilly weather were portable butane heaters disperse throughout General Admission area and the stage.

Hydraform took to task and warmed the crowd. Being from Denver, the chilly temperatures to Texas was nothing to the band. The mile high residents made quick work of their short set utilizing whatever means deemed necessary to recruit new followers.

Excitement hung in the air for New Orleans based Exhorder to take the stage. 

Fronted by sole remaining original member Kyle Thomas, the band ripped through their main support set. With the recent addition of guitarist Marzi Montazeri taking over the vacancy of founding member Vinnie LaBella, Exhorder tore it up.

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When Thomas poked fun at the band’s small discography and the mention of their debut, Slaughter in the Vatican, the crowd roared in response. The mention of their small discography didn’t deter the crowd at all. The band’s music did the talking whether from their 2019 Mourn the Southern Skies release or the debut. Exhorder milked every minute and moment out of the band’s main support slot. 

Green was the color of choice for headliners Overkill and it had nothing to do with approaching St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Toxic green has been associated with Overkill whether on vinyl, cassettes, shirts, jerseys or album covers. 

With 19 studio albums under their belt, the New Jersey wrecking crew delivered a thrash metal war to Dallas. 

With pulsating green lights in sync with the pounding introductory rhythm of “Last Man Standing”, Overkill took the stage. Vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth jetted from stage right in time for his opening lyrics. 

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Ellsworth firmly planted his right foot on the monitor securing the band’s dominance of the stage. To his left was original bassist D.D. Verni. At that moment, it was on and Overkill was just throttling up the east coast thrash metal machine. 

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The band continued to bulldoze through their 17-song set which saw the likes of “Electric Rattlesnake,” “Hello from the Gutter,” “Rotten to the Core,” “Elimination” and “Necroshine”. 

Ellsworth would converse with the crowd on several occasions. At one point, he made reference that the cooler temperatures were beaching going weather for the east coast thrashers.

Three songs into the encore, Overkill tossed out “Welcome to the Garden State” from the Wings of War album. The song could well be considered an Overkill anthem as it pays homage to the band’s stomping grounds. 

Overkill’s debut was released in 1985. There’s no sign of these thrash metal veterans slowing down. The band was on fire from the first live notes struck, never slowing down.