I headed out to Berkeley for a night of good old-fashioned Thrash and Progressive metal, in what was to be my most anticipated concert of early 2024. None of these bands have ever disappointed me, and I had no reason to believe tonight would be any different. I was pleasantly surprised that the show was nearly sold out. And after a quick stop by the merch table led me to find out sales were brisk, but also that Prong’s excellent recent album State of Emergency (Napalm Records) was sold out for the entire tour and may not be repressed by the label. This is a total bummer but I’m stoked for all the sales, and glad I got one on pre-order when the record came out. Tommy Victor also remarked from the stage the new album was hard to find now.  Feel free to check out our recent interviews with Tommy and the good old times we shared.

Kicking off things and surely no slouches was the opening act and L.A. thrash metal legends Hirax. They took the stage with the confidence of a headliner and the crowd gave them equal amounts of respect. The band just jammed out and recounted 40 years of metal history and visiting the Bay Area. Frontman Katon W. De Pena roamed the stage like a madman and belted out songs that had me in disbelief at his continued vocal prowess after four decades. Playing a nice mix of old-school and recent tracks, with a little bit of funny banter in between each one, the band was tremendous tonight. In fact, they had a headline-worthy set in about 45 minutes. Nice to see the headliners give them that respect too. Do not miss Hirax when they come around on their next tour, especially when they will be supporting a brand-new album.

Co-headliners Prong were up next and I was interested to see how they would do having never seen them in the Bay Area, but again having seen them many times in my life. From small clubs to the last time I saw them, opening up for Metallica on a pop-up stage in the parking lot in New Jersey last year, got to say I was hyped for this. As usual, the power trio just rips through their set, this time a very lengthy 18 songs, including several choice covers. Tommy is extremely entertaining as a frontman and guitar player, and most people know Tommy for as much of his work in other bands like Danzig and formerly Ministry, as they do for this main gig. Nice to see returning bassist Jason Christopher on stage again. Tommy referred to him as the Sexy Southpaw which was hilarious. Someone, please call me the sexy southpaw! 

Highlights of the set included the opener “The Descent” a great Killing Joke cover dedicated to Geordie, who just passed away a few months ago – “Seeing Red,” the classic “Beg To Differ,” “Unconditional,” “Broken Piece,” “Dark Signs,” the classic “Snap Your Fingers, “Snap Your Neck,” and two covers: “Third From the Sun by Chrome,” and the recently debuted Rush cover of “Working Man,” which is brilliant. Great set from the guys, looking forward to more in the future.

By contrast, Voivod played a shorter set, but with no fewer bangers. Opening with the genius that is “Forgotten In Space” – the band seemed to genuinely have a great time! It was if they were happy to be with us as much as we were with them. You rarely see this in a veteran band as, so many go through the motions. Snake sounded amazing on vocals and he seemed to be in really great form. Of course, the band’s star is always Michel “Away” Langevin, on the drums, and I’m still baffled at how he gets such a big sound out of his pretty spartan kit these days. His performance was tremendous.

The entire set was pretty much the highlight of the night but I have to shout out “Tribal Convictions,” “Rise,” “Pre-Ignition,” “Nuclear War” and of course the classic closer “Voivod.” I have been on record as saying most bands with a song named for their band, or vice versa are usually bad, but this proves the exception to the rule. Merci! 

Buy Prong music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/4akL0F7

Buy Voivod music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/3vg2Hq2

Buy Hirax music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/3vn1c9u

WORDS BY GHOST CULT KEEFY
PHOTOS BY AMBER BUCHANAN