Mr. Pickles Thrashtacular Gives San Diego a Treat

Scroll to the bottom for all the pics!

Feb. 27, 2018 – San Diego metalheads packed the House of Blues to see two of the most consistently amazing live acts in thrash metal on the Mr. Pickles (basically Dethklok but with a dog) Thrashtacular Tour. This was easily one of the tightest and smoothest nights of weekday metal I have seen in San Diego. Crowd energy was consistently high, because these two frontrunners of thrash lead the charge, making a Tuesday night feeling more one hell of a weekend night rager.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t there in time to catch the opening band, but it’s a privilege nowadays to go to a show with such a small number of bands on the bill! It was a very refreshing change of pace to bring out the big guns from the get-go.  Sparks flew (as did beer cans and crowd surfers) during Municipal Waste’s electrifying performance, opening the night with “Breathe Grease” from last year’s Slime and Punishment.  In fact, this is the first time SoCal metalheads have been able to hear and mosh to songs off S&P played live—that is, unless you were one of the lucky bastards at Warped Tour (they did say that technically didn’t count!). Whether they were teaching the crowd the “Art of Partying” or righteously exercising their right to free speech with “I Wanna Kill the President,” Waste attacked each song with lightning accuracy and vicious brutality. They brought their “A” game and made this set one of their most memorable yet.

The Bay Area titans of thrash smashed the stage with their dynamism and their energetic fervor to knock your socks off for the rest of the night. The Bonded by Blood classics did not go glossed over, as they bookmarked their set with “Bonded by Blood” and “Strike of the Beast,” beginning and ending respectively.  I think my favorite song they continue to play live is “Fabulous Disaster,” a skank-inducing thrash fever that gets your arms swinging without care.  It was also a treat to see Tony Foresta take guest vocals on “Toxic Waltz,” a song that continues to never get old because Exodus will do something awesome like get Tony Foresta on vocals to remind you why that song remains a permanent thrash anthem.