"This was a Metal Show, not a dinner party"
By Chris Loomis

Testament - San Juan Capistrano
The Coach House- San Juan Capistrano, CA
03/10/08

It's hard to believe that Testament have been around for 25 years . . . and they are still as relevant, heavy and intense as they were in 1983. No they have not had the mainstream success as their thrash peers Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax or even Slayer but that has not stopped the members of Testament (an almost original line-up of Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian and Paul Bostaph) from carrying the metal torch throughout the years.

A 3/4 packed Coach House in San Jaun Capistrano had the opportunity of witnessing the legendary Testament brutalize the venue a couple of minutes before midnight on April 10, 2008. The lights dimmed and "The Boys are Back in Town" blasted over the PA. At the end of that song, the band took to a smoky stage and ripped into "Over the Wall". I had the pleasure of standing almost right in front of Alex Skolnick the entire show. I was amazed at how close to the edge of the stage he played, continuously hanging his guitar over the crowd as he belted out his signature riffs and technical solos. Eric Peterson was amazing as well playing his flying V and wearing his signature metal studded wristbands. Alex and Eric are quite the guitar duo - they seem to feed off each other and often thru the set they both took center stage trading off riffs and solos - the combination of Peterson and Skolnick truly make the Testament sound we all know and love.

Renditions of "Into The Pit", the rarely played "Apocalyptic City" and "Practice What you Preach" followed and got the San Juan crowd wanting more from the mighty Testament.

The hulking vocalist Chuck Billy sounded great and looked very healthy (if you recall Chuck battled cancer in 2001 and has since fully recovered) he continuously played guitar with his signature half-mic stand and was obviously having fun doing so.Chuck dedicated the song "Low" to former Testament drummer John Tempesta and then "Trail of Tears" "to all his Native American brothers" and Longest Walk participants. Billy was very mobile throughout the set and was at all ends of the stage sticking out his tongue and connecting with the crowd.

Testament gave the crowd a preview of some of the material off their new disc "The Formation of Damnation". All four of the new songs they tore through, were in my mind instant Testament classics - "Killing Season", "The Evil has Landed", More Than Meets the Eye" and "The Henchmen Ride" (Dedicated to a group of motorcyle riders in the Bay Area) had all the elements of a Testament song - killer drumming, killer guitars and the classic Chuck Billy vocals.

Paul Bostaph is a drumming machine. Although I could only see flailing hair and arms behing his massive double-bass kit, my ears were impressed with the rumble and machine-gun beats of his playing. Also bassist Greg Christian is no slouch - sporting a new Testament concert T-shirt he kept the rhythm going along with Paul's monster drumming.

The end of the set included "Souls of Black" and "The Preacher". The tired crowd demanded more (now about 1:30am) with a loud chant of "Tes-ta-ment", "Tes-ta-ment", "Tes-ta-ment". The band returned with an encore that included just awesome renditions of "DNR", "3 Days in Darkness", the AWESOME "Alone in the Dark" and ended the night with my personal favorite Testament song - "Disciples of the Watch". At nearly 2:00am the show ended and the crowd was left wanting more Testament . . . YES - The boysare back in town !!!!!

All in all it was a fantastic show - Testament did not dissapoint !!! Although I must say, the Coach House is not the ideal venue for a metal show - this place has dining tables right in front of the stage where the mosh-pit should have been. Billy was making jokes throughout the show regarding the tables and that "this was a metal show, not a dinner party". I was lucky enough to have caught this same show again on Saturday night at The Key Club in West Hollywood - now that is the place to see a metal show !!!

Testament has a busy summer ahead of them (lots of European festivals). If you have the opportunity to catch their live show, make a point to do it . . . You will not be dissapointed. I will catch them again when they come through Southern California in August as part of the "Metal Masters Tour" with Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell and Motorhead. Oh yeah - go buy their new album "The Formation of Damnation" - a solid album with 11 killer tracks. OBEY . . . Or I'll burn you to that cross!