I have been a fan of the band Raven ever since they surfaced during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Raven was a key player in that musical movement that sparked the careers of famous bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Motorhead, Saxon and others. Raven was doing power and thrash metal before it was fashionable, and influenced future thrash pioneers like Metallica and Anthrax. (For their first-ever U.S. concert tour, Metallica opened for Raven.) Before Raven was signed to Atlantic Records in 1984, I purchased their earlier albums as imports at the popular Music Hut record store in Altoona’s Station Mall. When Music Hut announced they were going out of business and put their album stock up for sale at discount prices, I nabbed a copy of Raven’s 1981 debut album “Rock Until You Drop” – and then noticed writing on the album after I got it home, discovering that it was an autographed copy!
So when I found out that Raven was performing across the state at the West York Inn (“The Kennel”) in York, I immediately was interested in attending. And then on top of that, I learned that one of the opening acts was Riot Act, which featured one of the founding members of another favorite late 1970s/early 1980s heavy metal band – guitarist Rick Ventura of New York City’s Riot. I couldn’t pass up this show, and made the plans to do the roadtrip and be there!
Raven was touring the U.S. to mark the 40th anniversary of their 1982 “Wiped Out” album. Now the trio of brothers John and Mark Gallagher on guitar and bass respectively, plus Fear Factory drummer Mike Heller, Raven delivered all-out fury from start to end. They opened with two of their popular early anthems, “Take Control” and “Hell Patrol,” before playing two from their new “Leave ‘Em Bleeding” CD, “The Power” and “Top of the Mountain,” followed by the title track from “Rock Until You Drop.” Raven then performed the “Wiped Out” album in its entirety. According to John, some of these songs – such as the epic “To the Limit – To The Top,” “Battle Zone” and the acoustic instrumental “20/21” (played as a Mark bass solo this night) – had never been played out live until this tour. Raven kept the crowd at a frenzied high as they fired through tracks from the album such as “Faster Than the Speed of Light,” “Bring the Hammer Down,” “FirePower,” “Read All About It,” “Live at the Inferno,” “Star War,” “UXB,” “Hold Back the Fire” and “Chainsaw.” When the crowd yelled for more, Raven closed the night with the song “Wiped Out” (which didn’t appear on the “Wiped Out” album). Since the beginning, Raven was known for their style of “athletic” rock, and they lived up to that billing this night – the Gallagher brothers delivered constant movement back and forth on the stage, and John can still wail his siren-like voice. Raven never left off the accelerator, and the result was a wild, slamming set that kept folks cheering through it all.
The show’s undercard was impressive as well. Playing just before Raven, Riot Act celebrated Riot with several of their established anthems plus a few of the current group’s newer original songs. Besides featuring Riot founding member and guitarist Rick Ventura, Riot Act also included singer Don Chaffin, drummer Claudio Galinski and bassist Paul Ranieri. They did Riot classics such as “Rock City,” “Road Racin,’” “Swords and Tequila,” “No Lies,” “Don’t Hold Back” and “Warrior.” Riot Act also introduced “Right Between the Eyes” and the title track from their debut CD “Closer to the Flame.” The York audience knew who Riot was, and cheered loudly after each song.
Also on the bill were longtime Reading-based thrash rockers Anthrophobia, whose storied career dates back to the 1980s. This group is still going strong – this night, they brought the velocity with their forceful, all-out set. Singer Frank Phobia barked with authority and intensity as he stalked the stage front area, with guitarist Brent Black, bassist Rob DiJoseph and drummer Dickie Delp delivering the wallop behind him. Anthrophobia slammed out numbers from throughout their career – including songs from their recent “Altered States” recording such as “Technical Difficulties,” “Grind” and “Running Out of Time,” plus earlier numbers such as “Gutless” and “Lemmy’s Warts.” It was good to see this band in action again!
And hometown York power metal foursome Burn The Martyr opened the show strong with their set. Singer and guitarist Corey Burnard, bassist Kayden Monn, guitarist Perry Monn and drummer Mark Konoki drilled songs off their latest CD “Blasphemy” such as the title track, along with “Contrition,” “Dead By Dawn,” “Beware the Beast,” “Sentenced to Suffer,” the title track from their “March Or Die” EP and more. Their set was powerful and focused, and provided a strong leadoff to the night.
After Raven ended the night, the group greeted audience members, signed autographs and did photographs. I bought their latest CD “Leave ‘Em Bleeding” and got to meet John and Mark Gallagher as well. An excellent night!
