Municipal Waste
UC Theatre, Berkeley
March 4, 2024
Photos by Raymond Ahner
On a Monday night at the sold-out UC Theatre in Berkeley, Municipal Waste, Ghoul, and Necrot brought down the house with some good old-fashioned extreme metal.
In celebration of the 21st anniversary of their debut record Waste ‘em All, Municipal waste teamed up with Bay Area zombie thrashers Ghoul for an epic tour dubbed the Brainsqueeze Tour, in recognition of the Brainsqueeze festival which was organized by Tankcrimes Records founder Scotty Heath.
Given the connection between Municipal Waste and Tankcrimes, it was only fitting that the band gave one of their best-ever performances in the Bay Area.
Beginning with the thrashing intro of “The Executioner,” Municipal Waste ripped through a lightning-fast set of high-speed thrash in just about an hour, letting up for only a few moments between each song to talk with the crowd.
Once their first proper song, “Breathe Grease,” began, all bets were off and the mosh pit opened up at full speed. Anchored by guitarist Ryan Waste’s furious rhythm playing, the song tore through the speaker system and directly into the ears of eager fans.
Most Municipal Waste songs are relatively short, so one has just enough time to hop in the mosh pit or do one bout of crowd surfing before the song’s end; such was the case on the short and spiky “You’re Cut Off,” another wild slice of thrash driven by drummer Dave Wite’s snappy playing.
About halfway through the set, Heath came on stage to share a story of an early Municipal Waste show, a record-release party for Waste ‘em all at the legendary punk venue 924 Gilman. Heath talked about the early years of Tankcrimes records and the close relationship he and the rest of the Bay Area have with Municipal Waste, despite the band hailing from Richmond, VA.
That was the only major break fans got as then it was back to business, with Municipal Waste cranking through classics like “Headbanger Face Rip” and Substitute Creature.” One of the bigger highlights of the night was an inspired version of “Sadistic Magician,” which began with a furious bass intro from Philip Hall before the entire band came crashing in.
The band closed out the main portion of their set with the anthemic “The Art of Partying,” which featured plenty of high-energy vocals from frontman Tony Foresta and singing from the crowd.
Finally, after a brief encore break, Municipal Waste returned for one more song, the suburb “Demoralizer,” which had plenty of wild lead guitar acrobatics from Nick Poulos.
For a band that has been around for 20+ years, the fact that they can continue to play at such a high level is nothing short of astounding, and considering the crowd turnout (on a Monday night no less!), you can be sure that Municipal Waste is going to keep their thrash metal party going indefinitely.
Local zombie death/thrash band Ghoul ripped through a zany 10+ song set that featured plenty of hilarious banter and zany characters.
The band’s schtick is centered around being zombies and having to do battle with all sorts of wacky creatures that come on stage. With plenty of ripping guitar riffs and brutally low guttural vocals, the band was clearly on top of its game.
Every few songs a different zany character would come on stage and do battle with the band, with plenty of fake blood and guts spewing out into the audience.
Necrot, another Bay Area-based Tankcrimes band ripped through a quick set of brutal death metal.
Despite being only a three-piece, if one closed their eyes and listened they would swear they had more members.
Between furious blast beats and jackhammer guitar riffs there was plenty to take in, one of those experiences where the bass drum reverberates in your chest cavity.
Municipal Waste Setlist: The Executioner | Breathe Grease | You’re Cut Off | Grave Dive | The Thrashin’ of the Christ | Poison the Preacher | Beer Pressure | Wave of Death | High Speed Steel | Headbanger Face Rip | Drunk as Shit | Substitute Creature | Sadistic Magician | Slime and Punishment | Terror Shark | Born to Party | The Art of Partying || Encore|| Demoralizer
Ghoul Setlist: Off With Their Heads | Dungeon Bastards | Noxious Concoctions | Word Is Law | The Eyes of the Witch | Shotgun Gulch | Splatterthrash | Rot Gut | Ratlicker | As Your Casket Closes | Graveyard Mosh | Gutbucket Blues
Necrot setlist: Cut the Cord | Your Hell | Stench of Decay | The Blade | Empty Hands | Sinister Will
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