The door to backstage at Delmar Hall Saturday night never stopped swinging. When a favorite long-time local band takes to the stage years after its last performance, fans and family members get a little extra VIP treatment. Anacrusis, the beloved, world-renowned, St. Louis-based prog metal band of the mid-80s to ’90s, overtook Delmar Hall with three full sets featuring music from each of their albums, Suffering Hour, Reason, Manic Impressions, and Screams and Whispers that were all recently reissued through Metal Blade Records.
December 7, 2019, will go down in the annals of hardcore metal history books with the resurrection of Anacrusis’ own style of progressive thrash/metal that transformed heavy metal back in the day. The night included original members guitarist/vocalist Kenn Nardi, guitarist Kevin Heidbreder and bassist John Emery with each set featuring drummers Mike Owen, Chad E. Smith and Paul Miles.
More photos: http://bit.ly/Anacrusis19cz
Arriving early, the near-capacity crowd who traveled from near and far for this one-night-only performance grabbed their beverage of choice and hunkered down for a little nostalgia (short videos played before each set showing the band in its heyday talking about their music, St. Louis and more), stories told by Nardi and a lot of head-banging glorious music. While the majority of fans were the same age as the members of Anacrusis, a few hardcore fans bellied up to the stage were the age of Anacrusis back in its prime.
Amid fantastic lights and sound that engulfed Delmar Hall, the band lit into its music and rarely skipped a beat (unless there was a technical glitch such as on “Still Black” during the second set). The breaks between sets were brief to ensure they could squeeze in as many songs as possible. They performed such favorites as “Imprisoned,” “Twisted Cross,” “Explained Away,” “I Love the World,” ‘Division,” and the encore “Fighting Evil” during the nearly 3-hours of music that traversed several genres of metal with some melody blended in that is ultimately what defined Anacrusis’ unique sound that still holds up all these years later.
More photos: http://bit.ly/Anacrusis19cz
Up next at Delmar Hall: https://www.delmarhall.com/calendars/
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
