Sunday, May 2, 2010

OVERKILL SHOW GOES WELL DESPITE BOMB SCARE AT TIMES SQUARE

Legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL's New York City show at The Nokia Theater went well despite a bomb threat at NYC's TIMES SQUARE.
FROM BLABBERMOUTH. NET:
Elliot Levin of the New York Hard Rock Examiner reports: "Hordes of metalheads were among the thousands of New Yorkers crowding the barricaded Times Square last night [Saturday, May 1], as a failed car bomb prevented access to the OVERKILL-headlined concert at the Nokia Theater.

"A car bomb, which authorities are calling 'amateurish,' caught fire, but failed to explode around 6:30 p.m. in the heart of Times Square, literally around the corner from the Nokia Theater, located at Broadway and 44th Street. Within an hour, the entire area was cordoned off from 43rd St. til 48th, and from 7th Ave through 8th. Traffic quickly became a gridlocked nightmare, and police, for the most part, refused to allow concert-goers and others close enough to get into the theater."

Read more from the New York Hard Rock Examiner.

Meanwhile, Kevin Alba from MetalAsylum.net has submitted the following report from last night's concert to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"I was at the Killfest 2010 show at the Nokia Theater in Times Square last night which featured OVERKILL, VADER, GOD DETHRONED, WARBRINGER, EVILE and WOE OF TYRANTS.

"Some time between VADER and OVERKILL's sets, word started filtrating around the venue that there was a bomb scare outside just one block from the venue.

"While police officers evacuated other theaters and venues in the immediate area, the OVERKILL show continued without a hitch. Text messages were coming in from fans outside the venue that at a certain point police stopped letting people into the area of the Nokia Theater and had barricaded the area off. Some fans who were trying to get to the show could not get in and were turned away.

"As the show ended, there was a large police presence outside of the venue and they were sending fans away from 7th Ave. as the car bomb investigation was taking place just around the corner.

"The news reported once I got home that a Nissan Pathfinder was found with propane tanks, gas cans, fireworks and timers. The mayor revealed that a full-blown investigation was underway and they do not know who did this or why.

"OVERKILL played to more than a three-quarters-full Nokia Theater, easily one of the largest U.S. crowds I have seen them play for."
FROM EVILE:
UK thrashers, EVILE completed a successful two month tour of North America last night with a rousing performance at Club Hell in Rhode Island. However, thanks to an attempted terrorist strike in Times Square the night before, the fans, the venue itself and the tour (with one show left to go) could have been in serious jeopardy.

By now it has been widely reported that a smoking vehicle containing gas tanks and other explosive materials was found in Times Square. The exact location was a mere block away from the Nokia Theatre - the venue in which Evile was playing one of their biggest shows of the tour alongside WOE OF TYRANTS, WARBRINGER, GOD DETHRONED, VADER and OVERKILL. This unfortunate incident forced the closure of several streets in and around Times Square that prevented latecomers from entering (or in the case of Woe Of Tyrants guitarist, Matt Kincaid, re-entering) the venue.

With more hearsay than facts about the ongoing ordeal spreading around the venue, no foreseen evacuations and a no re-entry policy in place, Nokia staff scurried to come up with a plan. Toward the end of the night, as fans were gleefully leaving the venue after Overkill's performance, the bands were informed that they would not yet be allowed to leave the building.

"It took a while to figure out what to do;" recalls Evile guitarist, Ol Drake. "Initially, we couldn't leave the venue and the Nokia staff started throwing around the idea of getting hotels. They ended up kicking us all out at 2am, though, despite us not being able to get out gear. They were keeping everyone's gear for the night. It went back and forth for a while until we decided to go find our van and call it a night. We reached the van, drove around a bit for a better parking space away from the craziness that was still going on and fell asleep in the van under the Manhattan moonlight. From there, we were finally allowed to get our stuff at 10am the following morning and rushed over to Rhode Island to play our last show here for a while."

The memories of their second New York City show, along with all of the others on their first major trek of North America will never be forgotten by Evile.

Evile's experiences over the last two months have made the young Brits hungry to get back as soon as possible - something that they will be doing this winter alongside Overkill and the legendary FORBIDDEN. Also appearing will be friends and fellow labelmates, BONDED BY BLOOD as well as Irish thrashers, GAMA BOMB who will be making their first-ever appearance in North America.

OVERKILL's setlist was as follows:

01. The Green and Black
02. Rotten to the Core
03. Wrecking Crew
04. Battle
05. Hello From The Gutter
06. Feel The Fire
07. Ironbound
08. Coma
09. Bare Bones
10. Gasoline Dreams
11. Overkill
12. Bring Me The Night
13. Elimination

Encore:

14. Necroshine
15. Old School
16. Fuck You/Sonic Reducer

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-