Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Live Review: Nuclear Assault, Murphy’s Law, Whiplash by Michelle Liberati

Nuclear Assault, Murphy’s Law & Whiplash
Gramercy Theater, NYC. September 12, 2015
Despite the rainy weather in NYC on Saturday (9/12/15) that did not stop fans from packing in Gramercy Theater for the sold out “Final Assault Tour” featuring headliners Nuclear Assault, alongside Murphy’s Law and Whiplash who opened earlier that night. The three band bill started at 8:00 and lasted till around midnight, with no low points.
Starting off hard was the Thrash Metal openers Whiplash fronted by guitarist and vocalist Tony Portaro. They were a little slow at first but then became a satisfying way to get the crowd started, as their passion for old school metal fell into place with the rest of the bill and became very fun with more traditional thrash metal influences.
Things shifted in a slightly different direction with New York hardcore greats Murphy’s Law who next took the stage. It would probably be the most fun set of the night. They all looked and sounded like straight hardcore and punk from the day using an interesting mix of typical instruments plus a saxophone and electric banjo. Even though they shouldn’t be taken seriously especially while they literally threw beer on fans during their song “Beer” they sure as hell play seriously as they played tracks “Crucial Bar-B-Q” from there 1986 self-titled album and “Vicky Crown” from their 2009 album “The Party’s Over” It was overall entertaining.
Last but not least was the headliner Nuclear Assault who took the stage as they played there final show ever in their home area of New York City. The crowd packed in very close and the mosh pits got insane during the set. A majority of their set list was from the albums “Survive”, “Handle With Care” and their 1987 EP “The Plague” which bought a major old school feeling to the crowd. They did shift gears in the middle of their set and played songs such as “Died In Your Arms” and “Analogue Man From A Digital World” from their recent 2015 EP release “Pounder” and if you caught the EP being thrown out by vocalist John Connelly consider yourself lucky. When everyone thought their set was over they did do an encore and switch backed to the classics which made everyone happy because no one wanted to see them go. They had a killer set, played razor sharp and left us with nostalgia as they exited from what is known “The Final Assault Tour” even though their real final show is not until Maryland Deathfest 2016. -Michelle Liberati

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