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30 years of Chadness & Butcher Babies spread satisfying screams of salvation

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30 years of Chadness & Butcher Babies spread satisfying screams of salvation

Despite fronting two successful bands over the past three decades, doubt was frequently knocking on Chad Gray’s door. Even as recently as last week.

First, the vocalist of Mudvayne and Hellyeah decided to embark on his first solo tour combining both of those musical chapters — only to be left wondering if fans would care enough to turn up every night.

Then before Gray could make it through the tour’s entirety, a broken vessel and inflammation in his vocal cords forced him to cancel two shows in California, putting his scheduled appearance this past Saturday at the Aztec Theatre with Butcher Babies and Devil’s Cut in jeopardy.

But Gray turned deaf ears to his doctor, and the beneficiaries were the patrons who chose the Aztec over Journey’s “Final Frontier” farewell tour a few miles away at the Frost Bank Center.

Billing it as “30 Years of Madnesss,” the extra “S” may as well have stood for sacrifice.

Or salvation.

Having visited an ear, nose and throat specialist in New York, Gray somewhat miraculously found himself speaking to fans at the Aztec.

After opening with Hellyeah’s “Moth” followed by Mudvayne’s “Happy?”, he shared a bit of his tribulations.

“The doctors told me to stay home,” Gray said. “Obviously, I don’t listen very well. They told me to take it easy, but that’s hard for me to do.”

Wearing paint on only the left side of his face and backed by Mudvayne touring guitarist Marcus Rafferty, fellow guitarist Joe Bonasorte, drummer Devin Attard and bassist Nick Villareal, Gray told the crowd, “It’s been a long time” since he had played in the Alamo City, though Mudvayne had performed 363 days earlier at the Boeing Center at Tech Port on its 25th anniversary tour of debut album L.D. 50.

Often singing with one leg propped up on a stage stanchion without extending much extra non-vocal energy such as headbanging while wearing pants with the insignia “Learn from the past; Live in the present; Look to the future” (see 65-photo gallery), Gray showed no signs of vocal tension when he held a scream for 15-20 seconds on “Nothing to Gein.”

He told fans, “You give me fucking purpose,” while introducing “Hush” as a song that he wasn’t sure he should put out for release, only to have “so many of you” approach him and tell him how much the song means to them.

Gray wasn’t the only vocalist spreading appreciation and screaming his senses off while doing so.

Heidi Shepherd and Butcher Babies hit the stage with such ferocity on the first beat of “Backstreets of Tennessee,” the frontwoman gave the impression she’s going to have neck and spinal issues later in life if she keeps that up every night.

Setting the tone in such a metal manner, Butcher Babies continued with “Red Thunder” and “Monsters Ball” before launching into some tracks from Night Bloom, which had only dropped eight days earlier.

Shepherd, however, stole the show in more ways than one.

On stage, her screaming was second to none, as if she felt freer and more in control of the band’s reins since the July 2024 departure of her one-time best friend and longtime vocal mate Carla Harvey, who has since formed The Violent Hour, joined Lords Of Acid and married Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante.

Shepherd put the security staff to work when she leapt off stage and leaned over the barrier on “Monsters Ball.”

But that was just an appetizer.

For “Spitting Teeth,” Shepherd commanded the fans to “open it up” not only because she wanted to see a pit in a venue that’s not very conducive to one, but because she wanted to sing in the middle of it (see photo gallery).

As boyfriend and original guitarist Henry Flury and the rest of the band looked on, Shepherd said Butcher Babies like to pick one fan in each city to “desecrate” Devin Nickles’ drum kit.

A young girl front and center named Alyssa was chosen as Shepherd said, “Come on down,” and the theme to “The Price Is Right” blared across the P.A.

The fan wrote her name, city and date on the side of the kit before Shepherd invited Alyssa to scream with her. After one try, Shepherd joked, “I just lost my job.”

During the lone slowdown moment of the set, Shepherd turned serious in sharing her own moment of salvation in part:

“This song is about the worst day of my life. I felt I didn’t deserve to be here anymore. I felt I didn’t deserve to live anymore. I know I’m not alone in this. But I would dream about jumping into the pit and circling among all of you. In December 2019, you came into my dreams, and you saved my fucking life! If you are in that moment now, I want you to take a look around at all the people who care about you. Your metal family cares about you. San Antonio, this song was written for you” as the band went into “Last December.”

Announcing that it would be “free poster Saturday” and that the band had two spots left on their party bus afterwards, Shepherd added, “We will be at the merch booth.”

Instead, the singer was the lone member of the band to do so, and she proceeded to sign autographs, pose for pictures and actually spend time speaking with each fan for as long as they wanted even though the line stretched from one end of the Aztec’s lengthy VIP section and bar to the other.

When the line wound down, ATM reacquainted with Shepherd after a 2014 interview with her and Harvey. Asked if she still speaks to her former singing partner and best friend, Shepherd smiled and disclosed, “Nah, she’s too busy doing her own stuff.”

Following Gray’s 75-minute set, Shepherd’s VIP line reformed the entire length again, prompting many stunned fans readying to leave the venue to ask, “She’s still signing?”

Rather than dividing his set halfway between Mudvayne and Hellyeah songs chronologically, Gray mixed up both of his bands’ tunes within his set. The Hellyeah tidbits enable him to pay homage to the late drummer and Pantera staple Vinnie Paul.

Saying, “We might as well give it up for Dimebag too,” Gray shared an anecdote about Paul that wasn’t exactly general public knowledge.

“When you write songs, they come with working titles,” Gray said. “You might have Song A, Song B, Song C. So, when you work on them, and you say, ‘Let’s play Song A,’ everyone knows which song it is.

“Well, Vinnie comes in one day and says, ‘I wrote this drum intro. But I don’t know if you want to hear it because it’s fucking heavy.’ Of course, I want to hear it. But before he started to play it, he looked up at the sky and yelled, ‘Fuck your mother!’ And then he started playing. So the working title was ‘Fuck Your Mother.’ Can you guys help me intro this song?”

And with that, Gray and his solo band tore into “Say When.”

Keeping staples such as the Hellyeah crusher “Demons in the Dirt” and Mudvayne favorites “World So Cold” and “Not Falling” ringing in fans’ ears, Gray said, “San Antonio, Texas. In all the time I was in Mudvayne, this was our No. 1 market. And it was No. 1 in Hellyeah too. You can’t fuck with you motherfuckers!”

Kentucky country inspired metalcore outfit Devil’s Cut opened the show with a 30-minute set with several tracks from its 2026 debut full length Roadkill, warming things up for what turned out to be an awkward ending to Gray’s set and the evening.

The band skipped Hellyeah’s most popular track “Alcohaulin’ Ass” though, to be fair, it had question marks around the title on the setlist (see photo gallery).

Still, after Gray performed Mudvayne’s most well-known tune “Dig” and finished it at 10:44 p.m. — with the Aztec’s large digital clock hanging from the balcony and facing the stage for all artists’ benefit — Gray took out his earpiece. Without saying thank you, bidding farewell or having the band’s photographer take a photo of the band and crowd, the singer simply walked offstage.

ATM asked a staffer if the show was supposed to end at 10:50 p.m., and she said 11, adding, “He still has 15 minutes.”

Nevertheless, that gave Gray’s fans who hadn’t yet met with Shepherd another chance as she was halfway through her second hour of doing so.

Mosh pits. Screams. And dreams coming true not only for young fans but for the performers themselves made for an ideal night of metal in downtown San Antonio.

The fact its leaders overcame the type of self-doubt that has claimed one too many lives in the metal landscape this century alone and persevered through it to entertain, and share lighthearted and dark moments with, the San Antonio masses made it another one to be added to the city’s history books.

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Thunderbolts & thunderheads by W.A.S.P., KK's Priest provide sonic blasts from past

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Thunderbolts & thunderheads by W.A.S.P., KK's Priest provide sonic blasts from past

Another scenic sunny yet muggy summer evening Saturday outside the Aztec Theatre proved to be anything but on the inside of the downtown venue.

That’s where thunder reigned.

Thunderheads from W.A.S.P. Thunderbolts courtesy of KK’s Priest. And it all resulted in a thunderous return to the Alamo City for the leaders of both bands celebrating their early years with a modern twist.

Making their third San Antonio appearance in six years after a several-years absence, the Blackie Lawless-led W.A.S.P. focused on their first four albums on the “1984 to Headless” tour.

In 2022 at the Boeing Center at Tech Port, W.A.S.P. spotlighted 30 years of The Crimson Idol in a performance that was odd, and perhaps short of some expectations, in various ways (coverage here). In 2024, Lawless rectified that in a big way at the Aztec by turning up the intensity and focus as W.A.S.P. played the 1984 self-titled debut album in its entirety with a few additional hits (coverage here).

This time, the addition of songs from 1985’s The Last Command and 1986’s Inside the Electric Circus that culminated a string of three sexually charged records and preceded 1989’s politically driven The Headless Children promised and delivered a broader spectrum of classic W.A.S.P.

Somewhat inexplicably, though, the Aztec’s response was rather lukewarm. Despite the fact Lawless, guitarist Doug Blair, bassist Mike Duda and drummer Aquiles Priester opened with a pair of classics they did not play on either of the two preceding visits: the 1986 Uriah Heep cover of “Easy Livin’ “ — a track with which the originators closed their May 30, 2024, stop at the Tobin Center supporting Saxon — and 1985 deep cut “Fistful of Diamonds,” the Aztec’s reaction was, shall we say, lame?

As W.A.S.P. progressed through their ‘80s repertoire that included 1984 favorites “The Flame” and “B.A.D.” plus The Who cover “The Real Me” (printed setlist in 55-photo gallery), an explanation for the crowd’s indifference was needed. Some theories abounded:

1) Prior to W.A.S.P. taking the stage, there was a peculiar announcement warning patrons that crowd surfing and/or coming onto the stage would result in “immediate ejection.” To be fair, the venue had signs outside alerting of the former. But even in the world of heavy metal, such a pronouncement is not expected. And it seemed to partially suck the air out of the crowd moments before the headliners played a note.

2) Other than repeating “All I need, all I need, all I need is my L.O.V.E. Machine” and “I’m blind, I’m blind, I’m Blind in Texas” for the mandatory finale, Lawless’ lone instance of speaking to the audience came when he introduced 1984 “Cries in the Night” demo “Mr. Cool” by sharing that he sold the song for $5,000 but was later sued for $1 million. Other than that, Lawless bypassed his customary, “San Antonio, how the hell are ya” or any other moments of keeping his fans engaged.

3) Despite being the headliner and having 90 minutes to perform, W.A.S.P.’s 76-minute set featured half-and-half versions of “Thunderhead” and “Forever Free” plus “Inside the Electric Circus” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” So just when fans may have been getting into the first of the pairings, Lawless changed things up perhaps one too many times. On “Forever Free” in particular, the band omitted the midsection heaviest part of the ballad that would have complemented Priester’s booming thunderclaps of the kit. Not to mention, it would have served as an ode to the late Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali, a close friend of Lawless’ who played on the entire The Headless Children album. With San Antonio drumming royalty in the house in the form of Buckcherry’s Francis Ruiz and ex-Fates Warning, Halford and Sebastian Bach backstopper Bobby Jarzombek, W.A.S.P. missed an opportunity for a nice touch.

4) Speaking of one too many times: Lawless frequently turned his back to the crowd to make sure he was in tune and rhythm with Priester. Most frontmen do that once or twice during a show, but Blackie’s frequency contributed to the disconnect with the crowd.

Not even Lawless frying a likeness of Adolf Hitler in an electric chair that had been covered all night by a “Danger: 10,000 Volts” banner during the title track to The Headless Children (watch ATM footage below) could resonate with the crowd.

Lawless deviated from the theme of the tour briefly by playing the intro to his latest album — 2015’s Golgotha — before the Aztec came alive at last to the sounds of “Wild Child” (ATM footage below) and of course “Blind in Texas.”

Although W.A.S.P. delivered the goods, they didn’t have a typical opening act to follow. In fact, KK’s Priest architect K.K. Downing’s first album with Judas Priest dropped a full decade before W.A.S.P.’s.

But after previous tours in Austin, Downing and his new band that formed in 2019 and has released two albums finally stopped in the Alamo City. Downing even acknowledged “It’s been a long time” to the Aztec faithful before launching into Judas Priest’s three most commercially popular songs: “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ “, “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”

Though they turned the former into half a song, KK’s Priest fit in a variety of Judas Priest classics to go with four KK’s Priest future classics in their 61-minute set.

The crowd was fired up from the get-go seeing Downing and vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens tear through the tunes with drummer Sean Elg, guitarist A.J. Mills and bassist Tony Newton.

As the support act, KK’s Priest did not offer any tracks from Owens’ 1996-2003 era in JP. Nevertheless, Owens has always been the right choice to front the many bands he has, including Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen and Dio Disciples.

Though they omitted obvious selection “The Ripper,” the band shined on KK’s Priest blazer “Hellfire Thunderbolt” and 1981 Judas Priest favorite “Heading Out to the Highway” (ATM footage of both below).

Any gig involving “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “Victim of Changes” is worth the price of admission alone, and KK’s Priest further amped up the already fired up audience with those before also tossing in “The Sentinel” and “Turbo Lover,” then ending with KK’s Priest tune “Raise Your Fists.”

The tale of two audience reactions between the bands was in and of itself unusual. Some of it was through no fault of the efforts of the musicians. Some of it was.

But when it comes to receiving the headbang for one’s buck, you couldn’t go wrong with a 74-year-old silver-haired guitarist who hadn’t played San Antonio since leaving his former band in 2010.

Or with a one-of-his-kind leader who has dedicated his life to spewing out metal record after metal record when he could’ve played baseball in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization. A legendary frontman who demonstrated that his gargantuan mic stand Elvis was no match for his recently turned 70-year-old body that was filled with herniated discs and vertebrae damage just three years ago when he climbed it at show’s end and bellowed his patented, “Good night! We’ll see you next time!”

So if there is a next time for turning back the clock with one or both of these majestic bands — sign us up. ‘Cause there’s no such thing as too much heavy metal thunder.

W.A.S.P. SETLIST: Easy Livin’, Fistful of Diamonds, The Flame, Mr. Cool (1984 Cries in the Night demo), B.A.D., Thunderhead / Forever Free medley, The Real Me, The Headless Children, I Wanna Be Somebody, L.O.V.E. Machine, Inside the Electric Circus / I Don’t Need No Doctor medley, Golgotha (intro), Wild Child, Blind In Texas

KK’s PRIEST SETLIST: You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (half), Breaking the Law, Living After Midnight, Strike of the Viper, One More Shot At Glory, Hellfire Thunderbolt, Heading Out to the Highway, Beyond the Realms of Death, The Sentinel, Victim of Changes, Turbo Lover, Raise Your Fists

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Higher power provides Stryper's salvation more than ever four decades later

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Higher power provides Stryper's salvation more than ever four decades later

Among the Hollywood Strip’s plethora of mid-80’s bands that were shouting at the devil, breaking the chains and dancing undercover came a quartet that defied the norm. And not just because they were wearing yellow and black costumes to go with their big hair and spandex.

Stryper’s message and not-exactly-subtle tone in lyrics touting the power of the almighty went against the grain of what everyone else was playing — and what metalheads around the nation were hearing — and 42 years later could make an argument as one of the biggest gambles in heavy metal history.

Not only did it pay off in a huge way for the original lineup of vocalist / guitarist Michael Sweet, drummer Robert Sweet, guitarist Oz Fox and bassist Timothy Gaines, but Stryper has outlasted many of its contemporaries while reaching the big time that other Christian-laden artists such as Barren Cross and Bloodgood had hoped to achieve.

Stryper is more than still going strong. But in the midst of 15 studio albums and all of the Holy Bibles tossed out at each show has appeared a stark realization:

Stryper’s faith within the band has never hit home — or been tested — more than in the past 4-5 years.

Michael Sweet has battled retinal detachments requiring multiple surgeries on both eyes and thyroid cancer. Fox has endured seizures leading to multiple brain surgeries.

Think about that for a minute, folks. We’re not talking a case of the sniffles here.

So the fact both continue to play music is a testament not just to their will and perseverance but, well, to the New Testament itself.

Sunday night was a prime example as Stryper returned to the Aztec Theatre with a 17-song, 81-minute headlining set with Guatemalan guitarist Hedras Ramos and his instrumental trio Hedras in tow before a crowd of 800, according to a venue staffer.

Donning a pair of sunglasses, Michael Sweet did not bring up the band’s maladies or ask for any type of sympathy.

He and his mates simply came to rock.

And rock they did, taking to the stage with a trio of classics from their 40-year-old seminal album To Hell with the Devil: traditional opener “Sing-Along Song” and Dial-MTV hits “Calling on You” and “Free.”

During Stryper’s previous visit to the Aztec in 2024, they played two sets, splitting between the classic era and the modern variety that is about to see their seventh album in the past 13 years drop Sept. 25 with Throne of Thorns.

This time, Michael Sweet simply told the crowd, “I miss the ‘80s. We’re here to celebrate the ‘80s with you.” Despite mentioning the upcoming record and the fact the title track has already been released as a single and video, the band opted not to play it.

Instead, the trip down Memory Lane was mostly comprised of tracks from 1985’s Soldiers Under Command, half of To Hell with the Devil and one each from 1984’s The Yellow and Black Attack, 1988’s In God We Trust and 1990’s Against the Law (setlist in 43-photo gallery; no professional video was allowed).

Stryper gave the Aztec tastes of the newer era on “Divider” and the title track to 2024’s When We Were Kings. And though there were no surprises with the classics that included the regularly played “More Than A Man,” “Surrender” and “The Rock That Makes Me Roll,” the unexpected came in the form of what the band did not play.

A single ballad.

If anyone wanted to hear something soft on this night, they could’ve gone around the corner to the Majestic Theatre to catch Air Supply. That meant no hint of the song Michael Sweet said on 2003 live album 7 Weeks: Live in America “took us out of clubs and put us into arenas.”

That would be “Honestly.” Stryper deserves credit for keeping the entire show rocking without any perceived sappiness. Or it simply could’ve been a matter of not having packed a piano for the tour. So credit them again for not using backing tracks — when a vocalist overcoming the threat of never being able to sing again would’ve had every reason to.

Stryper did throw in a bit of a curveball at one point by harkening back to their 2011 covers album The Covering.

“We grew up listening to Scorpions, Priest and Maiden,” Michael Sweet said in part. “People told us, ‘You shouldn’t be listening to that stuff.’ They thought all we listened to were Christian bands, but we didn’t know a lot of Christian bands other than us. If we didn’t listen to it, we wouldn’t be here on stage.”

And with that, Stryper ripped into Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law.” Sweet saved attempts at high-octane screams for the song’s end, showing he’s still got it and resulting in extra enthusiastic applause and roars from the crowd after not utilizing the high range on some of the original songs, including the previous tune, the title track to 2013’s No More Hell to Pay.

Hedras, meanwhile, had the oft-difficult task of warming up the headliner’s fans with a completely non-lyrical set. The trio featured the band’s namesake on lead guitar, and he instantly dazzled on a slew of tracks showcasing the skill that had him play alongside Steve Vai and Mr. Big’s Paul Gilbert.

Joining Ramos were Dallas resident Robert Trusko on bass and drummer David Salazar. Trusko, a native of Philadelphia, earned his Master’s degree at the University of North Texas in Music Composition. Salazar was a menace on the drums, so it was an eyebrow raiser when Ramos told the audience that Salazar was “playing this music for the first time.”

Hedras’ latest album Front Line dropped last October, and you can get your hands on some of their material here.

Anytime Stryper visits the Alamo City, it’s a full-circle moment. Touting “this is where it all began” as far as Stryper having played Texas on its first tour, Michael Sweet was perplexed at the high number of fans who indicated they were seeing Stryper live for the first time.

Pointing out one young person, Sweet said, “Well, you have an excuse. You weren’t even born yet. But for the others, what’s your excuse? Why’d you wait 42 years?’

It was a lighthearted moment the Sweet brothers, Fox and bassist Perry Richardson know all too well could end at any given time.

So when it comes to not taking life for granted?

That may be Stryper’s greatest gift and message of them all.

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