Last Sunday’s Anthrax show at Santiago, Chile’s Teatro Caupolicán had a lot to live up to, given that the previous show at the same venue four years prior was filmed for 2014’s live DVD Chile on Hell. Anyone who watched it, named after “Earth on Hell,” the first song on 2011’s Worship Music, saw another reason for the name as fans a bonfire lit in the center of the mosh pit. Scott Ian himself referenced the incident in an Instagram post before the show.
Whether encouraged by his post or wanting to recapture a memorable moment, fans reenacted the scene at Sunday’s show by starting another fire in the pit, which was also documented by Ian.
Despite the inherent dangerousness of setting a fire in an enclosed public space, both shows went on without missing a beat. Bullet For My Valentine fans also lit a fire in the pit using a flare at a show in Russia a year and a half ago, and in all three cases, no injuries were reported.
While this will likely not end up becoming a hot new trend, it has sparked some conversation about whether the bands in question should have condemned the use of fire after high-profile club fires at The Station in 2003 and at The Colectiv in Romania in 2015. While both aforementioned instances were caused by the use of pyrotechnics meant for outdoor use by a band in a small club with a low ceiling, the unpredictability of fire and the danger of smoke inhalation all but insure steps will eventually be taken to crack down on large-scale flames in venues.
