Helmet recently stormed through DC on a sonic roar as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of Betty at Union Stage!
The album Betty was released in 1994, and it was the band’s highest charting album at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 during their illustrious heyday.
Seeing the band on stage at this point in their career was a great opportunity to see them play some of their finest music, and to see a couple other great bands open for them at Union Stage on March 23. Opener Effusion 35 have been around several decades, but Slomosa is a newer band formed within the last decade.
Effusion 35 and Slomosa both played outstanding sets with huge audience participation. Effusion 35 played a great opening set of rock and punk music. They are from the Philadelphia area, which makes it easy to see them again! They played a 25th anniversary show for the band back in November 2024. Slomosa is from Bergen, Norway, and the band is known to have a “tundra rock” style, which comes with perhaps a more European style than seen here in the USA.
Watch the official music video for “Battling Guns” by Slomasa on YouTube:
However, the night belonged to Helmet, who were simply stunning. Helmet opened with a riff-roaring version of “Wilma’s Rainbow,” which set the tone for their set — a blitzkrieg through their catalog of great hits to the total fulfillment of the metal/alternative/rock fans in attendance.
Watch the official music video for “Wilma’s Rainbow” by Helmet on YouTube:
Helmet played through 25 songs during the show, finishing with a great version of “In the Meantime,” which has one of the best riffs in their list of great songs in my opinion. “Milquetoast,” the fourth song of their set, featured an introductory section that helps to define the Helmet sound. “Unsung,” the next to last song, featured a great drum introduction before leading into another their finest songs. Each song played at this show was outstanding, and provided a nonstop, explosive night of Helmet just getting up and playing their great music without too much interaction with the audience during the event.
Overall, the show was simply outstanding and a great 30th anniversary concert. The fans appreciated the fantastic nonstop approach the band took to play so many songs to such a high degree of efficiency. If you had never seen the band play before, I would recommend catching them on the Betty 30th Anniversary Tour. It was a phenomenal performance!
Setlist
1. Wilma’s Rainbow
2. I Know
3. Bisquits
4. Milquetoast
5. Tic
6. Rollo
7. Street Crab
8. Clean
9. Vaccination
10. Beautiful Love
11. Speechless
12. Silver Hawaiian
13. Overrated
14. Sam Hell
15. Swallowing
16. High Viz
17. NYC
18. Driving
19. Gun Fluf
20. Unsung
21. On Your Way Down
22. Ironhead
23. Dislocated
24. Repetition
25. Meantime
Here are some photos of Helmet performing at Union Stage on March 23, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
Here are some photos of Slomosa opening Helmet at Union Stage on March 23, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
Here are some photos of Effusion 35 opening Helmet at Union Stage on March 23, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
