Megadeth at the Gibson Amphitheater, Feb. 24, 2012


Megadeth


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Gibson Amphitheater
Feb. 24, 2012

With Megadeth's recent success (they just received their tenth Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance), the multiplatinum metal gods Megadeth returned to headline the critically acclaimed Gigantour, showcasing metal's finest sound to date. The American-born Dave Mustaine and the rest of Megadeth shared the stage with the headbanging quartet Lacuna Coil from Italy, Denmark's Metal-billy Volbeat and England's legendary speed metal trio, Motorhead.

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With his iconic double neck Flying V, Dave Mustaine and the rest of Megadeth thrashed to a sold-out audience at the Gibson Amphitheater. Their set list for the Gigantour represented each era of their legendary career. The symphony of destruction with their latest lineup looked deadlier than ever, featuring co-founding David Ellefson, Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover. Tonight, the Megadeth frontman didn't endorse a homophobic and college-phobic presidential candidate, and other than his unusually mean stare, Mustaine looked happy. It was as if he was finally truly of Metallica's shadow and taking ocer the world on his terms.

Enter the sound of beating toms, followed by the rhythm of bass, a surge of twin guitars and finally the opening lines, “lost in a dream,” Megadeth opened their set with the song “Trust.” With a the melody of a dead man's march, Mustaine reintroduced the crowd to his psychotic split personality with “Sweating Bullets.” They showcased their latest album Th1rt3en, which debuted No. 11 on Billboards Top 200 chart and No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Chat. Mustaine shouted out his in-your-face lyrics of rebellion in the songs “Whose Like (Is It Anyways), “Guns, Drugs, & Money” and “Public Enemy No. 1.”


With a quick change of pace, the band showed their appreciation to their loyal fans by walking side to side and raising their arms. Lacuna Coil's frontwoman Cristina Scabbia came out for a duet on the ballad “A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free).”
This rework of the song, now a classic, is how Mustaine had originally envisioned it, and has been the highlight of the tour. Scabbia took the stage with a somber tone, and crisp harmonizing turned the crowd awestruck.

The last section of Megadeth's set was a revival of classic songs which served as the foreground of the '80s metal movement. The classic political melodies of “Hook In Mouth,” “Ashes in Your Mouth,” “Symphony of Destruction,” and “Peace Sells” were all played to perfection without any signs of slowing down. During each song, the crowd chanted “Mega-deth, Mega-deth” in a rhythm. All the slamdancing, circle pits, crowd surfing, flat fisting, devil horns, metal-studded jean vests, and metal headbanging made the Gibson feel like an a grungy '80s metal club.



Just when the crowd thought there were to be no more distorted riffs, Mustaine broke into triplets, with Broderick and Ellefson joining him at center stage for an encore: “Holy Wars…Punishment Due.” Megadeth's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, joined them onstage to reinforce that Megadeth are here to stay–and are only just beginning. In the end, the headbanging crew acknowledged the crowd by bowing down as a sign of respect and gratitude.


Critic's Bias: My late uncle introduced me to Megadeth.

Set list:

Trust
Foreclosure
Sweating Bullets
A Tout Le Monde
Head Crusher
Public Enemy #1
Whose Life (Is It Anyways)
Guns, Drugs & Money
She Wolf
Hook In Mouth
Ashes in Your Mouth
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars…Punishment Due

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