Metal music is very diverse in its sub-genres, so there can be many different opinions who is the best based on your own preferences. However, there are those few that have made to be elite of all metal music. Without any doubt one of those bands is Megadeth. You can not simply deny their greatness and influence. This year these legends joined forces with Lamb of God to go on an epic metal tour, and quite frankly, that is how they called it – The Metal Tour of the Year. Special guests are Trivium and Hatebreed who replaced In Flames who supposedly ran in to some Visa issues to come stateside. We caught up with the tour on a rainy night in New Jersey.
First on were American hardcore band from Connecticut called Hatebreed. They are active for over two decades. Led by vocalist Jamey Jasta, the band has released eight studio albums, and through years of lineup changes Jamey remains the only founding member left. Their set consisted of ten songs. To the delight of all early birds their set was loud and raucous.
Next came Trivium. The band hails from the state of Florida and while they released their first studio album in 2003, they have managed to release nine more to date. They have been very busy writing music and touring. I saw them first in 2018 and they blew my mind by how great they sounded live, and how well the band mix together. Sound and stage performance are flawless. Maybe one thing I found funny, is vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy’s way of getting the crowd to be louder. He informs that the best and loudest crowd they encountered in one of the early shows of the tour and asks people in attendance to be better than those. It was the same three years ago and it was the same this night. It worked!
The set consisted of eight songs, from which most were from their latest two albums What the Dead Men Say (2020) and In the Court of the Dragon (2021). The best reception was received for The Heart From Your Hate, though I must say that their whole set was wholesome and well received by all fans in the amphitheater.
Lamb Of God set was hidden from fans behind the black curtain. When the lights went down two blue lights shone through and giant bands name was projected on this screen. Somewhere there on his platform vocalist Randy Blythe stood and sang intro to their hit song Memento More from the bands latest self-titled studio album. Such mystique atmosphere just blew away as soon as curtain fell, and the usual mayhem ensued. Lamb of God really put up a real metal show. There was everything, loud explosions, fire, smoke and relentless onslaught of heavy metal.
Randy remembered the early days of the band playing in New Jersey parking lots and now being here with Megadeth. He suggested that they are not here to just play music, but we are all in the need to really fuck this place up. What can I say, to the relief of venue owners the amphitheater still stands, but the atmosphere through the bands performance was truly electric.
They played most of their best songs within their allocated time, little more than one hour, including Walk with me in Hell and Redneck. Their energy still vibrated through the air after their set was done and we all waited for Megadeth.
Dave Mustaine entered the stage with his current band members to the loudest ovation I have heard so far in my life. It sent chills down the spine. Knowing Dave’s recent bout with cancer it was awesome to see him in good spirits and enjoying the life and music. Just before performing Sweating Bullets he stood there in the middle of stage with the spotlight on him looking on the crowd, while numerous fans were screaming about their love for Dave and declaring that he is the legend.
They started the evening with Hangar 18 from Rust in Piece. Song included many guitar solos that brought pure delight to the fans. The band also played Holy Wars …. The Punishment Due from the same album as the encore. Second song performed was The Threat is Real from Dystopia followed by Sweating Bullets which you can find in their fifth studio album Countdown to the Extinction released back in 1992. Personally, to me that is my favorite album, and the band played one more hit song later in the show from it called Symphony of Destruction.
While we can say that Megadeth is Dave Mustaine, and Dave Mustaine is Megadeth, it would be unfair to current band members. Kiko Loureiro on guitar, Dirk Verbeuren on drums and James LoMenzo on bass were so good, that you would think they are all together since the early beginnings. This whole performance was one of the best live heavy metal shows I witnessed in my whole life.
The tour still has a few more stops left before the end, and then … we are waiting for a new Megadeth album which will be called The Sick, The Dying and The Dead!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Andris Jansons
Megadeth
Lamb Of God
Trivium
