Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Pordenone, Palasport
Concert date: 04.03.2008
Attendance: 3000
Ticket price: 34€
Dave Mustaine and his baby, Megadeth, are one of the most important chapters in the history of metal. The legendary Mustaine is without doubt one of the pioneers of thrash/speed metal and still one of the biggest personalities in the genre, while Megadeth are a band that has left an indelible mark on the music world over 25 years. Even though their last few albums drifted somewhat away from the thrash/speed roots of the debut Killing is My Business… and Business is Good! and into heavy metal waters with a dash of thrash, you could say they’re currently the top dog of the Big Four of thrash (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax). At least when it comes to still consistently high-quality releases, which is harder to say about the other three. And let’s face it, Mustaine’s story reads like a Mexican soap opera. Dave gets kicked out of Metallica because of unchecked drug and alcohol abuse, founds Megadeth out of spite to outdo Metallica, swaps band members like they’re on a conveyor belt, checks into rehab a whopping 15 times (!!!) over his career, gets divorced, disbands Megadeth for a while, injures his hand, falls out (and sometimes makes up) with plenty of big names in metal, finds God again… and still, last year, after 25 turbulent years, Megadeth put out their eleventh studio album, United Abominations. At the start of this year Megadeth hit the road on a European tour to present the new record, and the closest they came to us was the Italian town of Pordenone, at the Palasport arena. Tadej’s Concert Freak once again made sure we could kill six-packs without a care in the world, getting us to Palasport safe and fast.
For openers, Megadeth picked a band that fits the genre perfectly: the young thrashers from the UK, Evile, are along for the European run. The lads from Huddersfield popped up at just the right time, right in the middle of the thrash metal revival, and put out their debut Enter the Grave last year on Earache. Quite a success for a band that only formed in 2004 and, after such a short time, already gets to play in front of giants like Megadeth. But maybe Evile only got the chance because thrash metal is “in” again, since what they play is solid but pretty average thrash. Live they pulled off that real “eighties” feeling reasonably well, but I reckon a few other young thrash bands deserve that kind of attention, like Warbringer or, even better, Negligence! Still, Evile delivered the Enter the Grave material solidly and warmed up the Italian crowd, which had some rabid Slovenian fans mixed in. As the support act, Evile got a decently good sound, and on stage the standouts were the bouncy bassist Mike Alexander and the energetic lead guitarist Ol Drake, who at a quick glance looks like Exodus bassist Jack Gibson. Frontman Matt Drake bridged the gaps between songs well and belted out the tunes with a solid old-school thrash vocal, while the weakest link turned out to be the average drummer Ben Carter. If nothing else, Evile were at least a fitting support act that managed to get the crowd fired up, but everybody was waiting for the one and only Megadeth anyway.
The roadies set up the stage for Megadeth with the lights on, which only built up the tension before the start. All eyes were on Shawn Drover’s drums, dressed up in the colors of rusty barrels, while the bass drums were decorated with artwork fitting the new album’s title – the United Nations logo, except with the continents shuffled into the shape of a skull. Simple but effective! A banner dropped, and the thrash giants walked on stage without any pompous intros or circus-style gimmicks, then took us on an hour-and-a-half stroll through the discography of this great band, kicking off with the latest album’s opener, Sleepwalker. Unfortunately, the first song already revealed the gig’s biggest flaw: the sound was downright dreadful. Mustaine’s vocals vanished into thin air far too often, and it didn’t matter where in the hall you stood. Front, back, middle, or on the left or right stands, the sound was one big disappointment everywhere. True, Palasport isn’t the most acoustic-friendly hall, I’d say it’s somewhere on the level of Hala Tivoli, but if Dream Theater could get optimal sound there a few months ago, a band of Megadeth’s caliber really shouldn’t allow itself this kind of sloppiness. Still, watching Megadeth is a real treat, and during the band’s biggest hits the bad sound quickly sank into the mosh pits and fists and manes flying in the air. Right after Sleepwalker, Dave said there’d be very little talking and so much more playing, and sure enough the riffs of the legendary Take No Prisoners from the cult thrash masterpiece Rust in Peace kicked in. “Take No Prisoners/Take No Shit!” Megadeth gave absolutely zero shits and lined up the hits Wake Up Dead and Skin O’ My Teeth. The new lineup works on stage like a well-oiled machine; Drover tortures the skins in the back, bassist James Lomenzo helps him out generously with the rhythm and a polished stage presence (you can tell he has Italian roots), Dave Mustaine in the middle comes across as a great dictator, and the freshly minted guitarist Chris Broderick (ex-Jag Panzer, Nevermore) has fit into the crew in a truly unbelievable way. That Chris is a guitarist of exceptional caliber is shown by the fact that he only joined Megadeth two months ago, yet on stage he looks like he’s been a member since Killing is My Business, and what’s more, he played even the most demanding solos of the Friedman era flawlessly. Sadly, the guitar sound faltered quite often too, and the odd line drifted off into nowhere. Washington is Next! proved that the new album sounds a few notches better live than it does on record, and the same goes for Gears of War, one of the more average tracks on United Abominations, which came off surprisingly well live and damn punchy. No wonder, since Dave introduced it as a song about the game of the same name, where you massacre unsuspecting enemies with hammers and chainsaws. Thrash ’till Death, literally! One of the concert’s finest moments came with the melancholic In My Darkest Hour, which Mustaine wrote the moment he learned about the death of Metallica’s legendary bassist Cliff Burton, and with another ballad, A Tout Le Monde. For this song the band was joined in Milan the day before by Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), who also sings it as a duet with Mustaine on the new album. Too bad we didn’t get the honor of seeing her at Palasport too, it would’ve at least been interesting (although I personally like the original version from Youthanasia a lot more). From the stands, the sight of the crowd singing along made the excellent Trust come off phenomenally, followed by eternal thrash classics – Hangar 18, Ashes in Your Mouth, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells and, sadly, a too-quick finish with an unforgettable rendition of the cult track Holy Wars… The Punishment Due. Bar the dreadful sound, this was an outstanding concert by an outstanding band that doesn’t show its years. Least of all Mustaine, who’s already a good 47. I’m already counting the days until I can see Megadeth again, and it’d be so nice if we could finally see them here at home too. They’re actually the only one of the Big Four that hasn’t yet honored Slovenia with a visit. “Choose Deth!” One of Mustaine’s many feuds was the one between him and Rikki Rachtman from MTV. They eventually settled it, and Rachtman showed up on some VH1 show in a T-shirt bearing the slogan I’m closing this report with – “Mustaine For President!”
Setlist:
01. Sleepwalker
02. Take No Prisoners
03. Wake Up Dead
04. Skin O’ My Teeth
05. Washington Is Next!
06. Kick The Chair
07. In My Darkest Hour
08. Hangar 18
09. Gears Of War
10. A Tout Le Monde
11. Tornado Of Souls
12. Ashes In Your Mouth
13. Burnt Ice
14. Symphony Of Destruction
15. Trust
16. Peace Sells
———————
17. Holy Wars…
Photos: Barbara Milharčič
Words: Rok Klemše
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