GIGANTOUR 2012 NYC 1/28/2012
Dave Mustaine’s traveling festival, Gigantour, is back following a four year hiatus, and without question, the 2012 edition has the strongest line up yet. It’s always a pleasure to see Megadeth live, but when you add the mighty Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil to the bill, it becomes something very special.
As indicated on the giant screens out side Madison Square Garden, tonight’s show in the theater was sold out, which is pretty amazing considering the hard times we currently find ourselves in. Heavy metal is truly alive and well in the city that never sleeps and each and every one of the 5,600 in attendance were treated to an amazing show.
The show started promptly with Lacuna Coil taking the stage at 6:30, which caught a lot of people out, meaning that the theater was barely half full for most of their set. The Italians played a short set, consisting of only five songs, but for the time they were on stage, they gave a solid performance which was appreciated by those who had made it to their seats by this point. The only negative I could find in their set, which was no fault of their own, was the muddy mix coming from the PA.
The road crews were on the top of their game tonight as they managed to break down and set up the gear in record time between each band. It could only have been about fifteen minutes from the time Lacuna Coil ended their set to Volbeat taking the stage as they burst into “The Human Instrument”. The set consisted of fan favorites “The Mirror And The Ripper” and “Fallen” in addition to their punked up cover “I Only Want To Be With You”. Joining them as lead guitarist for this tour is Hank Sherman from Mercyful Fate and the way he played, you’d think he’d been in Volbeat all his life. There were definitely some scheduling issues going on tonight as just with Lacuna Coil, Volbeat’s set was cut slightly short. The audience was finally getting into the vibe just as Volbeat left the stage following an impromptu cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood”. Despite the short time they were on stage, Volbeat went over really well, and I’m quite sure they earned themselves a number of new fans.
The theater was now at full capacity as the legendary Motorhead took the stage and immediately burst into a full force rendition of “Bomber”. I was slightly surprised that we didn’t get the usual Motorhead introduction of Lemmy proclaiming that that they are Motorhead and they play rock n’ roll, but again, I assume this had something to do with time restraints. The eleven song set consisted of the classics, along with single, “I Know How To Die” from the latest album, “The World Is Yours”. There’s no such thing as a bad Motorhead show, and tonight was no exception, however, the volume level we had tonight was not what you’d expect from a Motorhead show, then again, they weren’t closing the show, so I assume that had something to do with the unusually low volume. I should point out that it was far from quiet……..they were way louder than the previous two bands, and louder than Megadeth as it turned out, but I really didn’t feel like I was at a Motorhead show. Even after the customary question from Phil Campbell asking if they should turn the volume up, it was still at a level where no hearing protection was required. The set drew to a predictable close with “Killed By Death”, “Ace Of Spades” and “Overkill”(which included one idiot running onto the stage only to be tackled by four security guards as he made a bee-line for Lemmy). In all honesty, I found Motorhead’s set a bit surreal, due mainly to the fact that it was over so quickly. I guess I’m so used to seeing them headline, that a ten song set left me a little unsatisfied. Make no mistake, Motorhead totally kicked ass for the short time they were on stage, but I found it almost disrespectful to both the band and the audience to give them such little time on stage.
As soon as Motorhead left the stage amidst the screaming sound of feedback from Lemmy’s bass rig, a black curtain fell to cover the stage and create a feeling of suspense prior to Megadeth’s headline slot. As with the Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium last year, they opened with “Trust”, but this time, the song actually worked as an opener due to the fact that the slow build up was played behind the curtain, which then dropped in dramatic fashion as the main riff kicked it. This was probably the coolest stage set up I’ve seen from a Megadeth show with Shawn Drover’s drum kit perched high on a riser featuring steps which allowed the string slingers to pull off those rock star poses with one foot up on a step much like in the good old days when floor monitors were used for this purpose. Giant Video screens featuring Vic Rattlehead, nuclear hazard symbols and various Megadeth logos topped of an amazing look to the show.
Next up was a blistering rendition of “Wake Up Dead” which to my surprise featured lots of head banging from Dave Mustaine……pretty good for a fifty year old who had recently undergone neck surgery. “Here’s a song about little green men”, was Dave’s witty introduction to “Hangar 18”, and it was during this song that it was apparent that Chris Broderick is by far the best lead guitarist to have played for Megadeth. In addition to his own mind blowing solos, he nails the Marty Friedman parts note for note, bend for bend. The past few years may have seemed like Dave Mustaine was fronting a Megadeth cover band, but with the return of long time bassist, David Ellefson, everything has a more familiar feel to it, and there’s no denying that his amazing bass playing adds so much to the sound. Completing the rhythm section is Shawn Drover, and I have to say, he is the most efficient drummer I’ve ever seen. Unlike the amazing Mikkey Dee who resembles Animal from the Muppet Show during his performance, Drover plays with such ease and finesse that he makes it look so easy, however, don’t be fooled, under the calm and composed exterior, is one hell of a drummer.
The only real surprise tonight was the inclusion of the song, “Angry Again”, which to me, sums up post-thrash Megadeth perfectly. It has such a fluid feel, yet still contains technical riffing with a wonderful melodic vocal delivery in the chorus. Going by the set lists for the other shows on this tour, the next two songs should have been, “Poison Was The Cure” and “Dawn Patrol”, but sadly, as with the other bands tonight, the set had to be cut short due to time restraints. We were then treated to three songs from the amazing new album “Thirteen “, the highlight of which was, “Guns, Drugs & Money”, which much like Pantera’s “Walk” pretty much contains only one riff, however, when the riff is this infectious, it really does work.
It was no real surprise to see Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia come on stage to duet with Mustaine on “A Tout Le Monde” just as she did on the version recorded on the “United Abominations” album. Not only is she a delight to look at, she has an amazing voice and really brought the song to life. “Symphony of Destruction” was followed by “Peace Sells” which featured Mustaine bringing his daughter out on stage so that the audience could sing happy birthday to her. Following a very short break, the band returned for one encore in the form of “Holy Wars…..The Punishment Due”. The sheer intensity with which the band played this song proved that at fifty years of age, Dave Mustaine is showing no signs of slowing down and that we can look forward to many more years of Megadeth assaulting our ear drums with awesome music.
Despite the short sets and the lower than normal volume, this was an epic show featuring four amazing bands and if you haven’t done so already, I strongly suggest buying tickets for one of the remaining shows on this tour, you won’t be disappointed.
DEAN MAJOR
As indicated on the giant screens out side Madison Square Garden, tonight’s show in the theater was sold out, which is pretty amazing considering the hard times we currently find ourselves in. Heavy metal is truly alive and well in the city that never sleeps and each and every one of the 5,600 in attendance were treated to an amazing show.
The show started promptly with Lacuna Coil taking the stage at 6:30, which caught a lot of people out, meaning that the theater was barely half full for most of their set. The Italians played a short set, consisting of only five songs, but for the time they were on stage, they gave a solid performance which was appreciated by those who had made it to their seats by this point. The only negative I could find in their set, which was no fault of their own, was the muddy mix coming from the PA.
The road crews were on the top of their game tonight as they managed to break down and set up the gear in record time between each band. It could only have been about fifteen minutes from the time Lacuna Coil ended their set to Volbeat taking the stage as they burst into “The Human Instrument”. The set consisted of fan favorites “The Mirror And The Ripper” and “Fallen” in addition to their punked up cover “I Only Want To Be With You”. Joining them as lead guitarist for this tour is Hank Sherman from Mercyful Fate and the way he played, you’d think he’d been in Volbeat all his life. There were definitely some scheduling issues going on tonight as just with Lacuna Coil, Volbeat’s set was cut slightly short. The audience was finally getting into the vibe just as Volbeat left the stage following an impromptu cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood”. Despite the short time they were on stage, Volbeat went over really well, and I’m quite sure they earned themselves a number of new fans.
The theater was now at full capacity as the legendary Motorhead took the stage and immediately burst into a full force rendition of “Bomber”. I was slightly surprised that we didn’t get the usual Motorhead introduction of Lemmy proclaiming that that they are Motorhead and they play rock n’ roll, but again, I assume this had something to do with time restraints. The eleven song set consisted of the classics, along with single, “I Know How To Die” from the latest album, “The World Is Yours”. There’s no such thing as a bad Motorhead show, and tonight was no exception, however, the volume level we had tonight was not what you’d expect from a Motorhead show, then again, they weren’t closing the show, so I assume that had something to do with the unusually low volume. I should point out that it was far from quiet……..they were way louder than the previous two bands, and louder than Megadeth as it turned out, but I really didn’t feel like I was at a Motorhead show. Even after the customary question from Phil Campbell asking if they should turn the volume up, it was still at a level where no hearing protection was required. The set drew to a predictable close with “Killed By Death”, “Ace Of Spades” and “Overkill”(which included one idiot running onto the stage only to be tackled by four security guards as he made a bee-line for Lemmy). In all honesty, I found Motorhead’s set a bit surreal, due mainly to the fact that it was over so quickly. I guess I’m so used to seeing them headline, that a ten song set left me a little unsatisfied. Make no mistake, Motorhead totally kicked ass for the short time they were on stage, but I found it almost disrespectful to both the band and the audience to give them such little time on stage.
As soon as Motorhead left the stage amidst the screaming sound of feedback from Lemmy’s bass rig, a black curtain fell to cover the stage and create a feeling of suspense prior to Megadeth’s headline slot. As with the Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium last year, they opened with “Trust”, but this time, the song actually worked as an opener due to the fact that the slow build up was played behind the curtain, which then dropped in dramatic fashion as the main riff kicked it. This was probably the coolest stage set up I’ve seen from a Megadeth show with Shawn Drover’s drum kit perched high on a riser featuring steps which allowed the string slingers to pull off those rock star poses with one foot up on a step much like in the good old days when floor monitors were used for this purpose. Giant Video screens featuring Vic Rattlehead, nuclear hazard symbols and various Megadeth logos topped of an amazing look to the show.
Next up was a blistering rendition of “Wake Up Dead” which to my surprise featured lots of head banging from Dave Mustaine……pretty good for a fifty year old who had recently undergone neck surgery. “Here’s a song about little green men”, was Dave’s witty introduction to “Hangar 18”, and it was during this song that it was apparent that Chris Broderick is by far the best lead guitarist to have played for Megadeth. In addition to his own mind blowing solos, he nails the Marty Friedman parts note for note, bend for bend. The past few years may have seemed like Dave Mustaine was fronting a Megadeth cover band, but with the return of long time bassist, David Ellefson, everything has a more familiar feel to it, and there’s no denying that his amazing bass playing adds so much to the sound. Completing the rhythm section is Shawn Drover, and I have to say, he is the most efficient drummer I’ve ever seen. Unlike the amazing Mikkey Dee who resembles Animal from the Muppet Show during his performance, Drover plays with such ease and finesse that he makes it look so easy, however, don’t be fooled, under the calm and composed exterior, is one hell of a drummer.
The only real surprise tonight was the inclusion of the song, “Angry Again”, which to me, sums up post-thrash Megadeth perfectly. It has such a fluid feel, yet still contains technical riffing with a wonderful melodic vocal delivery in the chorus. Going by the set lists for the other shows on this tour, the next two songs should have been, “Poison Was The Cure” and “Dawn Patrol”, but sadly, as with the other bands tonight, the set had to be cut short due to time restraints. We were then treated to three songs from the amazing new album “Thirteen “, the highlight of which was, “Guns, Drugs & Money”, which much like Pantera’s “Walk” pretty much contains only one riff, however, when the riff is this infectious, it really does work.
It was no real surprise to see Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia come on stage to duet with Mustaine on “A Tout Le Monde” just as she did on the version recorded on the “United Abominations” album. Not only is she a delight to look at, she has an amazing voice and really brought the song to life. “Symphony of Destruction” was followed by “Peace Sells” which featured Mustaine bringing his daughter out on stage so that the audience could sing happy birthday to her. Following a very short break, the band returned for one encore in the form of “Holy Wars…..The Punishment Due”. The sheer intensity with which the band played this song proved that at fifty years of age, Dave Mustaine is showing no signs of slowing down and that we can look forward to many more years of Megadeth assaulting our ear drums with awesome music.
Despite the short sets and the lower than normal volume, this was an epic show featuring four amazing bands and if you haven’t done so already, I strongly suggest buying tickets for one of the remaining shows on this tour, you won’t be disappointed.
DEAN MAJOR
