Megadeth continues their resurgence for their current album Dystopia (Tradecraft). Bolstered by the recent addition of former Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, Dave Mustaine and company sound amazing live these days from the few times we’ve caught their act in 2016. To pull off a tour of this magnitude (small arenas) in this day an age where some bands are struggling to fill small clubs is admirable. Openers Butcher Babies and Metal Church certainly have their own crowds of fans, but the three main acts couldn’t be better or more evenly matched.
Suicidal Tendencies just released a brand new album, World Gone Mad (Suicidal Records), themselves are sporting a new line-up. Most notably is the addition of legend Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Testament, Misfits). ST begins and ends with the whirling dervish that is Mike Muir, or as our photographer for the evening tonight, Hillarie Jason calls him, “Mike Blur”. Along with guitarist Dean Pleasants, the old-guard dudes lead the way for the new crew and they were tight, a little more thrash and punk than funk with Lombardo in tow.
Amon Amarth has a Viking ship! That could be the entire recap for them. After their recent tour saw them unleash a flaming Viking helmet on unsuspecting fans, they have revived the awesome replica longship. What a site to see as the band runs around the stage and scales the ship for their performance! Lots of Amon Amarth heads in the crowd tonight and even some crowd surfers! Raise your horns, indeed!
Finally Megadeth does what they do best, they come out and slay live. Nice to see the new album tracks and even some more recent deep cuts getting played tonight, since the set list was in need of a facelift the last few years. The challenge for these older bands that want to keep making new music, is do they ever play any of it live? Megadeth played five tracks off of Dystopia and they were all tight. The crowd sang a long to old songs and classics equally. Again this just seems like a great time for Mustaine and company on all fronts. Thanks again to Hillarie Jason for the killer photo set for this piece.
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