VARIOUS ARTISTS – Gigantour 2

Started by Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Gigantour, through its short time, has swiftly become one of the most admired Metal Festivals in North America. In Gigantour’s first year in 2005 attracted thousands, and became more popular as the years went by. Dave wanted to put this festival together to “cater” to different styles of Metalheads so it wasn’t all one flavor per se.

Gigantour II (2006) hit it off big with acts such as Opeth, Arch Enemy, Into Eternity, Lamb of God, Overkill, The Smashup, Sanctity, and of course the infamous Megadeth headlining. This was a classic Megadeth show — the guitar, just amazing, Mustaine’s voice is astounding, and their performance is more than crowd pleasing. Featuring the songs “Take No Prisoners,” “The Scorpion,” “Washington Is Next,” and as a bonus “Peace Sells,” Megadeth does show how truly magnificent the band members are on stage. However, other bands like Arch Enemy, Overkill, and Lamb of God got more out of the audience, at least in the show at the BankAtlantic Center in Florida (which is where this DVD was filmed). Don’t get it wrong though, Megadeth was mind-blowing. When it comes to The Smashup they had a good performance, moving around on the stage a lot, and so did Sanctity. They both have a very Metal sound, but The Smashup has a more rock side and Sanctity has more of a Heavy/Thrash Metal side.

Lamb of God, Over Kill, and the only female fronted band at this concert, Arch Enemy, erupt the crowd. When you watch Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy scream with her demonic sounding vocals you can taste the Metal genre they portray. Or Lamb of God, how they connect with the audience. When Randy Blythe shouts a command to the fans they respond like when someone shouts shark, they go insane, creating enormous mosh pits and everything. Then you feel as if you’re magically taken back to the 80s, but with a Thrash twist when Overkill steps up. With Bobby “Blitz’s” vivacious voice mixed with the Overkill’s Thrash Metal it incites that “Whoa!” factor. His voice is one of the most unique ones in this show.

When Opeth gets onstage they steal the light with their diverse sound. It’s bands like this that truly mix it up and attract Metalheads of all kinds. The DVD shows a softer side of Opeth with their song “The Leper Infinity.” The DVD could sport at least one more song from Opeth but none-the-less it still shows a generality of the concert.

When it comes to the camera footage, it’s actually very good. every band member gets equal camera time and the angles are so awesome! They shoot from below the members, the side, front, above, everywhere. It’s nice to see everyone getting an equal camera time. The sound quality isn’t bad either, and the picture is rather clear.

This Gigantour DVD features 13 performances plus the extra “Peace Sells” by Megadeth. Also it shows how life was on the tour and how the bands got involved in this concert. The DVD also gives some insight on back-stage activities, the pranks, and mishaps such as a beer getting tossed in a console ruining part of the concert. This DVD does something many do not, it gets personal with the crew, telling their stories of the tour.

The Gigantour II DVD has a range of Metal attracting different people, and making it more interesting. Though some songs could have been added, the extras make up for it. From start to finish this DVD sums up this awesome concert in a head-banging way. In Dave Mustaine’s words, “Gigantour is the spirit of Heavy Metal captured in a festival.”