Dave Mustaine still rules. Forget about what was said a couple of years ago about that arm injury that would prevent Mustaine from ever playing guitar again. Since then, the Thrash legend has released the remarkably strong album The System Has Failed, and now he and his brand new line-up are touring once again.
In the present Megadeth line-up, there’s no Chris Poland, no Marty Friedman, no Nick Menza, not even Dave Ellefson! But Dave Mustaine is still around, somehow it’s hard to ask for more. James MacDonough treats the bass, while the brothers Shawn and Glen Drover handle the band’s drums and second guitar. Even though the latter two are recognizable to some as members of Eidalon, these names are known only by a few.
Still we are talking about a band that seriously kicks ass, a band that is seriously committed to promote the brand new Megadeth album. Despite the long line of Megadeth classics, no less than seven tracks from The System Has Failed were played this evening. And all these seven songs were great!
The new compositions “The Scorpion,” “Die Dead Enough,” “Of Mice And Men” (dedicated to Dimebag), and “Kick The Chair” have everything that’s needed to fit in with the old classics. They are all right up there with the old songs! And that says a lot – we are really talking about some classics here! Weather the mother ship album is called Peace Sells, Rust In Peace, or Countdown To Extinction, it is hard to convince anyone that Dave Mustaine has not been one of the most important architects of Thrash Metal.
His back catalogue is more than impressive, and the response the band got from their Oslo audience proved that they sure did something right on that stage. Even though “Angry Again” failed to punch – from their more than twenty song long setlist – numbers like “Skin O’ My Teeth,” “Tout Le Monde,” and “Sweating Bullets” were greeted by the crowd with the loudest of cheers. And when the highlights “Trust,” “Hangar 18,” and “Symphony Of Destruction” were performed, the need to sing along struck everyone from the front row to the back of the sold out concert hall.
Dave Mustaine himself looked sane and delightful, and even took his time to talk quite a bit to the audience. Many had not expected that. Even though the back drop picturing a Greek temple with the inscription “Unequal Injustice For All” was a ironic reminder of less joyful parts of Mustaine’s career, it looked like he was more than happy about still being given the opportunity to play his material live.
The evening included a couple of surprises. The guys of Diamond Head, Megadeth’s support band, entered the stage to do backing vocals on “Back In The Day.” Towards the end of the set, the band suddenly broke out from the great song “Peace Sells” to play a full, but fast, version of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” Cool.
Mustaine still can kick off monster solos, and the sound was solid. When the party was ended with “Holy Wars,” which included one of the heaviest riffs in the Metal world, there was only one conclusion to be determined: Megadeth still deserves all the attention they can get. Go see them.
Setlist
Blackmail The Universe
Set The World On Fire
Skin O’ My Teeth
The Scorpion
Wake Up Dead
In My Darkest Hour
Something I’m Not
Angry Again
Tout Le Monde
Die Dead Enough
Trust
Tornado Of Souls
Of Mice And Men
Kick The Chair
Hangar 18
Back In The Day
Sweating Bullets
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Paranoid
She Wolf
Holy Wars
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