As a seasonal Arizona monsoon storm rolled in to Phoenix Saturday night, Gigantour – Dave Mustaine’s answer to Ozzfest – hit with a fury. By the end of the night, Gigantour proved that its brutal force was one to be reckoned with. The monsoon storm subsided long before Gigantour did, but not without
first delaying Dream Theater’s set.
Nevermore started off the headbanging fury of the main stage with
Narcosynthesis. The small crowd that gathered in front of the stage was dismal – that’s to be expected when a show starts
at 5:30 pm at an outdoor venue during the monsoon season in Arizona. Nevermore’s short set was brutal regardless. The set continued with
Fault of the Flesh, and then the new one from This Godless Endeavor (which was released July 26th) titled
The Final Product. Do yourself a favor and check out a few tunes
here
from This Godless Endeavor. This is just a taste of what was unleashed on the Phoenix crowd. Finishing off the performance was
River Dragon and Enemies of Reality. By the end of their performance, the crowd had grown in number and was definitely in to the performance.
Nevermore is: Warrel Dane – vocals, Jeff Loomis – guitars, the recently added Steve Smyth – guitars, Jim Sheppard – bass and Van Williams – drums.
It seemed that before you had an opportunity
to recover from Nevermore, Los Angeles’ Fear Factory hit the stage. The
crowd responded enthusiastically. Their set list included Replica,
Transgression, Demanufacture, Cyberwaste, Acres of Skin, Shock, Martyr,
Archetype and the closer Edgecrusher.
Fear Factory is: Burton Bell – vocals,
Raymond Herrera – drums, Christian Wolbers – guitar, and Byron Stroud –
bass.
Being Mustaine’s baby, he should feel proud
of this accomplishment. The pure metal on this maiden tour of Gigantour asks
the profound question – “Metalli-WHO?”. Its really a shame that talented
bands like Nevermore and Fear Factory are being overlooked nowadays while
bands like Metallica are getting all the attention regardless of what they
put out. Now before you fire up the keyboards, listen to St. Anger
again. Whether you want to admit it or not, you know what I am talking
about.
The frenzied crowd finally got to take a breath as the Arizona monsoon
caused Dream Theater’s set to be delayed. Ultimately, they needed to cut two
songs from their list. The storm first made its presence known by causing a
power outage towards the end of Fear Factory’s set. The electrical problems
continued in to Dream Theater’s time slot. Personally, I don’t think writers
should get on a soapbox in their reviews, but for a brief moment I have to.
A large section of the audience felt the need to chant “Bullshit! Bullshit!
Bullshit!” at the longer than normal set change between Fear Factory and
Dream Theater. If you dumb asses would have bothered to look around, you
would have seen the lightning that was in the Arizona night sky. Anyone in
Arizona knows how much rain can be dumped in a mere matter of minutes during
one of these storms. Watching the nightly news will show you just how many
fires are started because of lightning strikes in just one storm. You think
the band should chance electrocution to keep your pathetic asses happy? Get
a clue. The bands want to have as much fun as you’re having, but they are
not going to risk safety to achieve it.
That being said, Dream Theater took the stage with The Root of All Evil.
They followed that up with Honor Thy Father, Under A Glass Moon,
Fatal Tragedy, Panic Attack, Just Let Me Breathe, Lie, As I Am and
finishing off the vibrant performance with the still popular Pull Me
Under/Metropolis medley. The crowd ate up every minute of it.
Dream Theater is: James LaBrie – vocals, John Myung – bass, John Petrucci –
guitars, Mike Portnoy – drums, and Jordan Rudess – keyboards
With
the triumphant return of Megadeth with The System Has Failed and now
Gigantour, Mustaine should feel freed from his demons. He has proven he is
still a vital influence in the metal world. Metallica can’t even lay claim
to that, they can only live off of – and ultimately continue to cheapen –
their legacy. Mustaine has finally surpassed his old bandmates.
With fire
and explosions Megadeth commanded the stage. With a fury they launched in
to Blackmail the Universe. With the last two years of success for
Megadeth, the appropriately titled Set the World Afire was next,
followed by Skin O’My Teeth, In My Darkest Hour, Wake Up Dead, Die Dead
Enough, She Wolf, Angry Again, Hangar 18, Trust, Sweating Bullets, Tornado
of Souls, Kick the Chair, Symphony of Destruction, The Scorpion, Peace Sells
and Holy Wars/Punishment Due. Definitely a jammed packed setlist
that any Megadeth fan would appreciate. However, if they had to
drop/replace one song, it would have to be Trust. The setlist seemed
to have lost a little momentum here, but it was quickly regained.
While no
longer a valley resident, Phoenix once again showed Dave Mustaine that
Megadeth will always be welcomed home with open arms.
Megadeth
is: Dave Mustaine – vocals, guitars; Glen Drover – guitars; James MacDonough
– bass; and Shawn Drover – drums.
