The 4 year absence of Megadeth’s Gigantour is now just a bad dream, as the 2012 edition has provided an amazing lineup. A variety of four very different bands graced this year’s bill with Lacuna Coil in the opening slot.
The band from Milan, Italy took the stage in support of their latest release, “Dark Adrenaline,” which was just released a few weeks earlier. The 6-piece band, fronted by Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia, took the stage at 6:30pm promptly, and went into “Our Truth,” off of the 2006 release “Karmacode.” Even though the arena was only partially full, this didn’t take away from the strong performance that the band gave during the short, but very impressive 6-song set. The band played 3 new songs off of “Dark Adrenaline” which were: “Kill the Light,” “Upsidedown,” and their current hit, “Trip the Darkness.” I personally have never seen such a short set from a pretty established band, and it’s too bad they couldn’t stretch it to an 8-song set at least.
Next up was Volbeat led by singer Michael Poulsen. They went in a different direction and opened up with their massive hit, “A Warrior’s Call,” instead of closing with it; a ballsy move, but one that seemed to pay off in the end. Poulsen’s Elvis impersonation at the end of “The Human Instrument” was quite comical and his energy seemed to flow through the band. He used every microphone on stage and dedicated “Fallen” to his father and to the lost ones. Throughout their set, Poulsen tried to stir up a circle pit but without much success. That’s about the only thing they failed to stir up throughout their performance.
Up next was the legendary Motorhead. The famous quip by Lemmy, “We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll,” wasnt delivered at the beginning of their set as it normally is. You had to wait until the very end before the band exited before that remark was made. Nevertheless, the band played about an hours worth of material consisting of 11 songs, spanning a career that consists of 21 albums. Drummer Mikkey Dee put on an impressive drums solo even though more material being played is what I would have preferred. Is there such a thing is a bad Motorhead set? They are as consistent as you get and that’s ok by me.
Megadeth took the stage at about 9:40pm and provided a solid set consisting of 14 songs and 3 new ones off of the 2011 release “TH1RT3EN.” Dave didn’t speak too much during songs, except he said he hated when people tried to tell him he should be doing this or be doing that, and that the song “ Whose Life (Is it Anyways?)” was dedicated to them. Bassist Dave Ellefson enjoyed the spotlight all to himself on “Dawn Patrol.” Before this song, the backdrop changed from a Megadeth banner to six rows of vertical screens. During “Symphony of Destruction,” the video was played along with the song. A highlight of the evening was seeing Cristina from Lacuna Coil singing “A Tout Le Monde” with Dave and the band.
Even though Megadeth’s performance was great, it seemed to be that the vocals were too low and for the people in the back it was hard to decipher. I’m sure it can be attributed to something amiss in the mix for this night’s performance and things are now worked out. Other than that, Gigantour is a great lineup and bang for your buck. A tour not to be missed!
Megadeth setlist:
Trust
Wake Up Dead
In my Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Foreclose of a Dream
Angry Again
Dawn patrol
A Tout le Monde (with Cristina Scabbia)
Public Enemy No. 1
Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
Guns, Drugs, & Money
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Encore:
Holy Wars…The Punishment Due
Thanks to Riot Rock Management for the tickets and to Livenation Canada for the photo pass.
