Megadeth @ Irving Plaza - 26 September 2007

I don't know how or why, but for some reason I completely forgot what it was like to attend shows like the one I saw last night - instrumental wizards/metal lords Megadeth at Irving Plaza, here in New York City. If you know anything about this band, and the venue, then you obviously realize that getting a chance to see one of the four great/original American thrash metal bands (the other three would be Slayer, Metallica, and Anthrax), at such a relatively small venue, is something a fan of good music simply can't pass up. It also helps if you're a huge fan of Megadeth, and this show at Irving happened to be your first time seeing the band in person, which is exactly what the case was for me.

Megadeth was probably a couple of notches below the "top" of their game, but that had no impact on the ferocious greatness of the concert. Unlike the impotently dull crowds I'm used to seeing at most indie-rock shows, Megadeth's fans took in every face melting moment and gave it all right back to the band. Head banging, crowd surfing, fist pumping, devil horns, mucho beer and whiskey consumption (and throwing), nonstop MOSHING... check check check check check check CHECK. How many metal moment checks is that? A lot.

The band, made up of Glen Drover (above right - lead guitar), Shawn Drover (above center - drums), and James Lomenzo (not pictured - bass), were extremely tight, professional, and awesome. However, as fantastic and amazingly effortless in his shredding as Glen was, he just wasn't Marty Friedman. That's not meant as a knock on Glen, just saying that if I missed anything in the performance last night, it was the lead guitar stylings of Marty Friedman during the songs from Rust In Peace.

Perhaps I'm not making myself clear though. Sure there were little things that made the show a nine, rather than a full-on ten, (Dave was sick, and asked for some help from the audience in singing - we happily obliged) but all-in-all this was one of those shows for me. One that will go down in memory as one of the great bands I've ever seen live. A proud notch in my concert going belt, and a show that reminded me of what it used to be like going to see hard rock/metal/harcore bands back in the day, when both the musicians and the fans really gave a damn about making each and every concert memorable and fantastic.

Take no prisoners... take no shit!

Setlist:*
01. Sleepwalker
02. Take No Prisoners
03. Wake Up Dead
04. Skin O’ My Teeth
05. Gears of War
06. She Wolf
07. In My Darkest Hour
08. Hangar 18
09. Washington Is Next
10. Kick The Chair
11. A Tout Le Monde
12. Tornado Of Souls
13. Reckoning Day (not played)
14. Peace Sells
15. Never Walk Alone
16. Symphony of Destruction
———————
17. Holy Wars

Watch:
"Hangar 18" live: intro CLIP (16 second QT) | guitar solo CLIP (47 second QT)
"Holy Wars" live on YouTube (not mine)

See more pictures of Megadeth (from this show) HERE.

Visit Megadeth on MySpace.

*setlist from HERE - modified based upon info found on the Megadeth message boards.