Abyss's Review (10/17/01 Irving Plaza, New York, NY):
I Don’t Know Why You Say 1000 Times Goodbye, I Say Hello
It’s been no secret that I’ve been relatively hard on Megadeth the last few years. Aside from the fact that I believe it’s been a very long time since they’ve put out a quality album, the times I’ve seen them live they’ve had a major case of 80s band syndrome (for those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s been covered in other reviews. It’s basically a condition shared by many of the popular thrash bands of the eighties, and it’s major symptom is set lists marked by songs the fan base doesn’t want to hear.) Overkill earlier made progress with this condition, adding songs like “E.vil N.ever D.ies” amongst others to their set list.
Photos by CYNAnyway, as I was pretty much disenfranchised with ‘Da Deth by now, it was my good friend Death that continuously tried to get me up for the show. “It’s going to be a lot of old shit” he would exclaim, but I took a wait-and-see attitude. There was also a rumor going around of a rotating set list, an idea I’ve been trying to beat into every metal band with more than three albums out there. But again, there is no use in getting your hopes up because I hear rumors of this ilk all of the time. So I allowed Death to bounce off of the walls with anticipation and ordered a beer (Because the world might need a hero, but I needed a drink- I’ve had a bad couple of months).
When the curtain went up, my ears were treated to a newer song (“Prince of Darkness” if I remember correctly), and when it was immediately followed by a song off of the new album (“Burning Bridges” I believe, but I might have gotten the order mixed up) I felt like giving Death a good kick in the nuggets. Because as much as I tried playing it down, I had gotten my hopes up, and the show wasn’t living up to its billing.
But Mr. Mustaine must have had fucks like me in mind when he picked out this set list because what followed was one of best shows I’ve seen in quite some time. Definitely the best of my favorite 80s bands. Megadeth touched upon each of their albums, even playing the entire first side of Peace Sells… (I’m still giddy that I saw “The Conjuring” live!), and although they played a handful of newer songs I don’t care for, I probably couldn’t have come up with a better set list (Alright, I could have, but I’m still impressed anyway). “Mechanix”, “Ashes in My Mouth”, “Devil’s Island”, and a good number of other songs you haven’t heard live in a long time littered the set list and plunged me into heaven. You can say what you want about Megadeth’s last few albums, but there is no denying that they are once again a viable live act. The fact that they didn’t play any stupid fucking covers just made it that much more sweet (if they had done something stupid like close with “Anarchy in the UK” this review might have been a little less flattering.
My favorite point of the evening was after what seemed like the encore, the houselights remained down and chants from the audience changed from “USA!” to “Holy Wars!” to which Dave & Co. came back to oblige. Never have the lyrics of that song resounded more poignantly than in New York after September 11th. A more fitting end to an incredible show was impossible.
Although I’ve only seen one stop of this tour, if it’s true there is a significant amount of tracks being shuffled around, I would like to give personal hails to Megadeth. A rotating setlist is, unfortunately, all too uncommon in music, and especially in metal. Making a habit of things like that could get one dubbed “best live act” more often than one would think. What ever you do, see this tour. I had forgotten how much of a Megadeth fan I really am, and I would like to thank Dave personally for reminding me.
Death's Review (10/17/01 Irving Plaza, New York, NY):
Although Mustaine has always maintained a bit of a political stance (didn't he cover the Democratic national convention one year for MTV?), I guess I never really thought of Megadeth as a conservative, flag- waving, "patriotic" band. I always pegged them as a bit more bitter and cynical than that. But that's the way tracks like "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars" are resonating in the post-September 11 world, and while many tours are struggling for attendance, Megadeth's two-night club show stand here in New York was sold out, and it is clear that the band does well with the "fuck Bin Laden" crowd (although, in one form or another, I suppose these days we are all members of that club).
Anyway, although I hated the Megadeth show I saw on the Risk tour, and I have seen Megadeth now so many times that I am genuinely sick of seeing the same set over and over with boring covers like "Anarchy in the U.K.", I was still really psyched to see the band this time around. Word on the street was to expect a set list that was varied, interesting, and heavy on the old- school obscurities. I was ready to be pummeled by Megadeth like it was 1986.
I attended the Megadeth party at Belmont Lounge Tuesday night, but did not see the show until Wednesday, the second night. I was psyched. I met Hel, Abyss and Cyn for a pre-show drink or two, and then it was off to Irving we went. We did not get to see Iced Earth, instead, New York's shows were supported by Endo, and we showed up after they had played. The wait for Megadeth was not bad at all, and the time we did wait was spent checking out the crazy Megadeth merch ("Megagirl" t- shirts and the like) and drinking beers.
The band came out looking and sounding great. Dave has grown his hair out a bit again and doesn't look as un- metal as he has in recent years. Ellefson also is sporting some long hair. Anyway, I was immediately concerned when Megadeth opened the show with three newer tracks, "Prince of Darkness", "Burning Bridges", and "Kill the King". Wait a minute, I thought. This was supposed to be old-school!
Soon enough, however, Megadeth began the process of systematically delivering one sick classic speed metal song after another. The order escapes me now, but I know we heard all sorts of neat stuff, including "The Mechanix", "Wake Up Dead", "The Conjuring" (AWESOME!!!!), "Devil's Island", "Peace Sells", "Tornado of Souls," "Hangar 18," "Angry Again," "Ashes in Your Mouth," "Symphony of Destruction," "She Wolf", "Trust", "A Tout Le Monde", "Train of Consequences" and many, many others.
The band sounded awesome doing them. Al Pitrelli is a killer guitar player, and trust me, Dave is still no slouch himself. There was energy to the riffing and drumming and killer leads all over the place, accented by the great live mix. All in all, this may have been the best I've heard Megadeth sounding, and I've seen them almost 15 times live dating back to the Peace Sells tour at the Colonie Coliseum in Latham, NY with Overkill opening up back in 1986 or '87. The closer of the night? None other than "Holy Wars," and Dave attacked the song with a cool "Old Glory" guitar.
So anyway, call me crazy, but I have to admit that--for all of the great new metal I've heard lately--it was good old Megadeth that delivered what has to be one of the best shows I've seen all year. 22 or 23 tracks in all, and very few (if any) dull moments. Sure, they played "Crush 'Em" and "Motopsycho", but they played so much other cool shit that it more than made up for it. I got to yell "The Conjuring . . . Obey!!!" along with Dave and a packed room full of other fans. What more could I really ask for?
Hel's Review (10/17/01 Irving Plaza, New York, NY):
Going into this show, I knew two things for certain: 1) I was getting screwed on the opening act - Endo instead of Iced Earth; and 2) the last time I saw Dave and Co. live was a huge disappointment. Death had been trying to psych me up about this show for weeks, even though he knew it was futile, plying me with rumors of rotating set lists and rare old gems being played nightly. But without the prospect of Iced Earth kicking off my evening, I could summon little anticipation.
I admit, missing Endo was deliberate - I had no intention of subjecting myself to this. So I was spared from the block-wrapping line to go through the metal detectors that was present earlier in the evening, and even with this grace granted to me, it was still a wait. But these are the things we live with in New York these days, everywhere I go, whether to work or to fun, there is a line to go through a security checkpoint.
Once inside, we had plenty of time to get wristbands, check out the merch booth, AND watch Abyss and Death hit the bar a couple of times before the 'Deth took the stage. Death's inside intelligence of a 10:15 start time was solid, and we were happy to have taken advantage of the info. The crowd consisted of the odd mixture that Irving Plaza had a tendency to draw. Each venue has its own typical crowd, as well as their own up- and down-sides. This crowd was fairly typical, with some new fans mixed in with the hard-core old-timers.
As Megadeth started their set with new material, it quickly became clear who were the new fans and who were the old. The ever-present frozen-in-the-80s folk were there, mullet-ed and hairspray-ed to the nines. I often look at these people and wonder how they manage to go through life without ever seeming to update their hair or clothing. Another endless mystery, to be set aside once the band finishes the new material and I have a reason to pay attention and strain to see the stage again.
After a couple of songs, they finally shifted gears to play some older material. Past experience at this venue has taught me to get in front of the balcony overhang, and to be patient - for when people need beverage, they will surrender their spot. Using this method, I was actually able to see a bit of the band before the night was over. I was amazed to see Dave looking so well groomed and, well, not pale and paranoid for a change.
The sound in the room, once I cleared the overhang, was great, and Dave's solos were the highlights that they were written to be. I had an epiphany about the song structures of the old, beloved (by me at least) classic material and the newer style of songwriting that evolved over the years. The old songs were all epic, with a couple distinctly different parts and bridges and all the trappings. The later songs are more verse-chorus-verse with a little solo break, and with less anger and angst somehow.
Dave certainly has his anger back now. And when he sings the lyrics to "Holy Wars" these days, one can only imagine how gratified (in an unpleasant and odd way, to be sure, but still…) he must feel that his apparent paranoia way-back-when turned out to be truly astute political observation after recent events. As a fan, I'm thrilled to have a crowd shouting for this one, but listening to it again live, and hearing for the first time since it happened how dead-on it truly is, was pretty creepy. But a far better way to end the evening than "Anarchy" - under any circumstances.
Overall, this was definitely a much better show than I have seen Megadeth put on in years. Sure, at this point, there will always be too much of the sub-standard newer material in the set list, since there were clearly many fans who knew all the words to the movie soundtrack song and looked completely blank during "Devil's Island" (can I hear a "whoo-hoo"?), so we're stuck with a few, and that's that. And it was harsh to hear songs off the new album next to the best of the classic material, but it was an improvement. I hope to see this improvement, and the inclusion of more old tunes and fewer of the new, become trends that we will see continue.
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