When I learned last year that Dave Mustaine had put together a package tour to (ostensibly) compete with Ozzfest, I was surprised. Then I saw the lineup that Megadeth would be fronting and I was intrigued:
metalcore,
thrash, and
progressive metal all on the same bill? Would it work? Apparently it did; I certainly had a good time at the New Jersey stop last summer, but so did a lot of other people – the tour is back again this year and has grown to include dates in Australia.
Gigantour 2006: Time for New Blood
Gigantour grew in another way this year, too: the variety of genres represented by the eight-group band list has expanded. Thrash gets a heavy representation (Megadeth, Overkill, Sanctity), but there’s death metal (Lamb of God), progressive death metal (Opeth, Into Eternity) and even some hardcore (The SmashUp) – it’s a pretty diverse bunch and certainly knocks out
The Unholy Alliance Tour for variety.
Opeth Makes the Experiment Falter Slightly
As someone who appreciates a little of everything, I like where Mustaine’s experiment is going, but I’m not sure it always works. Case in point:
Opeth. I love Opeth – I think they’re a fantastic band and
a lot of fun to see live. But they were right after Overkill, who ended their set with the blistering punk rock of “Old School” and a thrashed-up cover of The Subhuman’s “F*ck You” – play music any faster and you’re playing grindcore. Opeth’s slower, more melodic songs, clocking in at around 8 minutes a piece (that’s a paltry 4 songs for you all doing the math at home), didn’t work very well as a follow up and even though Opeth did a great job with their set, they didn’t sit very well with the audience.
But Arch Enemy and Lamb of God Keep Things on Track
Opeth was exception rather than the rule, though; especially with this year’s two surprises:
Arch Enemy and
Lamb of God. Even though (full disclosure) I attended this show as a guest of Arch Enemy, I hadn’t been that impressed with their music…and I think
my opinion of Lamb of God as a live band is pretty apparent. In any case, both bands made me fans with their performances: with her full-throttle, screeching demon vocals and commanding stage presence, Arch Enemy singer Angela Gossow is basically the perfect front for a band, while Lamb of God turned a better-balanced sound mix in the Coliseum into the most consistently high-energy set of the show, even generating a surprising (for such a new record) amount of enthusiasm from crowd for the songs from their August release,
Sacrament.
Megadeth: A Solid Keystone to the Tour
Megadeth finished up the night with a solid hour of thrash, tearing through the set with minimal breaks, plenty of guitar wizardry, jets of flame and a kickin’ backdrop. For anyone who saw last year’s Gigantour, don’t expect anything new – even the set list is basically the same, switching “Set the World Afire” with “Reckoning Day” and “Sweating Bullets” with “Washington’s Next,” mixing in the same explosions and the same technical wizardry. New bassist James Lomenzo did a good job psyching up the crowd between songs, while Mustaine played the role of Gigantour father figure to the hilt, making announcements to the crowd between sets of songs that were half geeky reassurance and half priestly benediction. He closed the evening by reminding all of us that Gigantour would be back again next year and that unlike Ozzfest, where Ozzie is the focus of the tour, Gigantour is not all about Dave Mustaine. Yeah, it was a little odd, but these guys continue to rock hard and with the new mix of bands Megadeth brings in every time, I’ll happily go see Gigantour again next year.
