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Megadeth at the Palace?
I couldn't believe it either when I heard that Megadeth was going to be bringing their Risk tour to the Louisville Palace on November 12, but the show went great. However, I must admit that it was a little awkward not having a mosh pit, or at least a little room to move your head around a bit!
The advantage to having a show in a smaller venue is, of course, better seating. (I can't ever recall being "comfortable" at a hard rock show in my life.) Every seat had a pretty good view, too, especially mine! The staff at the Palace took the necessary precautions to keep the place intact, but there was little more violence as some people tried to get a closer look at the stage than their tickets would allow. Maybe the biggest concern of the staff should have been the thunder that was Megadeth. If the walls could talk, they would have been begging for mercy! I thought they were going to crumble. It was beautiful.
The tour was obviously to promote the new album Risk, (which has been compared to Metallica's Load by many fans) but the evening was filled with more older material than new. Among other things, this draws some comparisons of the band to the recent trend of Metallica (most of you already know that Dave Mustaine was with Metallica for a period of time) but I want to set the record strait with this: Dave still has his hair! Check the picture-Case closed.
The show opened with Prince of Darkness and then Holy Wars. It was a roller coaster ride from there on. "Reckoning Day,""Hanger 18,""Symphony of Destruction" and "Sweating Bullets" are just a few of the great songs they played.
A real mouth-dropper was the dual solo by Marty and Dave on "She Wolf." I could not fathom myself doing such effortless soloing with one of my band mates and so flawlessly. Complicated solos are just one tool used by the band to wow audiences. Their speed, dynamics, and, of course, Dave's unusual vocal capabilities help to separate them from other bands in the genre. A slight overtone of a "Nashville sound" can be heard in their newer material, but the overall experience still keeps them a hard rock heavyweight.
"Almost Honest,""Trust" and "Crush" were a few of the recent radio hits that were performed. The show built to a climatic ending in the form of "Peace Sells (But Who's Buying?)." Remember that thunder I talked about earlier? That would be mostly due to the double bass drum action. It was a killer ending to the show, and at that point, they should have left well enough alone. The encore brought covers of "Paranoid" and "Anarchy in the UK." Don't get me wrong, both were great, but "Peace Sells" definitely kicked more a**!
Static X and DDT were the openers, and I am pleased to report that I was pleasantly surprised with them both. DDT, from Vancouver, British Columbia, sounded like a heavier version of 311, only with more percussion. The drummer could leave his set in flames, and he wasn't afraid to show it, as he proved in a solo.
Static X incorporates techno and industrial sounds to create their own version of "evil disco music." Check out their album, Wisconsin Death Trip. I am sure you will find it worth listening to. Their sound includes a lot of sampling, which made their sound guy earn his money that night! All this is great, but if you like them for no other reason, you have to like them because of Wayne's hair (lead singer/guitarist/programmer) and it's towering heights! It's gotta be the hair...