Gigantour!

[Cooperman]

They're are some weird cities they've chosen and some weird ones they've missed out. They're not playing in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area at all... strange considering there is about 10 million people in the DC/Baltimore area here to draw a crowd from. Yet they're playing a show in Bumfuck, West Virginia... I guess the analogy would be playing Dubbo rather than playing Sydney.

The Fresno one was always gonna be a bad turn out. I think that's why they scheduled it for the first date of the tour because of there were any problems to iron out with logistics and the running of the festival then they could do so without it mattering too much in front of a big crowd.

The Irvine crowd was around the 5,000 mark though which is pretty good. I'm flying to the Chicago and Milwaukee shows next weekend so I'll let you know what the attendances are like.

Yeah the US gets a lot of the tours, but that means there's a lot of competition too. I saw Kreator play to about 100-150 people in Baltimore in a place not much bigger than The Tote in Melbourne! I thought I was at a local metal gig. I doubt they would have made any money out of the show. But you can do that when you're next show is a 2 hour drive down the road and not a 2 hour plane flight away like it is in Australia.

 

[Goreripper]

You seem to have Americanized yourself pretty well, Coops!

 

[Spiff]

I think that if AC/DC headlined a hard rock/metal tour, they would be able to sell out places like Suncorp Stadium, Aussie Stadium, etc. Or at least come close to it.

 

[Celestial-Todd]

Fuck me.. I would have killed to see this, at the Dallas show Dream Theater played Cemetary Gates with guest vocals from Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Burton C Bell (Fear Factory) and Dave Mustaine came out to play the solo....

 

[Winmar]

Bloody hell, that would have been great to see!

I always thought Festering Hell held about 4,000 people, but I could be wrong. In fact, I probably am. I used to be there all the time in the mid 90s, but hardly ever go there now, as all the metal bands seem to play the Corner Hotel in Richmond. There aren't many big metal bands now like Pantera.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Yeah, my next gig is the Corner for Fozzy, and I might see Bodom there as well. The Espy is a better, similar sized venue though IMO.

That tribute to Dimebag on Gigantour would have been a sight to see thats for damn sure.

 

[Sydo]

update;

In one of the current Guitar mags (with Dave on the cover), Mustaine is quoted as saying something like you're the first to hear this, but the promoter who bought Megadeth to Australia earlier in the year has asked me to bring Gigantour down under.

 

[Crabby]

He's said that before, but it would be awesome.

Having been to the US and seen how good their shows are, I'd love for this to come Down Under.

 

[The Amazer]

Gigantour in Australia \m/

It's shit that its attendance level is so low - it's such a good price for that lineup!

The merch prices are insane though. $35 for a shirt! $US! God damn.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

US$35 = AU$45, which is the standard price really. No surprises.

That quote makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. As we said above, if it was held at Festival Hall in Melb and a similar sized venue in Sydney, and restricted to those two (or maybe one more) shows, it could be a huge success.

 

[Sydo]

Make the gig 'All Ages'. Apparently we're now legally allowed to do that in Melbourne again.

 

[Goreripper]

But you still can't sell beer there.

At 'all ages' shows, I mean. Not Melbourne in general. You definitely need bigger glasses, though.

 

[Sydo]

Schooners are slowly working their way back in to Victorian culture..

 

[Goreripper]

Not quickly enough. I was at a pub in Wallan when I was down there though, and they had pint glasses! Like, real 600ml pints. Ripper.

 

[Sydo]

Pints are available everywhere that sell good, premium beer on tap. (Guinness, Killkenny, Boddingtons).

Stupidly, too many pubs around here only give you a choice between VB or Carlton.. wtf? Stella seems to be making inroads, but I always feel ripped off paying for an imported beer brewed in South Australia.

 

[Goreripper]

You know, I noticed that a lot in Victoria. If you want to drink beer, you have a choice of Carlton, or VB. If you want sport, you have a choice of AFL, or nothing. What is with that?

 

[Sydo]

'cos we suck?

 

[phlogiston]

You guys must go to the wrong pubs. Every single pub I've been to in Victoria (and I mean *every* *single* *pub*) has more than Carlton or VB on tap. They all sell pints. Sure, your Carlton pot is what you get if you ask for "a beer", but it's not as desperate as you seem to be finding.

Also a lot of pubs have contracts with the brewerys, so you get a fair number of "CUB" pubs or "Toohey" pubs. Avoid Toohey pubs. But even they have "boutique" beers on tap.

If we're talking sport; you're right there. Except in the off-season, where it's cricket.

 

[Sydo]

Good point Phlog.. although I said 'pub', I was more refferring to clubs and pubs combined. Clubs in Geelong give you almost zero choice in beer; ie heavy or light. (super of unleaded). Pubs will usually have 3 to 4 taps. VB, Carlton, Cascade Light, and 'random premium'. It's still not a great range, especially for a snob like myself.

Tooheys Old is great beer. And often $3 a pot!

 

[phlogiston]

Oh, then in that case, yeah, you're right. Although you can generally get bottles of the good stuff at clubs, but it's not the same.