Let me start off by saying this show kicked major arse, aside from the first two opening acts.
A Colorado based metal? band called Arcanium started off the show. 30 minutes of pure YAWN. The guitarist looked cool... and that's pretty much the only cool thing about them. They had a goth chick on keyboards... wow.
Ok, next up is Suicide Silence. California based hardcore? band with angst and rage abounding, just not so much talent. Another 30 minute set of blah. After pretty much every song some guy in the crowd who just wasn't 'feeling it' kept yellin, "Get off the f'ing stage". That made me laugh. The laugh was pretty much the only positive to that performance.
Then Machine Head. I nearly wrecked my pants. They rocked my testicles off. An entirely too god awful short 45 minute set of pure fuckin metal fury. As we all know Machine Head has quite a few long songs so the set was comprised of just 6 songs. Imperium, Halo, Ten Ton Hammer, Beautiful Mourning, Aesthetics of Hate and Davidian. The crowd responded well, and I did notice quite a few Machine Head t-shirts in the crowd. At one point in the show Robb is pointing out this 10 year old kid in the front of the crowd, saying "This is the baddest motherfucker in here.". He goes so far as to pull the kid up on stage and let's him run and jump into the crowd. Robb tells the audience prior to letting the kid jump to make sure and surf him around during the next song, which the crowd does. At the end of the set, when the band is saying it's goodbyes Robb again pulls the kid up on stage, and straps his guitar on him. The kid kinda just strums it a little bit and then says something to Robb in his ear. Robb says, hell yeah!. Apparently the kid wanted to flick a guitar pick into the crowd and Robb indulges him. I think Robb made a lifetime Machine Head fan that night.
Now it's time for the mighty Megadeth. You can tell the large majority of the crowd is obviously there to see Dave and the boys. It is a House of Blues so the stage is minimalist as far as decor. Three full Marshall stacks with a head amp on top of each are flanking both sides of the drum riser. And that's it. No signage or anything. The stage may have been sparse but the music was anything but. 90 minutes of classic favorites as well as several songs off the latest effort, Endgame. It was badass! And I was very happy with the performance. I only had a couple of issues with the show. Dave's mic seemed awfully low, maybe that was intentional as his voice didn't sound powerful at all. Also, Dave's leads seemed a little weak, all most like it was a half hearted attempt, but not necessarily on every song. Just a few. Maybe he's coming off of a sickness or something. Here's the setlist. Dialectic Chaos, This Day We Fight, Wake Up Dead, Skin Of My Teeth, Head Crusher, A Tout Le Monde, Hook In Mouth, Tornado Of Souls, 1320, In My Darkest Hour, Sweating Bullets, Hangar 18, 44 Minutes, Trust, Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells, Holy Wars.
I copped a Machine Head and Megadeth setlist off of the stage lighting guy in the mixing booth. After the show I perused the floor looking for an orphaned guitar pick, but none were to be found. I went to leave and saw Phil Demmel of Machine Head close to the bar talking to someone. As I got closer they ended their conversation and I approached him. I commented on the great performance and what I felt like was too short a set. I got him to sign my setlist. I also asked about his fainting spells and he said he hasn't had another since Sonisphere. He was very cool.
There was a meet and greet with Megadeth after the show. Basically if you bought an Endgame cd from the merch booth they would sign it. I had a 2-1/2 hour drive ahead of me so I didn't stick around. Besides there was one hell of a long line waiting for it.
Overall, this was a killer show that started off a little slow. Awesome none the less.
