GIGANTOUR 2013 - Toronto, ON Canada
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Gigantour 2013 @ Molson Amphitheatre
(Megadeth / Black Label Society / Device / Hellyeah & Newsted) Toronto, ON, CAN Show review from: Alex Stojanovic Published September 9, 2013 |
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This summer, Megadeth released their fourteenth studio album Super Collider, which received mixed reviews critics and a bit of harsh criticism from hardcore fans due to the more commercial direction, and sold less than its predecessor TH1RT3EN, but that didn't stop Megadeth from hitting the road hard this summer on their travelling festival tour Gigantour.
This year's lineup consisted of Megadeth, Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah and Newsted. Death Division were also on the bill, but dropped off from the last few shows due to unknown reasons. Gigantour took the bands on numerous stops across the USA and Canada, with Toronto being the closing night of the tour at the famous Molson Amphitheatre.
The show took place on Sunday, August 11, 2013. I had the opportunity of going to the show with my brother Mark, my cousin Bogdan and my friends Dan, Aleks, Steve and Alex. Funny thing is that my friend Steve was outnumbered by all of us Serbian guys in the group, but let's not focus on that. We arrived at the amphitheatre at around 3:15, and the doors opened at 4:00. Newsted was the first band on stage. Jason and company opened their set with the lead single off their debut album Heavy Metal Music entitled "Heroic Dose". It was incredible to see Jason live in someway, considering that he was a major part of Metallica, and to see how charismatic he is at age 50. The band closed their set with a cover of Metallica's "Whiplash".
Second band was "Hellyeah". Vocalist Chad Grey was an unstoppable ball of energy on stage with his bludgeoning screams, and the same goes for Vinnie Paul with his chops on the skins. The band opened their set with "Cowboy Way", and played hits such as "Thank You, Drink Drank Drunk, Band Of Brothers, and A Matter Of Time." The band closed their set with their title song "Hellyeah".
Third band was Device, featuring David Draiman of Disturbed. The band opened their set with, "Penance" and their set contained songs from their debut album and a couple of covers such as, "Wish" by Nine Inch Nails, and, "Close My Eyes Forever" by Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford, which was also a track on the album. There was a moment during the band's set where David criticized a "hater" in the audience who happens to dislike him for disrespecting him while on stage.
I give full respect to David for doing that, because he and I share the same views on metal snobs and elitists, and while he is known for being in Disturbed, and Disturbed being a metal band that receives radio play, they have their fair share of haters and metal snobs constantly disrespecting and dissing them.
For the track "Out Of Line", the band brought up Black Label Society bassist John DeServio to play bass, due to the fact that the band didn't have a bass player, and Geezer Butler played bass on the track on the album. The band closed their set with their cover of "Wish" by Nine Inch Nails. After Black Label Society finished their set, Device had a M&G at the merch table, and my brother and I went to meet them.
We got a picture with the band and autographed posters. Before we left the table, I shook David's hand once again and congratulated him and his wife on their son and wished them all the best. It was an honour to meet David, because I'm a big Disturbed fan and it's not every day that you meet a member from a band that is as successful as Disturbed is, and he is a true gentleman. Thank you David!!!!
Fourth band was Black Label Society. Zakk Wylde and company opened their set with the Canadian national anthem playing on the P.A, and then broke into, "Godspeed Hellbound". The band's set also consisted of hits such as "Destruction Overdrive, Bleed For Me, Parade Of The Dead, Suicide Messiah, Concrete Jungle and Stillborn" just to name a few. Zakk also did his traditional 10 minute shredding guitar solo in the middle of the set. While I am a fan of Zakk, I find his guitar solo of 10 minutes of just shredding and whammy bar action to get a little tedious, because he did the same thing when I saw Black Label open for Judas Priest in 2011.
We finished at the merch table meeting Device after Black Label's set, and got back to our seats just three minutes before the lights went out for Megadeth. The band opened their set with "Trust", which is a great song, but I think they could have picked a heavier song to open their set with. One thing that the metal world has noticed for the past year was the Megadeth started playing their songs live in lower tunings due to Dave Mustaine's aging voice, which I completely understand.
We all know that as most metal singers get older, most of them struggle to hit high notes that they hit back in the day, but it made the songs sound heavier and darker, which was great. The band's setlist consisted of the standard Megadeth setlist staples such as "Hangar 18, A Tout Le Monde, Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells, and Holy Wars", as well as a couple of tracks from Super Collider, such as "Kingmaker, Dance In The Rain, and their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat". The band brought out David Draiman to sing the ending of "Dance In The Rain" as well all know that he sang that part on the album. At the end of the song, David expressed his eternal gratitude and appreciation for Megadeth for bringing them on tour.
After the band played "Cold Sweat", it was time for a surprise. There have been numerous news reports, tweets and teasers from Mustaine about the possibility of Megadeth playing a Metallica song that Mustaine had a hand in writing on the tour with Jason Newsted. After no signs of evidence popping up on websites during the entire duration of the tour, I didn't think it was going to happen. However, being as Toronto was the last night of the tour and talk about "saving the best for last", Megadeth brought out Jason Newsted to jam on the Metallica classic "Phantom Lord", which was one of the biggest highlights of the night. The next day, the jam made metal news headlines on numerous metal websites. The band closed their set with "Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells and Holy Wars."
One thing that I have noticed about this tour was the surprisingly lower ticket sales in most cities the tour has hit. I looked at fan-filmed footage and seating charts on Ticketmaster for the tour's other shows, and most of the venues weren't even half sold. I felt embarrassed for Megadeth, and there were a number of factors that could have contributed to the lower-than-usual ticket sales. It could have been lack of interest in the lineup, the harsh criticism that Super Collider received that fans didn't even want to see the band live, or the lack of promotion from local radio stations. However, the Molson Amphitheatre was pretty packed, even though there were numerous empty seats. I've gotten to see Megadeth twice before, and I think it's safe to say that this is by far the best show I've seen them put on. If Megadeth hits your city on the Super Collider tour cycle, go see them live, you will not be disappointed.
This year's lineup consisted of Megadeth, Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah and Newsted. Death Division were also on the bill, but dropped off from the last few shows due to unknown reasons. Gigantour took the bands on numerous stops across the USA and Canada, with Toronto being the closing night of the tour at the famous Molson Amphitheatre.
The show took place on Sunday, August 11, 2013. I had the opportunity of going to the show with my brother Mark, my cousin Bogdan and my friends Dan, Aleks, Steve and Alex. Funny thing is that my friend Steve was outnumbered by all of us Serbian guys in the group, but let's not focus on that. We arrived at the amphitheatre at around 3:15, and the doors opened at 4:00. Newsted was the first band on stage. Jason and company opened their set with the lead single off their debut album Heavy Metal Music entitled "Heroic Dose". It was incredible to see Jason live in someway, considering that he was a major part of Metallica, and to see how charismatic he is at age 50. The band closed their set with a cover of Metallica's "Whiplash".
Second band was "Hellyeah". Vocalist Chad Grey was an unstoppable ball of energy on stage with his bludgeoning screams, and the same goes for Vinnie Paul with his chops on the skins. The band opened their set with "Cowboy Way", and played hits such as "Thank You, Drink Drank Drunk, Band Of Brothers, and A Matter Of Time." The band closed their set with their title song "Hellyeah".
Third band was Device, featuring David Draiman of Disturbed. The band opened their set with, "Penance" and their set contained songs from their debut album and a couple of covers such as, "Wish" by Nine Inch Nails, and, "Close My Eyes Forever" by Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford, which was also a track on the album. There was a moment during the band's set where David criticized a "hater" in the audience who happens to dislike him for disrespecting him while on stage.
I give full respect to David for doing that, because he and I share the same views on metal snobs and elitists, and while he is known for being in Disturbed, and Disturbed being a metal band that receives radio play, they have their fair share of haters and metal snobs constantly disrespecting and dissing them.
For the track "Out Of Line", the band brought up Black Label Society bassist John DeServio to play bass, due to the fact that the band didn't have a bass player, and Geezer Butler played bass on the track on the album. The band closed their set with their cover of "Wish" by Nine Inch Nails. After Black Label Society finished their set, Device had a M&G at the merch table, and my brother and I went to meet them.
We got a picture with the band and autographed posters. Before we left the table, I shook David's hand once again and congratulated him and his wife on their son and wished them all the best. It was an honour to meet David, because I'm a big Disturbed fan and it's not every day that you meet a member from a band that is as successful as Disturbed is, and he is a true gentleman. Thank you David!!!!
Fourth band was Black Label Society. Zakk Wylde and company opened their set with the Canadian national anthem playing on the P.A, and then broke into, "Godspeed Hellbound". The band's set also consisted of hits such as "Destruction Overdrive, Bleed For Me, Parade Of The Dead, Suicide Messiah, Concrete Jungle and Stillborn" just to name a few. Zakk also did his traditional 10 minute shredding guitar solo in the middle of the set. While I am a fan of Zakk, I find his guitar solo of 10 minutes of just shredding and whammy bar action to get a little tedious, because he did the same thing when I saw Black Label open for Judas Priest in 2011.
We finished at the merch table meeting Device after Black Label's set, and got back to our seats just three minutes before the lights went out for Megadeth. The band opened their set with "Trust", which is a great song, but I think they could have picked a heavier song to open their set with. One thing that the metal world has noticed for the past year was the Megadeth started playing their songs live in lower tunings due to Dave Mustaine's aging voice, which I completely understand.
We all know that as most metal singers get older, most of them struggle to hit high notes that they hit back in the day, but it made the songs sound heavier and darker, which was great. The band's setlist consisted of the standard Megadeth setlist staples such as "Hangar 18, A Tout Le Monde, Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells, and Holy Wars", as well as a couple of tracks from Super Collider, such as "Kingmaker, Dance In The Rain, and their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat". The band brought out David Draiman to sing the ending of "Dance In The Rain" as well all know that he sang that part on the album. At the end of the song, David expressed his eternal gratitude and appreciation for Megadeth for bringing them on tour.
After the band played "Cold Sweat", it was time for a surprise. There have been numerous news reports, tweets and teasers from Mustaine about the possibility of Megadeth playing a Metallica song that Mustaine had a hand in writing on the tour with Jason Newsted. After no signs of evidence popping up on websites during the entire duration of the tour, I didn't think it was going to happen. However, being as Toronto was the last night of the tour and talk about "saving the best for last", Megadeth brought out Jason Newsted to jam on the Metallica classic "Phantom Lord", which was one of the biggest highlights of the night. The next day, the jam made metal news headlines on numerous metal websites. The band closed their set with "Symphony Of Destruction, Peace Sells and Holy Wars."
One thing that I have noticed about this tour was the surprisingly lower ticket sales in most cities the tour has hit. I looked at fan-filmed footage and seating charts on Ticketmaster for the tour's other shows, and most of the venues weren't even half sold. I felt embarrassed for Megadeth, and there were a number of factors that could have contributed to the lower-than-usual ticket sales. It could have been lack of interest in the lineup, the harsh criticism that Super Collider received that fans didn't even want to see the band live, or the lack of promotion from local radio stations. However, the Molson Amphitheatre was pretty packed, even though there were numerous empty seats. I've gotten to see Megadeth twice before, and I think it's safe to say that this is by far the best show I've seen them put on. If Megadeth hits your city on the Super Collider tour cycle, go see them live, you will not be disappointed.
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MEGADETH SETLIST
Trust Hangar 18 Wake Up Dead In My Darkest Hour Sweating Bullets Skin O' My Teeth A Tout Le Monde She-Wolf Kingmaker Dance In The Rain (feat. David Draiman) Cold Sweat (Thin Lizzy Cover) Phantom Lord (Metallica Cover) (feat. Jason Newsted) Symphony Of Destruction Peace Sells Holy Wars |
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