 | Written by Alex Stojanovic MEGADETH w/ BIOHAZARD @ Colosseum Caesers Windsor Windsor, ON, Canada September 21, 2023 |
Here we are once again with a review focusing on an out-of-town gig, which I don't do all that often. Earlier this spring, Megadeth went on a full Canadian run as part of their current Crush The World Tour. The nearest show to us was in Hamilton, but I couldn't make it out to that show, given that it was a Monday night. However, when the opportunity came to go see them all the way down in Windsor, my friend and I thought we'd take it, and it was an adventure for sure. Windsor was the sole Canadian date for the band's current North American leg, and it featured special guests Biohazard. The tour made a stop at the Colosseum at Caesers Windsor on September 21, so you got to go see a metal show, then go gamble at the slot machines. On this tour, Megadeth also have former Wintersun guitarist Teemu Mantysaari filling in for Kiko Loureiro, who is back home dealing with family matters.
Kicking off the night was Biohazard. It's a special time for them because they are reunited for the second time with Evan Seinfeld, making it the original lineup once again. Their 10-song setlist remained old school focusing on the first three albums, with a majority of the songs being from Urban Discipline. They kicked off their set with "Urban Discipline", and blasted their way through several other classics like "Shades Of Grey", "Down For Life", "Wrong Side Of The Tracks", "Retribution", "Punishment" and their cover of Bad Religion's "We're Only Gonna Die". The in-between song banter between Evan and Billy Graziadei was humourous at times. Given that the show was in Windsor, there was no doubt that there would be some Detroit folks in the crowd. Billy asked the crowd if anyone was from Detroit, and surprisingly, there weren't many. He jokingly replied by saying he was expecting a louder response than what he got. It was also an all-seated show, and there was no room for moshing at the front. However, the band got a few select audience members to mosh with the very limited space available at the front.
Now it was time for Megadeth. However, the band ended up going on rather later than expected. Thankfully, it wasn't at a Guns 'N Roses level of latency, but the annoying part was that no explanation was given to the delay. Biohazard started at 8:00 and ended their set at 8:45, and we were all expecting Megadeth to hit the stage by 9:15 or 9:30 at the latest, but they ended up going on at 9:50, resulting in a rather short 13-song set, which lasted an hour and 10 minutes, which is pretty weak for a headline set if you ask me, unless it's a co-headline bill between two bands.
It was my sixth time seeing Megadeth, and their show started out the exact same way it has been starting off for the last decade with "Prince Of Darkness" playing on the P.A, accompanied by an animated Vic Rattlehead video intro, followed by "Hangar 18" starting the set. Their set was once again, so predictable with the only song that I never heard them do live being "We'll Be Back" from The Sick, The Dying...& The Dead. Every other song, I heard them do at least once or twice. Sure, they may have done "Dread & The Fugitive Mind", but they can switch it out for something else at this point. It was nice to hear "Angry Again" for a second time because I always love that song, and it was pretty cool to hear them do "Wake Up Dead" because I haven't heard them do that song in a while. However after that point, it was all the usual songs that they always play, like "Sweating Bullets", "A Tout Le Monde", "Tornado Of Souls", "Trust" and "Dystopia".
Once it came to "Symphony Of Destruction", I actually started falling asleep because this is usually the point where the end of the show is approaching, and they always end their show with the exact same three songs and in the same order every single time; those being "Symphony", "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars". Performance-wise, they were very tight as always, and Teemu was exceptional in the guitar department. His execution of the solos was as if he wrote them himself. Good ol' Dave Mustaine had some points where he was struggling vocally, compared to when I saw them last year on Metal Tour Of The Year.
In conclusion, aside from the sound being on point and very well mixed, this will be the last time I see Megadeth for a while. Until they start changing up their setlist, particularly with the way they start and end their show, I'm gonna be skipping Megadeth live the next time they come through. They'll always be one of my top favourite bands of all time, but as far as seeing them live, it's break time. However, it was a fun time in Windsor getting to see a metal show, and see a city I haven't been to in 2 decades.
Kicking off the night was Biohazard. It's a special time for them because they are reunited for the second time with Evan Seinfeld, making it the original lineup once again. Their 10-song setlist remained old school focusing on the first three albums, with a majority of the songs being from Urban Discipline. They kicked off their set with "Urban Discipline", and blasted their way through several other classics like "Shades Of Grey", "Down For Life", "Wrong Side Of The Tracks", "Retribution", "Punishment" and their cover of Bad Religion's "We're Only Gonna Die". The in-between song banter between Evan and Billy Graziadei was humourous at times. Given that the show was in Windsor, there was no doubt that there would be some Detroit folks in the crowd. Billy asked the crowd if anyone was from Detroit, and surprisingly, there weren't many. He jokingly replied by saying he was expecting a louder response than what he got. It was also an all-seated show, and there was no room for moshing at the front. However, the band got a few select audience members to mosh with the very limited space available at the front.
Now it was time for Megadeth. However, the band ended up going on rather later than expected. Thankfully, it wasn't at a Guns 'N Roses level of latency, but the annoying part was that no explanation was given to the delay. Biohazard started at 8:00 and ended their set at 8:45, and we were all expecting Megadeth to hit the stage by 9:15 or 9:30 at the latest, but they ended up going on at 9:50, resulting in a rather short 13-song set, which lasted an hour and 10 minutes, which is pretty weak for a headline set if you ask me, unless it's a co-headline bill between two bands.
It was my sixth time seeing Megadeth, and their show started out the exact same way it has been starting off for the last decade with "Prince Of Darkness" playing on the P.A, accompanied by an animated Vic Rattlehead video intro, followed by "Hangar 18" starting the set. Their set was once again, so predictable with the only song that I never heard them do live being "We'll Be Back" from The Sick, The Dying...& The Dead. Every other song, I heard them do at least once or twice. Sure, they may have done "Dread & The Fugitive Mind", but they can switch it out for something else at this point. It was nice to hear "Angry Again" for a second time because I always love that song, and it was pretty cool to hear them do "Wake Up Dead" because I haven't heard them do that song in a while. However after that point, it was all the usual songs that they always play, like "Sweating Bullets", "A Tout Le Monde", "Tornado Of Souls", "Trust" and "Dystopia".
Once it came to "Symphony Of Destruction", I actually started falling asleep because this is usually the point where the end of the show is approaching, and they always end their show with the exact same three songs and in the same order every single time; those being "Symphony", "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars". Performance-wise, they were very tight as always, and Teemu was exceptional in the guitar department. His execution of the solos was as if he wrote them himself. Good ol' Dave Mustaine had some points where he was struggling vocally, compared to when I saw them last year on Metal Tour Of The Year.
In conclusion, aside from the sound being on point and very well mixed, this will be the last time I see Megadeth for a while. Until they start changing up their setlist, particularly with the way they start and end their show, I'm gonna be skipping Megadeth live the next time they come through. They'll always be one of my top favourite bands of all time, but as far as seeing them live, it's break time. However, it was a fun time in Windsor getting to see a metal show, and see a city I haven't been to in 2 decades.
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