 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photography by Anna Sklavos (C) 2022 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR 2022 w/ MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES @ Budweiser Stage Toronto, ON, Canada May 18, 2022 Presented by Live Nation |
It has been one of the most anticipated metal tours that we metalheads in North America have been looking forward to since it was first announced in 2020. That was the Metal Tour Of The Year, featuring co-headliners Megadeth and Lamb Of God, with Trivium and In Flames serving as special guests. However, a pesky little pandemic had different plans for the world, which lasted for two years, causing the tour to be plagued with multiple postponements. With those postponements, came the splitting of the entire tour of 50 shows into two separate legs. The first leg took place last summer across the U.S, with Hatebreed jumping into In Flames' slot due to travel restrictions. The first leg also included the three Canadian dates at the end, but due to restrictions, the dates were postponed to the spring of 2022, and they ultimately ended up being at the tail end of the second leg. By this time, restrictions were eliminated and In Flames were able to hop back on the bill and the tour happened like it was meant to be.
Getting into the festivities, the tour hit Toronto as the second last stop of the tour at the Budweiser Stage on May 18. I must say that although I already went to a couple of smaller shows since live music started coming back, it felt amazing to be back at a big metal show at the amphitheatre, and smelling the potent aroma of pizza, fries, burgers, beer and weed smoke, despite the slightly cooler weather. Fans packed the amphitheatre to finally witness the monster metal package that we've been waiting to see for 2.5 years now. I also want to mention that with Megadeth and Lamb Of God together, this tour was also a little mini reincarnation of Gigantour 2006 when the two bands toured together.
Getting into the festivities, the tour hit Toronto as the second last stop of the tour at the Budweiser Stage on May 18. I must say that although I already went to a couple of smaller shows since live music started coming back, it felt amazing to be back at a big metal show at the amphitheatre, and smelling the potent aroma of pizza, fries, burgers, beer and weed smoke, despite the slightly cooler weather. Fans packed the amphitheatre to finally witness the monster metal package that we've been waiting to see for 2.5 years now. I also want to mention that with Megadeth and Lamb Of God together, this tour was also a little mini reincarnation of Gigantour 2006 when the two bands toured together.
| IN FLAMES Photo credit: Anna Sklavos / (C) 2022 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | In Flames kicked off the festivities. This was only my second time seeing them after I saw them for the first time in 2019 on the Within Temptation tour. One interesting fact about In Flames being on tour with Megadeth at the moment, is that Chris Broderick, who was in Megadeth for a number of years, is now part of In Flames. It definitely makes people wonder what the backstage exchange between him and Dave Mustaine was like, given Mustaine's reputation with former members. I'm sure there was no weirdness, but I digress. Their set began with "Cloud Connected", and ripped through a decent selection of songs from different eras. It goes without saying that In Flames have definitely split their fanbase with the drastic change in their sound from their early melodic death metal roots to a more accessible metal sound. However, they made both sides of their fan base happy, because they touched on songs from the past decade like "Everything's Gone", "Where Dead Ships Dwell" and "I Am Above", and also songs from the good old days like "Behind Space", and their classic closer "Take This Life". |
| Up next was Trivium, making their first return to Canada since 2018, and to Toronto since 2017, and also making it the longest gap of time since they last played here. Since the band have been able to return to the road last year, they are touring in support of two new records now: What The Dead Men Say and In The Court Of The Dragon. However, the funny thing about their set was that there were no songs from What The Dead Men Say. Entering the stage to an ecstatic reception from the crowd, they kicked off their set with the one-two-punch of "In The Court Of The Dragon" and "Like A Sword Over Damocles". The set also included old fan favourites like "Beyond Oblivion" (a song I've been waiting so long to hear live), "Strife", "Rain", "Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr" and the big closer "In Waves". For the past six years, Trivium have always asked the crowd to crouch down and to then explode back up when "In Waves" kicks in, and they continued that tradition this time as well. Trivium have been an important band for me for 16 years now, because I would not be the metalhead I am today had I not gotten into them when I was 14 years old. I look forward to their return in the near future! | TRIVIUM Photo credit: Anna Sklavos / (C) 2022 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| LAMB OF GOD Photo credit: Anna Sklavos / (C) 2022 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Taking the stage next was headliner #1: Lamb Of God. Come to think of it, the last time I saw Lamb Of God was at the Budweiser Stage in 2018 when they opened the final Slayer tour, but this was my first time seeing them with Art Cruz on drums. It obviously took a bit of adjusting to not seeing Chris Adler up on stage with the band, but musically, they didn't lose a step. Speaking of not seeing an Adler in the band, Willie Adler was also absent from this show, making this the first time I've seen Lamb Of God without any of the Adler brothers. The reasoning for Willie's absence is his Covid vax refusal, and that rule still applies up here for U.S travelers, which is nonsense if you ask me. As a result, Phil Demmel stepped in once again for the Canadian dates. Opening their set with the new-school-old-school punch of "Memento Mori" and "Ruin", they tore their way through tracks of the last decade like “512”, “Ghost Walking” and "Resurrection Man", as well as several signature fan favourites like "Walk With Me In Hell", "Now You've Got Something To Die For", “11th Hour”, "Vigil", "Laid To Rest" and "Redneck". I was also surprised they played "Contractor", which is a personal favourite of mine from Wrath. |
Visually, this was the best stage show Lamb Of God has ever had, because for the first time, they brought the heavy artillery by incorporating pyro into their show with flames, concussion blasts and fog blasters. Randy Blythe is still as much of a powerhouse on stage at 51 as he ever was with his signature growl, and running around on stage like he's in his 20s. Randy is one of those frontmen who has the ability to just stand at the front of the stage, and the crowd will respond loudly. A standout moment during the show was when he dedicated “Redneck” to the Toronto Slayer Swimmer (if you all know the story). It's always a treat to see Lamb Of God live, and I look forward to next time.
| Finally, closing off the night was headliner #2: Megadeth! This show marked my fifth time seeing them, and four of those five times were at this venue. Seeing them at this venue again always brings back memories of my first time seeing them back in 2010 with Slayer and Testament when they played Rust In Peace in full. The last time I saw them was at the same venue in 2017 opening for Scorpions. However, this was my first time seeing the band without David Ellefson, as he was unfairly dismissed last year, and now they brought James Lomenzo back. Their show started off the same way it has been starting off since 2013, with "Prince Of Darkness" playing on the P.A, followed by a launch into "Hangar 18". As a result, their opening didn't feel as exciting as it used to be. I honestly think it's high time to switch opening songs because it's getting predictable. It was actually after "Hangar 18" that things started to get a little more exciting, because now came some songs that were nice surprises. Examples include "Dread & The Fugitive Mind", which they haven't played in 2 decades, followed by a song that I've been wanting to hear played live for a while, and that was "Angry Again". | MEGADETH Photo credit: Anna Sklavos / (C) 2022 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
Of course, we also got a couple of songs from Dystopia like the title track and "Conquer Or Die". It was during the latter that two Vic Rattleheads came out on stage (one in a more human form, and the other in a more cyborg form). Now came the moment that I personally thought was the biggest highlight of the entire show, and that was hearing Megadeth play "The Conjuring". As a hardcore fan, that is my #1 favourite Mega-tune, and hearing that song live had me losing my mind. I'm so thankful that Mustaine changed his stance on playing this song over the last few years.
As we entered the second half of the set, we then got into a bunch of the standard setlist staples that I've heard them play pretty much every single time I've seen them, like "Trust", "A Tout Le Monde", "Sweating Bullets", "Symphony Of Destruction", "Peace Sells" and the classic closer "Holy Wars". Despite the great, but rather predictable setlist, this is probably the best the band has sounded of all the times I've seen them live. Even after beating cancer, there was some concern surrounding how Mustaine was going to sound vocally, but he actually sounded a lot better than I thought he would. He didn't even sound like he was struggling. From an auditory perspective, the mix of the drums, bass and guitar was perfect. It was very pristine, which is always pleasing to the ear.
In conclusion, the Metal Tour Of The Year really lived up to its name because unless there’s another big pure metal arena tour in the works, there’s no way that this tour can be topped at the moment. This mega-package with Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames proved to be a memorable package for metalheads all across North America during the course of the two legs that took place this year and last year, that it would not be surprising if there's a third leg in the works, either across North America, or maybe overseas, because the rest of the world deserves this package as well. There definitely seems to be demand for it.
As we entered the second half of the set, we then got into a bunch of the standard setlist staples that I've heard them play pretty much every single time I've seen them, like "Trust", "A Tout Le Monde", "Sweating Bullets", "Symphony Of Destruction", "Peace Sells" and the classic closer "Holy Wars". Despite the great, but rather predictable setlist, this is probably the best the band has sounded of all the times I've seen them live. Even after beating cancer, there was some concern surrounding how Mustaine was going to sound vocally, but he actually sounded a lot better than I thought he would. He didn't even sound like he was struggling. From an auditory perspective, the mix of the drums, bass and guitar was perfect. It was very pristine, which is always pleasing to the ear.
In conclusion, the Metal Tour Of The Year really lived up to its name because unless there’s another big pure metal arena tour in the works, there’s no way that this tour can be topped at the moment. This mega-package with Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames proved to be a memorable package for metalheads all across North America during the course of the two legs that took place this year and last year, that it would not be surprising if there's a third leg in the works, either across North America, or maybe overseas, because the rest of the world deserves this package as well. There definitely seems to be demand for it.
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