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Slayer & Megadeth

w/ Double Dragon

Festival Hall, Melbourne – 9th October 2009

***Click here to view photos***

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It’s not that often Australia gets a chance to experience a double headlining tour, especially with the likes of Megadeth and Slayer on the same bill. These tours only seem to happen few and far between for Australian fans,  yet when they do come along it does seem that Australia is indeed the lucky country.

I myself suspected the tour would never work in its early stages with the exchange of many negative words in the past by both parties.  Thankfully, both Slayer and Megadeth have matured since then and put their differences aside, thank god!

As I gradually approached the venue with my entourage we could hear the faint sound of Double Dragon warming the crowd. I for one thought the show would start alittle later then expected and quickly made my way into the venue.

As Double Dragon finished up and made their way off stage to pack their gear the tension in the air was greatly building as many Megadeth fans were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dave Mustaine and company to centre stage of Festival Hall. I myself was very nervous as this would be my first time professionally photographing Megadeth live on stage. I’ve been a fan of Megadeth since my high school years and have seen them numerous times in the past, but  I couldn’t help but act like a giddy school kid.

Without any hesitation Megadeth drilled into the first song, Set The World Afire which sounded amazing, albeit with some minor distortion which didn’t entirely effect the songs integrity. The crowd was overly enthusiastic and graciously welcomed Megadeth back to Melbourne.

As I was standing there taking photos I couldn’t help but tap my foot and sing-a-long being the Megadeth fan I am. Next up was Devil’s Island, again the band did seem to experience more techincal difficulties, this time more noticeable yet many fans didn’t seem to mind.

I was completely blown away at how tight and well sounding Megadeth sounded as it was only their second song throughout the night. Up next was She Wolf, a favorite by many yet some Melbourne fans seemed a bit hesitant to get into the spirit of things. The dreaded ghost in the machine came back once again to haunt Megadeth‘s sound, yet after She Wolf there was a quick intermission for Megadeth to get their barrings and finally get their sound right.

Up next was Hanger 18. One of my favorites and just sounded amazing after the band has gotten all the kinks out of the system beforehand. The crowd quickly gained more enthusiasm with metal horns high in the air and lyrics being sung by many, illuminating the venue into a vivid powerhouse of energy.

This energy quickly subsided though as In My Darkest Hour swept in and took hold a more sombre and melodic mood over the audience. I couldn’t help but think this was the best I’ve ever heard Megadeth live to date. I maybe bias with this remark but I think its mainly due to Chris Broderick’s amazingly guitar welding skills.

Ever since Chris Broderick joined Megadeth he’s been both a ball of high stung energy and musicianship which has expanded the already great listening and viewing experience of Megadeth on stage.

The classic track Rattlehead was up next and continued the on going energy and upbeat enthusiasm of the Melbourne crowd. Festival Hall was again treated to yet another surprise soon after with the first single off Megadeth’s latest album Endgame being played to my home crowd.

Headcrusher was introduced by Mustaine as he asked the crowd to sing-a-long with him. Sadly, most of the crowd didn’t know the lyrics of son as it was still fresh in everyone’s mind. Mustaine tried his best to get the crowd to sync their chorus along with his. In typical Dave Mustaine humor he amusingly told everyone to forget it and started the song anyway.

The song sounded great live yet I’m sure with many more live performances they’ll be able to articulate the delivery of the song to a wider audience…and hopefully by then the crowd would have learned the lyrics too.

To finish up Megadeth played the best til last with Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction and Peace Sells. Tornado of Souls was just amazing. Its hard to come up with a word to best describe this song live. You have to experience it yourself to fully understand who awe inspiring this song is. Tornado of Souls is indeed a guitar manics wet dream.

Symphony of Destruction got is typical dose of audience participation with the entire song being sung from start to finish with the crowd greatly showing their love for this classic Megadeth song. More sing-a-longs were had as Megadeth‘s anthem Peace Sells got an overwhelming response from the audience.

As a special treat, Megadeth came back on stage for an encore and wowed the crowd with yet another classic. Holy Wars to finish up their already amazing setlist.

There were moments throughout the show which questioned who was the real Megadeth fan and who wasn’t. There seemed to be patches of Megadeth fans scattered throughout the audience which seemed to be dominated more by Slayer’s army of fanatical fans. This would come back to haunt many however later in the evening.

I’m sure many would question why Megadeth didn’t play more material off their latest album after viewing the setlist in Melbourne. It’s quite simple really. This tour was a co-headlining tour not a headlining tour which inevitability didn’t give Megadeth the chance to play more newer material.

I’m sure in due time Australia will finally experience a headlining Megadeth tour as it’s been almost 4 years since Megadeth did a solo show.  Until then I can honesty say Megadeth has greatly improved in recent times, more so with the addition of Chris Broderick.

As Megadeth quickly packed their gear and headed off, Slayer‘s entourage soon emerged to put up the infamous Kerry King and Jeff Hennenan wall of sound. I myself had never seen it in the flesh as this would be the first time I ever saw Slayer live. It was quite a vision to behold, more so to hear it as it nearly ripped my ears to shreds standing so close to Kerry King‘s speakers.

The lights dimmed and a white sheet was placed in front of the stage. Multiple lights phased in with the words Slayer illuminating all over as a mighty raw from fans exploded as Slayer entered on stage. First up was World Painted Blood, the first single of the bands upcoming new album. A thick coat of red lighting shrouded the stage while smoke set the eerie mood. The sound was amazing. Sharp, brutal and most of all fucking loud. This is what everyone came for.

Next up was Slayer‘s classic War Ensemble which quite clearly got the attention of every single person in the venue. Strangely though Tom Ayera had a bit of difficulty singing the song. From time to time I could hear Tom having a hard time keeping his vocal’s on a constant perpetual sting as he seemed to phase in and out of the chorus.

After everyone came hurdling back to reality after War Ensemble‘s high finish. Tom explained to the crowd as best he could that he lost his voice and could not sing, let alone be able to talk. He and the band soldiered on however and did the best they could with their situation.

Up next was Jihad which was given a helping hand by many of the fans in the crowd, as they helped Tom sing-a-long. You could see Tom Ayera was very grateful for this as he smiled and sung along with the crowd.

To be honest I wouldn’t consider myself the biggest Slayer fan and have to admit I didn’t know all the songs that they played in Melbourne, even though some of them sounded very similar to each other. More so since Kerry King‘s solos seem to mimic a somewhat repetitious sound.

Throughout the remainder of the show Tom‘s vocals deteriorated even more and soon he needed the aid of anyone he could find to sing. He even took the chance of asking fans in the crowd which was quite an amusing sight indeed. It was great to see some die-hard fans rise to the occasion and get the chance to sing with Slayer live on stage, even though it ended in tragedy with many promptly dragged or kicked off by security.

Thankfully some local heroes came to the aid with the likes of Double Dragon lead singer, Lee and Melbourne’s own Paul Haug of Contrive fame to help out on Dead Skin Mask which has already made it way around Youtube and various forums.

The night finished off with Slayer‘s big three. Angel of Death, South of Heaven and the almighty Raining Blood. All of which were given the greatest attention to detail by fans at Festival Hall who absolutely went ballistic.

Even though this was Slayer‘s night, it was quite easily and effortlessly upstaged by Megadeth. Having said that Slayer still offered an array of solid musicianship and soldiered on as best they could with Tom Ayera‘s situation.

You can’t help but think that any other band would probably leave under these circumstances, abruptly ending the show and maybe even resulting in a riot. Thankfully, Slayer pushed on and showed how much they appreciated the Melbourne fans by playing til the end.

If you were new to the sounds of Slayer this night probably wouldn’t have been the best induction for you. Musically they played at 110%, yet with the minor exception of Tom‘s vocal’s it seemed more like a karaoke night then a Slayer gig.

One of the most unusual and surprisingly fun gig I’ve been too in quite sometime. If I had the chance I’d greatly do it all over again.

***Click here to view photos***

Slayer setlist:

World Painted Blood
War Ensemble
Jihad
Born Of Fire
Psychopathy Red
Mandatory Suicide
Chemical Warfare
Ghosts Of War
Hate Worldwide
Disciple
Dead Skin Mask
Hell Awaits
Angel Of Death
South Of Heaven
Raining Blood

Megadeth setlist:

Wake Up Dead
Devil’s Island
She-Wolf
Hangar 18
In My Darkest Hour
Rattlehead
Head Crusher
Tornado Of Souls
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars

Review and photos by: Anwar Rizk (Anwar Rizk Photography)