It was a rainy day due to Hurricane Helene passing by, but that didn’t stop fans
from lining up in advance. The line wrapped around the building, three hours
before doors.
All That Remains was the first band to hit the stage. The band hails from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1998. Consisting of Phillip Labonte on vocals, Jason Richardson on lead guitar,
Mike Martin on rhythm guitar, Matt Deis on bass and Anthony Barone on drums. The band has released a whopping nine studio albums and have sold over a million copies of their albums. All That Remains opened their set with their most popular and recognizable song
“Now Let Them Tremble”. Vocalist Jason Richardson’s voice boomed through the
venue. His ability to go from monstrous roars to angelic sing-songy lyrics. The band’s energy is unmatched, every member of the band seemed to be having a
good time playing.
SETLIST:
Now Let Them Tremble
Chiron
Six
Divine
Let You Go
This Calling
Two Weeks
ALL THAT REMAINS
Mudvayne was next to step up to the plate. The band consists of Chad Gray on
vocals, Marcus Rafferty on guitar, Ryan Martine on bass and Matthew McDonough
on drums. Greg Tribbet is usually on guitar but he had to step away from the tour
due to a family emergency. Mudvayne went on a ten year hiatus from 2010 and
came back in 2021 with Rob Zombie’s Freaks on Parade Tour. Mudvayne’s
members all don facepaint, which is usually different every set.
The excitement was tangible in the crowd as they stepped on stage, an audio clip
repeating numbers wrung out. Mudvayne started their set with “Not Falling”. Chad
Gray let out a scream without his microphone before beginning to sing. Chad
Gray’s vocals are something you have to hear live to believe. He sounds exactly like his studio vocals.
Internal Primates Forever was an insane experience live. Ryan started slapping that bass, moshpits erupted accross the GA pit and then the avalanche of crowd surfers started.
Chad gave a speech before “Nothing to Gein”dedicated to the children present at the concert.
He spoke about how everyone made a decision to abandon the world for a few hours to be surrounded by like minded metalheads. A place where there’s no judgment. He said that the world could learn from mosh pits, those who knock each other down should pick eachother up.
At the end of their set, Chad pulled off the facial prosthetics and tossed them into the audience. It was pretty gross and awesome. What a way to close out a set.
SETLIST
Not Falling
Silenced
Internal Primates Forever
Fall Into Sleep
-1
Death Blooms
Dull Boy
Nothing to Gein
World So Cold
Happy?
Dig
MUDVAYNE
The main event: Megadeth! Consisting of Dave Mustaine on vocals and guitars,
Teemu Mantysaari on rhythm guitar, James LoMenzo on bass and Dirk Verbeuren
on drums. The band was formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1983. Megadeth has
released sixteen studio albums in their forty year tenure, six of those albums going
platinum.
The show started with a plague doctor pushing a cart full of corpses onto the stage,
ominously lit with red lighting. The dropcloth fell and the show began. The crowd
erupted into screams and cheers as Mustaine made his way to the front of the stage.
The entire band was grinning ear to ear as they stepped up to their microphones.
They started their set with “The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!”
Megadeth live is absolutely face shredding. I found myself headbanging behind my
camera. There was little downtime between songs, just nonstop riffs. “Washington
is Next” was one I really didn’t expect to be on the setlist. Not exactly a deep cut
but close enough to being one.
Angry Again was my favorite of the set, the opening had many, myself included,
stank facing. Mustaine sounds as good as he did 30 years ago. LoMenzo and
Mantysaari harmonized with Mustaine during the chorus of the song. It gave me
chills!
Vic Rattlehead made an appearance during “Peace Sells”. Vic being the band’s
skeletal business man mascot, representing the proverb “Hear no evil, See no evil,
Speak no evil.” Cutely enough, “Rattlehead” comes from a nickname Dave’s
mother gave to him because of his constant headbanging in his early years. He
danced around the stage and harassed the band onstage before running off at the
end of the song,
“Symphony of Destruction” and “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” were the
final songs of the night. The crowd’s energy didn’t dwindle. Hordes of crowd
surfers began to fly over the sea of people, to security’s dismay.
Despite the awful weather, the show had a pretty good turnout. Megadeth played a
fantastic show in Nashville and closed out the Destroy All Enemies tour. Megadeth
continues to prove why they’re one of the forefathers of thrash.
SETLIST
The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!
Dread and the Fugitive Mind
Angry Again
Washington is Next
Skin o’ My Teeth
Wake Up Dead
Hangar 18
Sweating Bullets
Trust
Countdown To Extinction
We’ll Be Back
Tornado Of Souls
Mechanix
Peace Sells
Symphony of Destruction
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
MEGADETH
