Gigantour featuring Megadeth , Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, Opeth , Overkill

Date: 9/30/06
Venue: PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel , New Jersey
Reviewed By: Rich Catino

Megadeth setlist :
Blackmail The Universe
Skin O' My Teeth
Wake Up Dead
Take No Prisoners
Devil's Island
In My Darkest Hour
Die Dead Enough
Angry Again
Trust
Hangar 18
Tornado Of Souls
Kick The Chair
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Mechanix
Wa shin gton 's Next
Holy Wars

Finally it was good to see Overkill on a big stage and part of a large arena/out door shed tour like Gigantour in America . They were so over do for this kind of exposure in their home country especially within the last ten years or so because these guys have been playing to double the crowds Gigantour pulls over seas for a while now. They only have 35 minutes to work with and they mixed the set with old and new tunes including “Rotten to the Core”, “E… limination ” with guest drums done by Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater, “ Thanx for Nuthin ”, “Fuck You”, “Old School”, and “ Necroshine ”. The band sounded great, tight and that old school thrash projected over a system of that size sounded great. This was also a great opportunity for the younger generation to be exposed to the band and as I looked around the audience many kids were banging their heads taking notice of who was on stage.

Opeth offered some variety to this package of thrash style bands. They combine the extreme vocals of Death Metal with very progressive arrangements, passages of clean vocals, heavy doomy guitar riffs and melodic leads. They are a different mix of both the extreme and melodic and they switch gears rather often throughout each song. Opeth are like the Pink Floyd of Heavy Metal.

Wow have Arch Enemy become rather big ever since they got a slot on Ozzfest 2005, and even without that they were still on the rise. As much as I hate the way that festival is run and the redundancy of styles and sounds every year its good to see Arch Enemy has benefited from it. They are one of the more formidable extreme bands to emerge from the melodic Death Metal genre especially in the States. Still I would rather hear some variety in Angela's voice because the music is just too good and I would like them even reach a larger audience. Plus I just think it would sound much better without the harsh barking for every track?

Lamb of God…..another extreme metalcore more so thrash based sound that has also become a household name, there latest album “Sacrament” debuted in the billboard top ten. Man I didn't see that coming. Last time I saw them was on the Slayer Unholy Alliance tour just earlier this year going on right before the headliner. They stirred that crowd into a frenzy just as they did tonight. People seemed to really enjoy the newer songs like “Walk with me in Hell” and the first video single “Redneck”. Lamb of God now using more melody in those guitar lead along with those catchy crushing riffs and what I hear getting some more influence from classic thrash by Testament and Exodus. Still another band that needs the singer to utilize some better vocal techniques.

Megadeth headline year two of Gigantour and apparently the last according to mainman Mustane ? This thing is only two years old and Dave's calling it a day, as far as headlining, already even with a new album slated for 2007?

The lineup remains the same from last year with Glen and Shawn Drover on guitar and drums respectively now joined on bass by James Lomenzo (formerly of White Lion). Dave continues to surround himself with nothing but the best musicians who play the Megadeth catalogue to the T. The setlist was a tad different than last year adding in two of my favorites “Devil's Island” and “Take No Prisoners”, removing “The Scorpion”, along with adding a new song from the forth coming album "United Abominations" called “Wa shin gton's Next” which sounds pretty in line with classic Deth even more so than last years “The System Has Failed" which was an attempt at getting back on track to the thrash. Glad to hear that. The stage show was the same as last year rather straight forward that did include some moments of pyro. I am very anxious to hear this new album because the lineup behind it is very good and if you doubt what type of effect the Drover brother's could have check out their baby named Eidolon and the newest album “The Parallel Otherworld”. .