It felt strange attending a gig where I wasn’t strapped with a camera bag on my back and a heavy camera around my neck! But tonight, I was here merely as a spectator and a fan – even though it would have been a blast photographing a couple of bands I have been listening to since their inception(!)
A few years ago, I caught Megadeth on their Australian Gigantour shows at this very venue, Festival Hall. It was a blistering set from the band and an absolutely classic gig. Check out our archives for a full review.
Tonight, the band was plagued by sound problems and after the third song, stormed off the stage to Mustaine’s disgust. They returned about 10 minutes later when the source of the sound problems had been sorted.
To be honest, they weren’t anything special tonight. No where near as powerful and magnificent as the last time I saw them and in the end, it was all pretty standard fare from Megadeth.
And then there was Slayer.
I knew we were about to have our brains melted when I saw the stacks of Marshall amps, three stacks high and about 8-10 long. Insanity!
And I was right. This was the most painfully loud gig I have ever experienced. In fact, it was just way too loud. Yeah, yeah, “too loud, too old” – fuck you, I’ve seen Motorhead – who probably left me with permanent ear damage back in the early 80′s. Well this was louder. Much louder.
Unfortunately, Tom Araya had pretty much lost his voice so we were left with just instrumental versions of Slayer classics and the occasional fan from the audience providing lead vocals. Kudos to the band for soldiering on, as it was MAGNIFICENT seeing the sublime Dave Lombardo show why he is one of the finest drummers out there today – but in the end, I felt a little disappointed that we got this limited show.
All in all, what could have been a classic performance end up being just average.
