Megadeth

Live at Ozzfest

San Bernardino, CA

September 24th, 2016

Review and photos by Travis Baumann

For many years now I have been a fan of Megadeth, having listened to their seminal album, "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" in junior high. Finally, after several decades, I am getting to see them live.

Last year brought about their epic release "Dystopia" which blew me away upon first listening. I still can not stop listening.  Not to diminish their previous work in any way, but this album is simply awesome and in my opinion the best thing they have ever done.

I missed them when they played in Los Angeles earlier in the year and majorly regretted it, so these guys were one of the driving forces behind me buying tickets for Ozzfest this year (that and seeing Black Sabbath's final West Coast show).

I think most the world knows about Megadeth but just in case you have been under a rock for a period of time, Megadeth formed in 1983 by Dave Mustaine as lead singer and guitarist and his long time compatriot, David Ellefson who plays bass. They are one of the driving innovators of Thrash Metal and have a unique sound, especially vocally, from their fellow thrashers.

Mustaine is a legendary guitarist but also a great singer and lyricist as the new album shows his abilities in the best way possible. The subject matter of the songs could not be more on point with the plight of both the country and world at large.

It was a blazing hot weekend in the mountainous desert location of the festival and everyone was amped and ready when Megadeth took the stage. Joining Dave and David on stage were Kiko Loureiro on second guitar and recent recruit, Dirk Verbeuren on drums.

They had an impressive stage setup with huge futuristic industrial installations along the back of the stage with the drum set up on top of these in the center. Screens ran along the installations and played cybernetic images that corresponded to the songs.

They opened the set with "Hangar 18" from their formative album, "Rust in Peace". The crowd went crazy with an immediate circle pit breaking out and crowd surfers flowing over the barricade onto those of us fortunate enough to be in the photo pit.

Up next was "The Threat Is Real" off the latest album and it was awesome live. I was singing along with just about everyone else present. This song is especially relevant with the potential threats that are being realized across the globe with the world in it's current state.

They went back to some old fan favorite goodness with "Tornado of Souls" and "Wake Up Dead", two of their major hits from back in the day. These two were followed up with "In My Darkest Hour".

They played the intricate and weaving instrumental, "Conquer Or Die!" off of "Dystopia" before leading into another awesome new song, "Fatal Illusion".

The new album is very much about the state of the world, America's place in it, and how fools are leading the world to its destruction. This song, however, while touching on some of this in terms of those broken by their societal upbringing, also plays out like a horror movie in many ways and while certainly not light hearted, it is a bit more for entertainment's sake.

Jumping back in time for another fan favorite, mine included, they did "Sweating Bullets" which features some great lyrics ("Hello me, meet the real me") and a chorus that will stick with you for days.

"Trust" was up next followed by perhaps my favorite song of the set, the title track off of "Dystopia". David Ellefson singing back up vocals with Kiko in unison with Dave's voice was really cool on songs like this one.

At two points their mascot, Vic Rattlehead, came out on the stage. He was dressed in his more cybernetic guise from the latest release. He walked across the stage pointing at audience members and then drawing his finger across his throat.

We were getting late in the set but you knew there were some old favorites still coming. The crowd went crazy when they played the opening to "Symphony of Destruction".

Many fans old and new were waiting for the next one, "Peace Sells". It was so cool to finally see this live after listening to it for so many years. I thought this would have been the final song but Dave said they had time for one more.

He told a little story about how he was visiting Ireland and was talking to some of the locals about the situation between the different Christian faiths fighting one another. Dave said he was quite inspired by their story and ended up drinking quite a bit with them. He saw David Ellefson the next day who commented that was a crazy night.

Dave said he didn't remember what happened but apparently they were taken back to their hotel in a bullet proof bus because of some of the stuff Dave ended up saying that night. This inspired him to write a song the next day: "Holy Wars...The Punishment is Due".

It was really an awesome set. They did so many old favorites that I wanted to hear live yet still fit in enough great songs off the new album that I was really happy. I literally could have just had them do the new album straight through though, it's that good.

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