Megadeth, explained Smash Hits helpfully, is the name given to a body count of a million after a nuclear war.
It was January 1990, and Megadeth had broken into the UK Top 40 for the first with a cover of Alice Cooper’s ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy.’ (Much better than their rather poor cover of the Sex Pistols‘ ‘Anarchy In The UK‘). There was something gently parent-baiting not only about that song, but the fact that they had album titles like Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good. Yet it’s taken until tonight, when my son begged me to come for me to actually see the band live, perhaps surprisingly as a support act.
…and that’s considering the band are about to release their seventeenth and supposedly final album, Megadeth, due this coming January. It may be cold in Glasgow, but the venue’s busy, both inside and out (there’s an (understandable) protest underway about the headliners, so security is pretty tight). We take our seats up in the gods with minutes to spare.
Megadeth (for those who haven’t been paying attention) are revered as one of the big four titans of thrash metal, the others being Slayer, Anthrax and lead singer Dave Mustaine’s former band Metallica. The line-up of the band has changed over the years, and currently also comprises bassist James LoMenzo, drummer Dirk Verbeuren and guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari. Some may dismiss thrash as simply style over substance; more fool them.
The band hit the stage running, so to speak, and we get a career-spanning, eleven song set. Opening with ‘Skin O’ My Teeth‘ and ‘Dread And The Fugitive Mind‘ it’s fair to say that they barely pause for breath. Not that they don’t put on a show; far from it. It’s the last night of the tour and this is a well-oiled machine that is spectacularly well put together, mesmerising to watch, and with no special gimmicks other than band mascot Vic Rattlehead coming on stage. Otherwise it’s the sight and sound of a metal band in full flight. Hundreds of feet below us the moshers and crowd-surfers are having a whale of a time, and those of us far away cannot fail to be enticed into the maelstrom of sound.
We are treated to the likes of ‘Sweating Bullets‘ and ‘Dystopia‘ and then Mr. Mustaine finally pauses to speak to his public. “How many of you are here for your first Megadeth concert?” he politely enquires, far more in the tones of a friendly uncle than a metal God. Quite a few of us, it turns out. Forty years plus of playing have shown that audiences may not go for too much new material so we get the very promising ‘Tipping Point‘ from the new record, before another lot of classics including ‘Symphony Of Destruction‘ and the closing ‘Holy Wars…The Punishment Due.’
The band go off to the Sid Vicious’ reading (or should that be mauling?) of Sinatra’s ‘My Way.’ On the evidence of tonight, their final headline tour should be the band going out on a spectacular high. Will they appeal to people who don’t enjoy metal? Unlikely, but with those with ears to hear and listen without prejudice, there’s so much to enjoy. If you haven’t yet got round to seeing them, make sure you do.
