Megadeth >>>>>> Slayer (or, Shayne Has Opinions)
Short Version
Dear Dave Mustaine and co.
Brilliant set, lads. You haven't lost it at all, Dave. At least, not live.
A++++ WOULD SHELL OUT EXORBITANT FEE AGAIN
Sincerely, Me
Dear Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo,
You owe me $45.
Sincerely, Me
Long Version
Tonight I went to Festy (Festival) Hall to see the big double-billed Megadeth/Slayer concert. It's the first time I've seen either band in concert so I was just a little bit eager.
My mate Simon and I were late (actually, it was just Simon who made us late...) so we missed the first bit of 'Deth's set. But we came in during one of my favourite numbers, "Wake Up Dead", and soon I was happily banging my head in the nosebleed section (we were at the very side in the stands, but surprisingly had a good view). Security was over-zealous as usual, so we were told we couldn't sit on the backs of the seats so we could see better...but apart from that everything was okay.
For one second I thought that it was all going to go pear-shaped when Dave Mustaine finished a number and promptly announced that they were going to stop playing until they'd sorted out the "fucking feedback" problems. I had noticed a bit of ringing but had assumed it was my ears due to the volume. So for five or so minutes there was no music, and I could feel people starting to get restless (the pit was churning uneasily from where I could see; glad I wasn't in it, really) until Dave came back on and said something to the effect of "thanks for waiting. We've come all this way to play and we didn't want you to hear that shit. You're too important for that." That attitude actually impressed me a fair bit. It's a pity Slayer didn't show us the same courtesy...but I digress.
'Deth went through most of my favourite tracks - Rust In Peace of course featured prominently (as it damn well should), the one song from Cryptic Writings was actually very well done, and even the new track "Headcrusher" went down well. But during "In My Darkest Hour" was easily my top moment in that concert. I couldn't believe the sincerity and the passion in the performance. I know that the song is personal to him, but after so many years of singing it, you'd think he'd be over the bitterness by now. Nope... They were tight as hell, pulled off everything flawlessly, and, most of all, they FUCKING THRAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHED (yeah, a few of you might have received that SMS. Sorry about that! I was pretty stoked by then). When they exited, it was obvious that they'd had a damned good time. My neck was a little sensitive, so it's obvious that it got a damned good workout.
However, then Slayer had to come on and ruin everything.
I got my first inkling that it was going to be a bad set when the roadie was testing Lombardo's drum kit. The bass drum was LOUD. And I mean loud in a bad way. It reverberated so shockingly that I looked at Simon and pretty much said "we'd better say goodbye to our hearing for a few days" (we'd both forgotten our earplugs). However, I was still pretty hyped up, especially when the smoke machine belched out enough fog to convincingly portray Hell (complete with eerie red lighting). Then they came on, and with the first flurry of notes it was obvious that this was going to be a Little Bit Shit. The guitars were clipping quite badly, the drums were so overpowering that during the fast tempos the whole thing became a wall of white noise, and, surprise surprise, you could hardly hear Tom Araya.
Now, the reason for the particularly bad mix was that we were in a shit position - apparently it was better on the floor and even at the back of the hall in the stands. But the reason that you couldn't hear Araya was that he had a sore throat. A shocking one. At the end of the first song (I can't even remember which one they started with, I was that amazed at the crapness) he basically choked out into the mike that his voice was "really fucked" and that he wouldn't be doing much singing. Not that he "sings" in the first place, but still...
We were then treated to over an hour of pretty much Instrumental Slayer. Which Does. Not. Work. Seriously, while their songs generally have testicle-crushing riffs, they're not the kind of riffs which you can play in isolation with no vocals. ESPECIALLY when the mix is so terrible that you can barely distinguish muted power chords from a buzzing wall of white noise. And where we were sitting, we could hear when Hanneman performed a "solo" (most of the time he appeared to dive bomb and play atonal shit...oh wait they do that all the time. Oh well), but when King did his I Can Play Random Notes At A Million Miles An Hour thing...we couldn't hear a fucking thing. I didn't know they panned at concerts...and, apart from Lombardo (who was an absolute machine, even though he was too damned loud), they were sloppy as fuck. After hearing Megadeth's tighter-than-a-duck's-arsehole performance, it was a real let down.
But that wasn't the end of the comedy hour. Oh no.
As you metalheads will know, there is a running joke about Slayer that Tom Araya doesn't actually play any bass - he just pretends to. Tonight, I think there was pretty good evidence for it. Araya would randomly stop playing (not at a logical place like at the end of a phrase, but right in the middle of a riff section) and YOU COULD NOT TELL. That's right, no drop in low end whatsoever. I don't think he was even plugged in. Of course, it's possible that the terrible mix just drowned out any bass. Maybe.
And then, to top it all off, we had Karaoke Slayer. They brought out no fewer than three roadies onstage to perform vocals on various numbers. One was "Angel of Death", and I can't remember the other two. Sure, the roadies did a fair job generally (not that it'd be hard to imitate Araya) but, seriously guys, if you knew he couldn't sing, why didn't you get someone in to do the entire set for fuck's sake??? I didn't shell out cash to see fucking roadies have 5 minutes of fame...
It wasn't all bad. Even through the abysmal sound, they found their groove sometimes. "Dead Skin Mask" was excellently done. A few snatches of brilliance were heard here and there...but I can't remember them very well due to the overwhelming pile of steaming manure that comprised the rest of the set.
Most telling? The drummer of Lord Mouth, J, who has one of the biggest boners for Slayer that I've ever seen (well, not literally, of course)...well, he texted me and told me that he'd left mid set. He was that unimpressed. You know that when a hardcore fan of Slayer is pissed off enough to leave a gig early, that it's not just your imagination telling you that the gig is shit.
At the end, it was obvious that they couldn't wait to get the hell off the stage. No encores, no bows to the crowd, nothing. Araya just stumbled to the mike (akin to how he'd been stumbling around onstage for the entire set), croaked out an unconvincing "thanks" and then dejectedly left the stage.
Most of the time during the set, Simon and I were looking at each other and pissing ourselves laughing. What else could you do, really? It's only now that I'm thinking about it that I'm getting shitty.
And at the end of the gig, outside, all the scenester kiddies in their skintight jeans with I've-Just-Taken-A-Dump bulge in the backs were going on about how the pit was "fucking awesome, man" and that Slayer Fucking Rocked. No, you stupid little cunts, They Did Not. Just because you blew your teenaged wads in your pants at the SHEEEEAAAAR BR0000TALITY of it all, it doesn't mean they were any good.
Grrr....
So yes, I would see Megadeth again. In a heartbeat. Slayer? Never again. One gig was enough, thanks.
Dear Dave Mustaine and co.
Brilliant set, lads. You haven't lost it at all, Dave. At least, not live.
A++++ WOULD SHELL OUT EXORBITANT FEE AGAIN
Sincerely, Me
Dear Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo,
You owe me $45.
Sincerely, Me
Long Version
Tonight I went to Festy (Festival) Hall to see the big double-billed Megadeth/Slayer concert. It's the first time I've seen either band in concert so I was just a little bit eager.
My mate Simon and I were late (actually, it was just Simon who made us late...) so we missed the first bit of 'Deth's set. But we came in during one of my favourite numbers, "Wake Up Dead", and soon I was happily banging my head in the nosebleed section (we were at the very side in the stands, but surprisingly had a good view). Security was over-zealous as usual, so we were told we couldn't sit on the backs of the seats so we could see better...but apart from that everything was okay.
For one second I thought that it was all going to go pear-shaped when Dave Mustaine finished a number and promptly announced that they were going to stop playing until they'd sorted out the "fucking feedback" problems. I had noticed a bit of ringing but had assumed it was my ears due to the volume. So for five or so minutes there was no music, and I could feel people starting to get restless (the pit was churning uneasily from where I could see; glad I wasn't in it, really) until Dave came back on and said something to the effect of "thanks for waiting. We've come all this way to play and we didn't want you to hear that shit. You're too important for that." That attitude actually impressed me a fair bit. It's a pity Slayer didn't show us the same courtesy...but I digress.
'Deth went through most of my favourite tracks - Rust In Peace of course featured prominently (as it damn well should), the one song from Cryptic Writings was actually very well done, and even the new track "Headcrusher" went down well. But during "In My Darkest Hour" was easily my top moment in that concert. I couldn't believe the sincerity and the passion in the performance. I know that the song is personal to him, but after so many years of singing it, you'd think he'd be over the bitterness by now. Nope... They were tight as hell, pulled off everything flawlessly, and, most of all, they FUCKING THRAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHED (yeah, a few of you might have received that SMS. Sorry about that! I was pretty stoked by then). When they exited, it was obvious that they'd had a damned good time. My neck was a little sensitive, so it's obvious that it got a damned good workout.
However, then Slayer had to come on and ruin everything.
I got my first inkling that it was going to be a bad set when the roadie was testing Lombardo's drum kit. The bass drum was LOUD. And I mean loud in a bad way. It reverberated so shockingly that I looked at Simon and pretty much said "we'd better say goodbye to our hearing for a few days" (we'd both forgotten our earplugs). However, I was still pretty hyped up, especially when the smoke machine belched out enough fog to convincingly portray Hell (complete with eerie red lighting). Then they came on, and with the first flurry of notes it was obvious that this was going to be a Little Bit Shit. The guitars were clipping quite badly, the drums were so overpowering that during the fast tempos the whole thing became a wall of white noise, and, surprise surprise, you could hardly hear Tom Araya.
Now, the reason for the particularly bad mix was that we were in a shit position - apparently it was better on the floor and even at the back of the hall in the stands. But the reason that you couldn't hear Araya was that he had a sore throat. A shocking one. At the end of the first song (I can't even remember which one they started with, I was that amazed at the crapness) he basically choked out into the mike that his voice was "really fucked" and that he wouldn't be doing much singing. Not that he "sings" in the first place, but still...
We were then treated to over an hour of pretty much Instrumental Slayer. Which Does. Not. Work. Seriously, while their songs generally have testicle-crushing riffs, they're not the kind of riffs which you can play in isolation with no vocals. ESPECIALLY when the mix is so terrible that you can barely distinguish muted power chords from a buzzing wall of white noise. And where we were sitting, we could hear when Hanneman performed a "solo" (most of the time he appeared to dive bomb and play atonal shit...oh wait they do that all the time. Oh well), but when King did his I Can Play Random Notes At A Million Miles An Hour thing...we couldn't hear a fucking thing. I didn't know they panned at concerts...and, apart from Lombardo (who was an absolute machine, even though he was too damned loud), they were sloppy as fuck. After hearing Megadeth's tighter-than-a-duck's-arsehole performance, it was a real let down.
But that wasn't the end of the comedy hour. Oh no.
As you metalheads will know, there is a running joke about Slayer that Tom Araya doesn't actually play any bass - he just pretends to. Tonight, I think there was pretty good evidence for it. Araya would randomly stop playing (not at a logical place like at the end of a phrase, but right in the middle of a riff section) and YOU COULD NOT TELL. That's right, no drop in low end whatsoever. I don't think he was even plugged in. Of course, it's possible that the terrible mix just drowned out any bass. Maybe.
And then, to top it all off, we had Karaoke Slayer. They brought out no fewer than three roadies onstage to perform vocals on various numbers. One was "Angel of Death", and I can't remember the other two. Sure, the roadies did a fair job generally (not that it'd be hard to imitate Araya) but, seriously guys, if you knew he couldn't sing, why didn't you get someone in to do the entire set for fuck's sake??? I didn't shell out cash to see fucking roadies have 5 minutes of fame...
It wasn't all bad. Even through the abysmal sound, they found their groove sometimes. "Dead Skin Mask" was excellently done. A few snatches of brilliance were heard here and there...but I can't remember them very well due to the overwhelming pile of steaming manure that comprised the rest of the set.
Most telling? The drummer of Lord Mouth, J, who has one of the biggest boners for Slayer that I've ever seen (well, not literally, of course)...well, he texted me and told me that he'd left mid set. He was that unimpressed. You know that when a hardcore fan of Slayer is pissed off enough to leave a gig early, that it's not just your imagination telling you that the gig is shit.
At the end, it was obvious that they couldn't wait to get the hell off the stage. No encores, no bows to the crowd, nothing. Araya just stumbled to the mike (akin to how he'd been stumbling around onstage for the entire set), croaked out an unconvincing "thanks" and then dejectedly left the stage.
Most of the time during the set, Simon and I were looking at each other and pissing ourselves laughing. What else could you do, really? It's only now that I'm thinking about it that I'm getting shitty.
And at the end of the gig, outside, all the scenester kiddies in their skintight jeans with I've-Just-Taken-A-Dump bulge in the backs were going on about how the pit was "fucking awesome, man" and that Slayer Fucking Rocked. No, you stupid little cunts, They Did Not. Just because you blew your teenaged wads in your pants at the SHEEEEAAAAR BR0000TALITY of it all, it doesn't mean they were any good.
Grrr....
So yes, I would see Megadeth again. In a heartbeat. Slayer? Never again. One gig was enough, thanks.