Another night with yet another epic metal adventure. This evening, it was for the all-time legends Megadeth at Place Bell, bringing along two headliners who packed the seats up to the rafters. It was a night where the weather was finally starting to balance out, peaking at a comfortable twenty-seven degrees. As we arrived at the venue, late thanks to the dreaded STM, there were some tailgating parties happening in the distance.
Most people were already in their seats, checking out ONI, the first act of the night. I was able to hear most of the set; they were quite loud as I slowly made my way through the venue, past the insane line for merch. When I arrived at my row, I sat wherever I could just to check out the last few songs. Hailing from Ontario, this progressive metalcore band had clearly captured the audience’s attention quickly. What I walked into was fans cheering loudly as singer Jake Oni encouraged more movement from the pit. The set finished up with one of their most well-known songs, “The Only Cure,” a song featuring Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, with an extremely visual Saw-inspired theme. Finding out that I had missed most of it was disappointing. They had apparently started the set with two new tracks off the next album. I hope to catch them again next time they visit.
Next up were the Welsh boys in Bullet For My Valentine. I remember the first time I saw them was way back in 2006 at Warped Tour. They were good but not my cup of tea at the time. They’ve come a long way opening for Megadeth. After a couple of years of no Rockfest or Heavy Mtl, it was the band’s first time back in seven years. The fans were all ready from the first note as the pit opened up. All ages and styles of moshing were happening. The crowd surfers were flying over the barrier, and with more restrictions this evening, they had Xs drawn on their hands. I would have assumed it’s “three strikes, you’re out.”
They played a variety of old and new tracks, but mostly what the crowd wanted to hear. In the short time you have as an opener, you have to be selective with material. At some point during “Shatter,” the audience was singing in unison along with the band. With the seats I had right next to the stage, I could see the extra emotional moments between bandmates. Nothing is better than a room full of feedback when you are not even the main band. It was a hard-hitting, fast-paced set.
One-fourth of the “Big Four” of American thrash metal, Megadeth, alongside Anthrax, is really all that remains of those days. Slayer retired, and Metallica is still putting out terrible music – “72 Seasons” being no exception to that rule. While Dave Mustaine seems to have cooled his jets when it comes to his former bandmates in Metallica, he and Megadeth certainly are still firing on all cylinders. And tonight was proof of that. Playing a lot of older material, tonight Megadeth showed they still have it as they pumped out the classic cuts in perfectly executed slabs. From “Symphony Of Destruction” and “Sweating Bullets” to “Holy Wars,” having started the set off with the phenomenal “Hangar 18.” Each note was flawless. Being as we are in Laval, in Quebec, where a large portion of the population is Francophone, a tune such as “A Toute Le Monde” is always going to get a strong reaction. However, tonight, the reaction was more incredible than in previous times. The passion with which the crowd sang was exhilarating.
As always, Megadeth was fantastic, and dare I say, better than the last few times I have seen them. While Metallica continues to regress, Megadeth is still firing on all cylinders. It’s funny how for years Mustaine was salty about how he was ejected from Metallica, yet he is now lightyears beyond them. Sometimes hardships are the best things that could have happened to us; it just takes time for us to realize it.
Review – Sam Morris
Photos – Kieron Yates
