Ok so here I am, another attempt to delve into the world that is "the blog", and as nagged and pestered by my dear friend Terri I was asked to fully divulge favourite moments from a key nexus in heavy metal: GIGANTOUR!
Gigantour, to those who are unaware of the awesomeness of metal, is a giant tour (giant + tour= Gigantour). It's was the brainchild of the epic frontman Dave Mustaine, of the epic thrash metal band Megadeth. This year featured the likes of High on Fire, Job for a Cowboy, Children of Bodom, In Flames, and none other than MEGADETH!!!!! There is the knowledge blurb so onto the fun.
So i go running in with my brother at pacific colleseum and already the thundering overdrives, the pulsating basses, and the agonizingly evil screams echo through every bone in my body. High on Fire fired the starting gun to what would be likened to the Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, yes it was that important to me to include religious allusion). This band I never really listened to before, and now I can't find the songs i liked because their singer would always scream out their titles, but much like motorhead this power trio truly brought out a very well rounded performace, they didnt really come off as anything truly epic as the distortion drowned out any recognition of technical complexity, and the solos just seemed to be stuck, forever circling through the bonds of the pentatonic box (musical term here, look it up if you dont know...too lazy) the first teir to ascending the pinacle of the night has been attained.
The Arizona based Job for a Cowboy then kicked off the next set, once again a band that i never listened to much before, but a very solid set. This was a classic example of "never judge until you see em", i don't know if that applies for anyone else but I was pleasantly surprised with this group. Very balanced mix between the sheer unrelenting, savage, ear shattering riffs and technically complex solos (thinking outside the box...heh box, haha pentatonic....yeah that was bad) to equal one fine mix of what everyone in that stadium can never get enough of...METAL!
Up next came probably one of the best concert experiences i've ever had, one of the reasons why I raced to buy tickets, in all the drunken essence that is Children of Bodom. This finnish death metal act has been highly regarded as revoluntionary, a face of change, revered by many to be among the pinnacle elite of what metal has offered this world. Before though I found myself caught in the unrelenting fray of humanity, desperate to blow 40$ a pop for band shirts and other merch. I was with my friend that I met up with and I quietly nudged in to look at the shirts, just to look, then one of the guys behind the tables asked what i wanted, so i'm like eh what the hell, I'll get one of those and another of these, and oooh that autographed program with Dave Mustaine's sig emblazoned on the front looks like a good spend. Little did I know that to the barely contained laughter of my friend, I pissed off quite a bunch of people as I apparently budged in line...what they didn't notice the 10 other people that pushed their way through chanting beer!? GO SUCK ON A RAILROAD SPIKE!!
Then to my excitement I heard a pop and a scratch, that can only mean one thing, plugging in and picking up a guitar. Then a thundering boom is heard...drums. Its begun. So my eyes go wide as my friend Karsten and I both yell, "BODOM!!!!!!" So I run back to my section right away and it was only soundcheck but people are already on their feet yelling and screaming "BODOM! BODOM! BODOM! " I too was stomping and shouting like the mad man I am. Then it happened, lights went dark, and the you can hear that chunk of distortion as Alexi Laiho blasts into their epic set with "sixpounder". It was at that moment that the packed stadium truly came alive. I just didn't care anymore, I started to headbang like there was no tomorrow, screaming along to the chilling vocals ripping through every person there. Song like living dead beat, silent night bodom night, in your face, the new "blooddrunk", angels don't kill...to name a few. Each song rung out even more as the hysterical crowds became even more and more engaged, especially me as I rapidly dialed my dear "sister" Christina (whom I help convert to the ways of metal, via bodom and lamb of god and maiden, several years ago) and i screamed, "ITS BODOM!!! ITS EFFING BODOM!!! YEAAAAAARRRGH!!!!!" in which i promptly received a text along the lines of "I hate you....tell me all about it!" Well I'm doin it right now! The solos were magnificent, the technical synchronization between all the band members still astonish me at this moment (also considering that more than likely they were drunk, especially Roope). They gave it their all and they did not disappoint, especially near the end where Alexi couldn't stop praising Canada and how they love playing here, and then to end it all off they finished their set off in classic bodom fashion. Woulda been awesome if they did their classic "oops i did it again cover", or a kenny loggins song like alexi hinted in an interview about the new album, they took it to the next step; the piano played the familiar tune only to be confirmed by the grinding screams of Alexi as none other than "Don't stop believing" by Journey!!!! watch video below, does not grant a modicum of justice though as it had the whole freaking stadium laughing, clapping and singing together. If you think it couldn't have gotten better...well it did, launching into one of my fav songs: Downfall. The eerie keyboard intro, bolstered by the first riff really pushed the adrenaline rush into overdrive. Probably from that one song, all 5 minutes or so of continuous thrashed out headbanging screwed over my neck for over a week.
The next band before the grand appex of metal worship clawed at the thousands gathered was In Flames, hailing from Sweden. These guys were just awesome, I never had the chance to listen to them much, but seeing them live just blew me away. They seemed a very distinguishable cut above high on fire or job for a cowboy, in my honest opinion. What was also quite funny was the fact that the singer is an avid hockey fan, and at that precise moment team Canada was thrashing out as well, in the form of kicking sweden's ass. So he declared to the crowd that he had a current bet going on with Megadeth drummer Sean Drover, who just happens to be 100% CANADIAN!!! The bet was that if Canada wins, In flames plays a song that they haven't done for years. If Sweden won, Sean has to do a 3 minute drum solo. Lets just say that the crowd went nuts when they started playing their surprise song...take that Sweden!! One of the most powerful sights i saw was when they did a cover of a Scorpion's power ballad, slow and mellow, where almost on some ethereal signal the stadium lit up with every array of lighter and cellphone in which their vocalist only said one word, "Beautiful..."
This was also another moment where I experience the connectiveness and camaraderie when i met a guy named Morgan. He decides to drunkenly stumble into his seat after intermission when there was a seat shuffle, first reaction was,"oh crap". It turned out to be a mix of that as during this time he asks me what my name is, so I tell him and he goes, "BEER...YOUR NAME IS BEER!!!? Thats so awesome!!!" I then correct him and say Peter and he then realizes, not before eyeing off one of his cups of beer and passes it off to me saying, "well beer, or Peter, this is to metal!!!" pretty awesome eh? Well after a while he then tries to hop a barrier to get to the pit where security catches him and sends him back to his seat, but he decides to hop the seats to his, in which he promptly sends his foot into the seat in front of me, resulting in Morgan careening into a row of prepubescent punks who are panicking that they can't seem to light a joint properly, a clear example of the virtue in NOT SMOKING UP!!! Kills brain cells. The resulting tumble of 190 ish pounds of an intoxicated metalhead resulted in a slight spill of his beer, when people say spill they think on the ground, well in this regard it was a slight spill as I had the pleasant experience of trying on a new cologne...its called molson Canadian. Thats right, he decided to empty 2 cups of beer all over me, hair shirt, jeans...soaked. Almost immediately he apologizes and I merely thanked him for the warning he gave earlier, and in all his outward generousity he said, "Dude so sorry, My policy for whenever i do S*** like that, is I owe that person a beer!!!" I politely declined and I said it was ok in which he then started to complement me saying I'm a good guy and then we had a round of high fives go around several of us as we said, "ALL FOR METAL!!"
Flames finished their set and then it began, the anxious 20 min countdown to extinction. If you don't understand that, it's the name to one of Megadeth's albums. The crowd was going freakin insane, chanting Megadeth over and over. The speakers were blasting songs as well where everyone was singing along to, such as Maiden's "Run to the hills", perhaps a portent to what will take place in the weeks to come, Iron Maiden's first show in over 8 years in Vancouver, tomorrow!!!
Then the lights dimmed, yet the thundering summons of the 15,000 screaming followers did not dwindle. Then you can hear it, the beginning riff of "sleepwalker". Lights start flashing yet the stage is shrouded and when the climax of the intro riff peaks the shroud fell, revealing one of my idols, a pioneer in heavy metal: DAVE MUSTAINE. He was standing alone in all his glory, in his classic pose, head bobbing as he ripped into the distorted verse as his fingers danced along that fretboard. Then and there, the place exploded!! James Lomenzo, and new guitarist Chris Broderick accompanied Dave as they wove between spots on the stage. I was on my feet the whole time yelling and flashing the devil horns, shaking my head like a mad man. Each song was a testament to the true technical skills, and sheer creativity that still makes Megadeth stand out to this day!! Dave's solos were perfect, executed with such precision that many would only hear in the studio, but to Dave, the stage is the studio!! Song after unrelenting song drove me and the whole crowd into a state of frenzy; Hangar 18, Skin o' my teeth, sweating bullets, trust, the touching "toute le monde" which Dave dedicated to the life of the girl shot in Montreal at Dawson College in 2006, the Cliff Burton dedicated song "in my darkest hour", Tornado of souls, Wake up Dead, Symphony of Destuction, Kick the Chair, Washington is next, Burnt Ice. I noticed a return of the old Dave Mustaine, he'd actually talk to the crowd. One funny one was when he was talking about an interview where they kept talking about his sobriety, in which he goes "yeah I'm sober but its not like I think its a bad thing, cmon I had a bloody glass of wine before I came on!!" and his talk before going into burnt ice ( a song about his addiction with meth) about how nobody should go down that path, see he's responsible!!! The set finally came to its climax with the song "Peace Sells" as I was chanting out the lyrics I saw several groups jump up on stage, it was all the other bands!!! Funniest sight was when I saw Alexi jump out and kick around while he played air guitar beside Dave, utterly hilarious and otherwise unforgettable. When I thought it was all over as they walked off, Dave comes running back on only to launch into the one song I was yearning for them to play. The isolated riff signaled the beginning of one of their iconic songs, "Holy wars...the punishment due!" If i thought my voice was shot at that point I must have found my second wind as I joined the final tumultuous chorus of metal!!
Well thats pretty much that night in a nutshell, although to fully describe the awesomeness of that day...I think I might be needing a few more nutshells. Well until the next time, which shall be soon. IRON MAIDEN TOMORROW!!!!
UP THE IRONS!!!
