The Forecast in Toronto called for rain and cold for the Megadeth, Lamb of God fronted event. Thousands of metal fans packed into the Budweiser stages, filling the lawn and readied for a cold soggy moshfest… Then the metal gods smiled down and instead of rain, unleashed a concussive barrage of  epic metal for a 5hr onslaught with the flames from the stage warming the mosh pit of fans that came to celebrate the Metal Tour of the Year.

Before the skies could begin to darken In Flames took the stage.  The Swedish band fronted by Anders Fridén lit into their 8-song set.  Björn Gelotte grinding out their classic hits “Cloud Connected” and “Take This Life” as well as newer songs like “Call My Name” of their 2019 release I, The Mask. They revved up the motor of the audience, priming them for what was to come.

Trivium was up next.  I always love when you see a band enjoying themselves on stage. The grind of night after night, playing the same songs gets to many artists but the guys in Trivium were having a blast and pulled the audience into their great energy. Matt Heaffy powered into “In the Court of the Dragon” riling up the crowd. From reports Matt wasn’t at 100% and "Throes of Perdition" and "Feast of Fire" were replaced from their normal setlist with "Strife" and "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" due to Matt being sick.  He powered through the set with no hint of not being at full power. Corey Beaulieu on guitar and Paolo Gregoletto on Bass traded spots on stage making sure they gave the audience a full show while Alex Bent crushed the beat on drums. A solid 7 song set, start to finish.

While Megadeth was the more seasoned headliner Lamb of God brought the firepower from the start.  Exploding onto the stage front man Randy Blythe opened the set lit ghostly behind a kabuki curtain.  From the drop the pyrotechnic lit up the now night sky and the explosions didn’t stop.  The crowd behind me was whipped into a frenzy and the moshing felt like a rushing tornado.  Mark Morton’s searing guitar was joined on the Canadian tour by Machine Head’s Phil Demmel who had previously filled in for bassist John Campbell during another stint with Lamb of God.  His form blended perfectly with the band and Campbells thundering bass was matched by Art Cruz powerful drums and their combined rhythms thrilled the crowd.  The massive 12 song set lasted over an hour and a half leaving the audience exhausted but still ready for the headliner.

Megadeth’s set was more focused on performance than visual cacophony. Dave Mustaine is always clearly the center of attention and he did not disappoint.  The new lineup has James LoMenzo back on bass after the exit of Dave Ellefson features  Kiko Loureiro on Guitar, who has been with the band since 2015 and Dirk Verbeuren on drums who joined the band in 2016. Still unclear who will be featured on the new album, but Mustaine was pumping that up all night.  Having seen Megadeth a dozen times over the years I have never seen Dave this content.  He seemed very much at peace and was having fun with the audience all night long.  The setlist was highlighted by the addition of “Angry Again” off the Black Scorpion Soundtrack which hasn’t been in their touring list for a while.  Classics like “Symphony of Destruction” and “Sweating Bullets” had the audience singing along while “The Conjuring” whipped them into a frenzy.  They close out the show with “Peace Sells” and “Holy Wars…Punishment Due” ending epic evening and sending the drained audience out into the night.  Easily one of the best metal shows start to finish in quite a while.

Setlists

LAMB OF GOD

·        Memento Mori

·        Ruin

·        Walk With Me in Hell

·        Resurrection Man

·        Now You've Got Something to Die For

·        Contractor

·        11th Hour

·        512

·        Ghost Walking

·        Vigil

·        Laid to Rest

·        Redneck

MEGADETH

·        Hangar 18

·        Dread and the Fugitive Mind

·        Angry Again

·        Conquer or Die!

·        Dystopia

·        The Conjuring

·        Sweating Bullets

·        Trust

·        A tout le monde

·        Symphony of Destruction

·        Peace Sells

·        Encore – Holy Wars… The Punishment Due