Download Festival 2005: Megadeth - 10th June 2005
Setlist: Blackmail the Universe / Set the World Afire / Skin O’ My Teeth / The Scorpion / Wake Up Dead / In My Darkest Hour / She-Wolf / Die Dead Enough / Trust / Symphony of Destruction / Holy Wars
As I wrote in my review of Megadeth’s Manchester gig in February, I knew virtually nothing about this band before the beginning of this year. In fact, I had studiously avoided them over the years, having created an impression of them in my mind that I now know to be total bollocks. My loss. I realised my mistake and now I must live with my years of Megadethlessness.
As I wrote in my review of Megadeth’s Manchester gig in February, I knew virtually nothing about this band before the beginning of this year. In fact, I had studiously avoided them over the years, having created an impression of them in my mind that I now know to be total bollocks. My loss. I realised my mistake and now I must live with my years of Megadethlessness.
The weather was scorching on Friday and I could feel myself burning as I bid farewell to my daughters, who wanted to get closer to the stage for St. Mustaine’s performance. For myself, I have had enough of being close to the mains stage at a major rock festival. I have neither the energy, nor the inclination, to be jostled, bumped, pushed, shoved and generally manhandled by the enthusiastic jumping around and close-quarters head-banging of the young, stoned and sweaty. So, I found myself a nice bit of space about half a mile away from the stage and elected to make full use of the 6x optical zoom on my camera. Of course, I would love to be able to take some nice close up pics from a gig like this, but without a press pass, it really is not worth the effort. Next time (if I have recovered by then) I will either invest in a telephoto lens, or blag a press pass!
Having been bowled over by their recent UK tour, I was looking forward to this set as much, if not more, than any other during the weekend. From the moment the leader tape announced that Airforce One had been shot down, I knew that I would not be disappointed and, as Blackmail the Universe laid waste to Donington, it was obvious that they were intent on taking no prisoners. They powered through a well-balanced set of oldies and newies, not stopping, or speaking, between the songs until after the awesome Die Dead Enough. This was just balls-to-the-wall, heads-down, shake-that-dandruff-out, heavy metal excellence; it doesn’t get any better than this.
Having been bowled over by their recent UK tour, I was looking forward to this set as much, if not more, than any other during the weekend. From the moment the leader tape announced that Airforce One had been shot down, I knew that I would not be disappointed and, as Blackmail the Universe laid waste to Donington, it was obvious that they were intent on taking no prisoners. They powered through a well-balanced set of oldies and newies, not stopping, or speaking, between the songs until after the awesome Die Dead Enough. This was just balls-to-the-wall, heads-down, shake-that-dandruff-out, heavy metal excellence; it doesn’t get any better than this.
Now, having surfed the InterWeb and checked out a couple of discussion forums, this lack of communication has been interpreted in two distinctly different ways. Firstly, there is the camp that believes that Mustaine was grumpy and in a bad mood. Secondly, and this is the one that I subscribe to, as Dave said, they were tight on time and just wanted to cram in as much material as possible. Certainly, to my eyes and ears, there was no impression of anything other than playing a lot of songs in a short time. None of the songs they played were shortened, but they did play them at a hell of a pace; indeed, they ran through their entire 11-song set in just over 50 minutes, and these are not short songs! Personally, I’m surprised they didn’t play Crush ‘em. I would have loved to have heard the sizeable Donington choir shouting that out at the top of their voices; but I’m not going to complain about what they did play.
Having seen Megadeth twice now, and Metallica once, it is 2-0 to the former. In terms of putting on a show for the fans, Megadeth is untouchable, whilst Metallica has a long way to go to even begin catching up. For me, Megadeth was the band of the weekend and should have headlined the Friday but, I can’t for the life of me, understand why they were beneath Garbage and Feeder on the bill; perhaps the person who drew up the schedule is a Metallica fan?! The biggest cheer of the entire event must go to the Megadeth audience who, on hearing Mustaine say that they would be back to play again, let out a roar of appreciation that was of an ear-splitting magnitude. And, why not? This is great news. I can’t wait for the next tour.
Having seen Megadeth twice now, and Metallica once, it is 2-0 to the former. In terms of putting on a show for the fans, Megadeth is untouchable, whilst Metallica has a long way to go to even begin catching up. For me, Megadeth was the band of the weekend and should have headlined the Friday but, I can’t for the life of me, understand why they were beneath Garbage and Feeder on the bill; perhaps the person who drew up the schedule is a Metallica fan?! The biggest cheer of the entire event must go to the Megadeth audience who, on hearing Mustaine say that they would be back to play again, let out a roar of appreciation that was of an ear-splitting magnitude. And, why not? This is great news. I can’t wait for the next tour.
St Mustaine
Following Megadeth, on the main stage is and unenviable task, and not one that I would want. Dinosaur Jr came on to an audience that was mostly leaving. Secondborn went off to the Snickers Stage to check out INME, My Chemical Romance and The Used, whilst Firstborn and I decided that nourishment was in order. So, a baked potato for herself, a bacon barm for me and two cups of coffee relieved me of the weight of almost £10 of coinage from my pocket. Although the food was expensive, in fairness, the potato was great, and the bacon was so fresh I had to wait for it to be cooked; and the coffee was good too. We wandered around for a couple of hours, taking in the scenery and enjoying the warm summer evening, mocking the ugly and strange folks we encountered along the way. As it approached 9PM, we made our way into the Snickers tent to see what Billy Idol could do.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
14th June 2005
Following Megadeth, on the main stage is and unenviable task, and not one that I would want. Dinosaur Jr came on to an audience that was mostly leaving. Secondborn went off to the Snickers Stage to check out INME, My Chemical Romance and The Used, whilst Firstborn and I decided that nourishment was in order. So, a baked potato for herself, a bacon barm for me and two cups of coffee relieved me of the weight of almost £10 of coinage from my pocket. Although the food was expensive, in fairness, the potato was great, and the bacon was so fresh I had to wait for it to be cooked; and the coffee was good too. We wandered around for a couple of hours, taking in the scenery and enjoying the warm summer evening, mocking the ugly and strange folks we encountered along the way. As it approached 9PM, we made our way into the Snickers tent to see what Billy Idol could do.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
14th June 2005