|
Okay, I'll admit it. I've
never really been a big fan of Megadeth. I mean, I heard more of Metallica than Megadeth back in my
youth, and those who know metal would definitely know about the historical, nay, epic dispute
between the two bands.
But politics aside, if you weren't at Fort Canning last Friday for Megadeth, you missed one
hell of a show.
HOOKED arrived just in time to
hear Megadeth in the midst a sound-check, much to our joy, but alas, only their
sound technicians were visible on stage.
Barely ten minutes after
most of the crowd was let in, the solemn intro from ‘Sleepwalker' cut through
the speakers, driving the hysteria of the crowd to near-fever pitch.
Thankfully, there was no
opening band. They might have been bottled off if there was. For the most part,
the show went steadily, almost non-stop, which was obviously to the delight of
the fans.
It might be surprising to
some that frontman Dave Mustaine rarely addressed the crowd. Oh, sure, he said
a few short words about how he liked being in Singapore, and all that jazz, but
there was never really much interaction between him and the audience.
Right before the encore,
almost two hours later, while introducing his band-mates, Mustaine offers an
explanation: he never talked much during shows since he thought that people
were paying to see them perform, not to make idle talk.
In all honesty, I'm
seconding his sentiment. Performing artists often waste a good amount of time
to try and break the ice, or get the crowd to sing along to an entire verse. I
mean, come on, we came to the concert to see them perform, not hear a thousand voices go offkey on a chorus. Mustaine,
however, only lets this happen once, during "A Tout Le Monde", and IMMEDIATELY
repeats the verse that we were "allowed" to sing.
Everyone knows that mosh
pits at metal gigs get rather crazy, so this journalist had initially planned
to stay out of this one. During the opening songs, I kept a good distance from
the mosh pit, where these huge people, all muscle and shoes, were kicking and
flailing their arms (and fists) about.
But when the band tore
through "Hangar 18", which features a killer guitar solo, I was slowly drawn
towards the pit like moth to flame. By the time "Tornado of Souls" rolled
around, I threw myself headfirst into the mosh pit, and felt like a teenager
all over again.
 Not even three minutes in
the pit, I had already acquired my first injury: a bleeding pinky toe, courtesy
of someone landing heavily on my left foot. During "Symphony of Destruction",
there was a vicious shove in the ribs (bruised the next morning), and I almost
lost my sandal when during "Holy Wars".
Yes, hazards of the job. Why
do you ask?
Honestly, though, it was
pretty fun, and the moshers, though seemingly dangerous at first, were great
company. Whenever someone lost his footing in the crush, several others closest
to him would cover him and help him to get up.
Of course, the 'victim' is
usually grinning away despite his injuries, because really, who cares about
scrapes and scratches when Dave Mustaine is twenty feet away?
To their credit, Megadeth
played consistently for almost two full hours, with only a few 2-minute breaks
(I counted three) in between. Most of the crowd were men in their mid-thirties
who knew the lyrics to almost every old-school Megadeth song - testament to the
band's longstanding reign over the metal scene.
It's fitting, then, that I
happen to overhear some of these guys, halfway through the concert, huffing and
puffing, "You can't lie to your age, you can't". HOOKED
Pictures by Fiona Chua
|
Metalli-who?
Written by Denosha on 2007-10-30 19:59:42
Who gives a crap about Metallica? Ever since the Black Album they've basically sold out on their roots. Sure Megadeth tried to mellow with Risk and The World Needs a Hero but man, they are BACK!
I was at the concert too and they really kicked ass! |
|
