8-19-10 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena - American Carnage
At last, the tour I had been waiting for since last November had finally arrived. After getting off of work and braving rush hour traffic for half of the drive there, I arrived at the Joe Louis Arena parking garage a little before 6, headed down the tunnel, and got it line for doors, which were slated to open at 6. Some people were selling American Carnage bootleg shirts at either $15 or $20 (Don't remember exactly how much) while we were all waiting. I can't speak for the quality of the shirt, as I didn't buy one, but the design was pretty cool, especially on the back. All three bands were featured on it, something the official shirts lack, so if you're looking for a tour shirt and not a Megadeth or Slayer shirt, pick this one up, it's the best you're going to get. They took their sweet time opening doors, but once they did, the line moved quickly and I was in within minutes. Before heading down to the floor, I checked out the official merch. Nothing incredibly special caught my eye on Slayer's side; there was one with the Seasons In The Abyss cover on it, but no dates or anything like that on the back turned me away from that. The Megadeth shirts weren't all that great either, but there were a few designs I liked, including some Endgame and The Right To Go Insane designs. I ended up getting the Rust In Peace anniversary shirt with the cities listed on the bottom for $35. My Megadeth shirt finally acquired, I headed down to the floor area and claimed a spot on the rail on the left side of the stage. Even though the floor was sold out, it was fairly bare at this point, but it filled up slowly. A little before 7, the house lights went out and the thrash fest began.
Testament - Since missing out on their headlining tour in May of 2009, I had been anxiously awaiting the return of this Bay Area quintet. Besides being one of the most consistent thrash acts around, putting out solid albums time and time again despite member and style changes, they feature one of my favorite guitarists in the business, Alex Skolnick, whom I had the pleasure of seeing perform with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. And then, of course, there's Chuck Billy, a mountain of a man with a voice to match, not to mention the fact that he is a very skilled air guitarist. Right from the beginning of More Than Meets The Eye, he took complete control of the stage with his barking vocals. More Than Meets The Eye opened the set with a thrashy gallop in the verses and an easy chorus to get the crowd, which was taking its time filing in, into the show early. Right from the get-go, though, I immediately heard sound problems in their mix. Paul Bostaph's drumming, while impressive, was overpowering the dual guitar work of Skolnick and Eric Peterson, making it tougher to hear the riffs. Thankfully, Skolnick's excellent solo came through loud and clear, and their next song, Dog Faced Gods, was crushing, with Billy reverting from his high-pitched bark to a more death metal growl. It was a great contrast and an excellent way to showcase two different sides of this talented band. The set would get even better with The New Order, perhaps one of Testament's best songs. Opening with an awesome solo, the song seamlessly switches from a groovy feel into straight-up thrash riffs in the verses and chorus multiple times. By this time, the mix was a bit better, and the guitar work throughout this song was excellent, with Skolnick stealing the stage once again with a killer solo. The set would continue in this manner the whole way, with the band switching from a newer song to a deeper cut and then back again. Another highlight of the set was D.N.R. from the excellent album The Gathering, one of the fastest songs in their set with Chuck venturing into death metal territory once again with his vocals. By the time they reached their closer, The Formation of Damnation, the crowd was definitely much more engaged in the show than before, and it got even better when Chuck ordered a wall of death that put any wall at Mayhem Fest to shame. Their set was over much too quickly, and it lacked classics such as Into The Pit, Souls of Black, and Practice What You Preach, but for a 9 song set, the band did an excellent job of showcasing their ability to play songs of various thrash and death metal styles. The sound problems were there for the whole set, but they gradually improved and didn't really detract from my enjoyment of their set. I have high expectations for their next album, and I look forward to seeing them headline soon. One of the best opening acts one could ask for. 8/10
Setlist:
For The Glory Of.... More Than Meets the Eye Dog Faced Gods The New Order Trial By Fire The Persecuted Won't Forget D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate) 3 Days In Darkness The Formation Of Damnation
Megadeth - "Finally" doesn't even begin to cover it with this band. After missing their stop with Gigantour in 2008, bad luck had its way with me and prevented me from catching them on their Endgame tour with Machine Head in Grand Rapids. Then, of course, the whole business with this tour, originally scheduled for February, being moved to August due to Tom Araya's back surgery. So, needless to say, it was pretty surreal when the lights went out and the band members started to emerge one by one from the smoke. Finally, Dave Mustaine himself walked out and ripped out the intro to Holy Wars, and I knew that I was in for something great. The song packs a bigger wallop live than it does on album, which is no small feat. Dave and Chris Broderick's guitars were ringing in loud and clear from the start, and the mix would continue to be superb throughout the entire set. Dave Ellefson was on my side of the stage for most of the night, and he was always right in the crowd's face, yelling the words to the songs and constantly making an effort to keep the crowd involved, which had increased considerably since Testament got off the stage and were already moving a lot more than they did at any point during Testament's set, with the exception of the wall of death. I got a glimpse of just how good Mustaine really is early on, when he kicked off the last fast section of Holy Wars and nailed the following solo right in front of me. It was one of the many moments in the set where I realized how much I had been missing waiting to see these guys live. As a whole, Rust In Peace was superbly performed, and the band showed why it deserves to be named among the best thrash albums ever made. On CD, the album is nearly perfect by itself, but it takes on a whole new level of energy when performed live. All of the songs seemed to have a bit of extra bite to them, and it didn't hurt that Dave and Chris are two incredibly proficient guitarists. Dave's live vocals, often put under much scrutiny, were solid. Any complaints critics have about the vocals are simply exaggerated; while you won't get the vocals he had in 1990, his vocals today are good and fit the music, even when he has go high. After Holy Wars, the band impressed once again with the well-known instrumental part of Hangar 18, with Dave and Chris trying to top each other trading off solos. Other songs that stood out to me: Five Magics, featuring some of my favorite lyrics on the album sung by the tandem of the two Daves as well as various tempos and time signatures; Tornado of Souls, with some of my favorite riffs on the album, as well as my favorite solo, performed flawlessly right in front of me by Chris Broderick; the typically overlooked title track, with the awesome opening drum solo and riff, definitely should have been featured in their live catalog long before this tour. Take No Prisoners, Lucretia, and Poison Was The Cure all had their moments as well, the latter two being much better than I expected, considering they are regarded as the album's low points. Dawn Patrol, the Ellefson bass solo, featured a man dressed as Vic pulling an Eddie and greeting the crowd, and while no one stuck around on stage to fight him, it was a pretty cool touch to the Rust In Peace portion of the set. The rest of the set consisted of hits, which I loved as someone who hadn't seen them before. Trust, one of my favorite post-Countdown Megadeth songs, followed up Rust In Peace, and Dave sported the double-neck guitar for this one. The song was excellent, with both Daves and Chris taking part in vocals during the chorus and Mustaine putting the double-neck to good use on the slow interlude and the solo. Head Crusher, the only song in the set from Endgame, was next, followed by A Tout Le Monde, which was performed the way it sounds on United Abominations. While I would have loved for them to have tried playing the original version, which is more powerful in my opinion, it's still a great song for the crowd and went over well, as expected. After Symphony of Destruction, the band closed the set with one of my favorite songs of all-time: Peace Sells. Hearing Ellefson perform the bass intro live gave me goosebumps, and Mustaine threw in an extended solo before barking, "Can you put a price on peace?" and beginning the riff leading into the fast section. It was the perfect song to close the set, though the band threw in the last part of Holy Wars as a reprise to officially close the set. Mustaine thanked the crowd multiple times after Rust In Peace was over and seemed very humble. After the set was finished, I was lucky enough to catch a Mustaine pick. Overall, the only regret that I have now is that I didn't see this band sooner. I enjoyed every second of their set. Some may complain about the lack of Endgame songs, Sweating Bullets, etc., but hopefully the band will remedy that with a headlining tour soon. One of the best sets I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. 10/10
Setlist:
Holy Wars... The Punishment Due Hangar 18 Take No Prisoners Five Magics Poison Was the Cure Lucretia Tornado of Souls Dawn Patrol Rust in Peace... Polaris ------------------------- Trust Head Crusher A Tout Le Monde Symphony Of Destruction -------------------------- Peace Sells Holy Wars...The Punishment Due (reprise)
Slayer - After Megadeth left the stage, the stage was covered by a white curtain, making me wonder if Slayer were throwing some surprises in their stage setup, maybe even some pyro. Once again, the lights dimmed, the arena filling with many drunken cries of "SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!" as the intro to World Painted Blood played and the curtain dropped, revealing the band and the stage, which hadn't changed much, if at all, from their setup at Mayhem. The crowd exploded, pits quickly forming towards the middle of the finally filled pit area, but not so much near where I was standing. From my position, I was able to view the set comfortably without being in the way of the mass of drunken Slayer fans. Despite opening the set with two songs from the average World Painted Blood, Slayer continued to live up to their reputation of a great live performance, as the songs were a hell of a lot better here than they ever sounded on the CD. I thought the title track actually served very well as an opener, keeping my attention much better than the album version did. That is, until they got to the solo, which was just Jeff Hanneman whammying for a good 30 seconds. That definitely took the edge off the song a bit, but overall, it was a better beginning to the set than I thought it would be when I first saw the setlist. The following song, Hate Worldwide, didn't fare so well for me. The usual Slayer energy was there, but the music was not, as it is probably one of Slayer's worst songs in years. In spite of that, I learned from these first two songs that Tom didn't seem to be ailing from back surgery at all, as his voice still sounded in fine shape and as good as he did a year ago at Mayhem. After a brief introduction by Tom, the band went right into their album of the night, Seasons In The Abyss. It started on a high note, with one of the album's best songs, War Ensemble, Tom's vocals again showing no signs of wear, though he let the crowd sing a couple parts of the chorus. During the solos, I noticed another problem: compared to Hanneman's guitar, Kerry King's guitar was low, making any solos where both of them had a part to play sound really off, such as in this song. Nevertheless, for the most part, the song was performed well. After the decent but not great Blood Red, the band entered one of the best stretches of the album, starting with the excellent Spirit In Black, a highlight of the set for me with a good solo from Hanneman and some of my favorite guitar work on this album in general. Dave Lombardo, while always making sure to stay under the guitars, was a beast in his own right on the drums, making his presence felt on every song. His work stood out in the next song, Expendable Youth, a simple but effective slow-tempo Slayer tune where he had the chance to throw in some cool drum breaks. Dead Skin Mask was great as well, though Tom decided to let the crowd handle the first two choruses before belting out the last one. Still, it was one of their best songs on this night, with one of Slayer's most memorable riffs and some rare good solos between Jeff and Kerry. After blazing through Hallowed Point, the band went into Skeletons of Society, yet another slower song that features some haunting vocals from Tom in the verses and chorus. The forgettable Temptation wasn't much better live, and Born of Fire didn't do a whole lot for me either. It nearly seemed that the two songs blended together into one mediocre mess. Thankfully, the band made up for it with the title track of Seasons, one of my favorite Slayer songs that I had been dying to hear live, and it didn't disappoint. The intro was haunting, and the fast section was performed beautifully by all members of the band. Tom's vocals stood out on this one, as well as the solos before the third verse. It was a great end to a mostly solid album. After the band finished Seasons, they left the stage briefly, only to return to the memorable intro riff to South of Heaven. At this point, some kids had left the rail to mosh, leaving me with more room to view the remainder of the show more comfortably. Similar in style to Seasons, this song went over just as effectively, with Tom letting the crowd yell out the chorus. When they finished, they immediately started up the obligatory Raining Blood, which never fails to get a crowd moving with its pure speed and aggression. Near the end, they segwayed right into a little surprise of theirs, Aggressive Perfector. More specifically, the Reign In Blood bonus track version, not the Haunting The Chapel version. Either way, it was a nice touch that I, along with the crowd, absolutely ate up. It was one of their best songs of the set and absolutely crushed. They capped off the set with the classic Angel of Death, one final assault for all of us to headbang and mosh to, and as usual, it was great. Tom actually pushed himself on the last "Angel of Deaaaaaaaaaaath!", something he didn't do last year, more evidence that the back surgery has done nothing to his vocal ability. Slayer finished, said their goodbyes, and left the stage, an unspectacular ending to a spectacular night of thrash. 9/10
Setlist:
World Painted Blood Hate Worldwide War Ensemble Blood Red Spirit in Black Expendable Youth Dead Skin Mask Hallowed Point Skeletons of Society Temptation Born of Fire Seasons in the Abyss ------------------------- South of Heaven Raining Blood Aggressive Perfector ------------------------- Angel of Death
This tour upstaged the Kreator tour as the thrash tour of 2010. I'd say Megadeth was the best band on the night, but all three were excellent and relentlessly pounded us with great music. Here's hoping Slayer can keep going for a while longer. Despite their faults, there is nothing quite like a live Slayer set, especially from the pit. I can't wait to catch Megadeth and Testament again as well, hopefully in headlining roles. With these kinds of quality bands, a co-headlining set doesn't do any of them justice.
started off the afternoon having a few beers with the band in the Foundation Room in the HOB. Everybody was cool as fuck. I had a Faith No More shirt on which led to probably a 15 minute conversation with Frank Delgado about FNM. We just sat there marking out for the band and how much we both loved the "Angel Dust" album. It was a bit ridiculous, but hey.
Baroness opened the show. Really didn't know much about the band. They were really solid, and sounded fucking great live. If your into progressive/sludge metal. Then I recommend given them a listen. Everybody else seemed really into it as well. Can't give a set. 8/10
Deftones were up next. They fucking tore shit up. With this being my 5th time seeing the band, it was by far the best Deftones show I've ever seen. The set-list was awesome. Chino was on fire. The entire band was just energetic and fired up like i've never seen. Sergio came damn near close to falling off the stage jumping around with the bass a few times. Dude was wild. The crowd was fucking intense and wild the whole time. Just the way I like it, and the way it should be for a show like this. Chino himself said, and I quote... "Every time we play here, you motherfuckers absolutely shit on every other city on the tour. We fucking love it." This was by far the funnest show i have ever attended by any band or artist. If your a Deftones fan, get out there and go see on this run. One of the most intense shows I have ever been to. Shit was wild. 10/10
Setlist:
Rocket Skates Diamond Eyes Beauty School Be Quiet and Drive My Own Summer Knife Party Elite Digital Bath Needles and Pins Dai the Flu Lotion Hole in The Earth Prince You've Seen The Butcher Sextape Risk Change Birthmark Nosebleed Engine No. 9 7 Words
Comments
At last, the tour I had been waiting for since last November had finally arrived. After getting off of work and braving rush hour traffic for half of the drive there, I arrived at the Joe Louis Arena parking garage a little before 6, headed down the tunnel, and got it line for doors, which were slated to open at 6. Some people were selling American Carnage bootleg shirts at either $15 or $20 (Don't remember exactly how much) while we were all waiting. I can't speak for the quality of the shirt, as I didn't buy one, but the design was pretty cool, especially on the back. All three bands were featured on it, something the official shirts lack, so if you're looking for a tour shirt and not a Megadeth or Slayer shirt, pick this one up, it's the best you're going to get. They took their sweet time opening doors, but once they did, the line moved quickly and I was in within minutes. Before heading down to the floor, I checked out the official merch. Nothing incredibly special caught my eye on Slayer's side; there was one with the Seasons In The Abyss cover on it, but no dates or anything like that on the back turned me away from that. The Megadeth shirts weren't all that great either, but there were a few designs I liked, including some Endgame and The Right To Go Insane designs. I ended up getting the Rust In Peace anniversary shirt with the cities listed on the bottom for $35. My Megadeth shirt finally acquired, I headed down to the floor area and claimed a spot on the rail on the left side of the stage. Even though the floor was sold out, it was fairly bare at this point, but it filled up slowly. A little before 7, the house lights went out and the thrash fest began.
Testament - Since missing out on their headlining tour in May of 2009, I had been anxiously awaiting the return of this Bay Area quintet. Besides being one of the most consistent thrash acts around, putting out solid albums time and time again despite member and style changes, they feature one of my favorite guitarists in the business, Alex Skolnick, whom I had the pleasure of seeing perform with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. And then, of course, there's Chuck Billy, a mountain of a man with a voice to match, not to mention the fact that he is a very skilled air guitarist. Right from the beginning of More Than Meets The Eye, he took complete control of the stage with his barking vocals. More Than Meets The Eye opened the set with a thrashy gallop in the verses and an easy chorus to get the crowd, which was taking its time filing in, into the show early. Right from the get-go, though, I immediately heard sound problems in their mix. Paul Bostaph's drumming, while impressive, was overpowering the dual guitar work of Skolnick and Eric Peterson, making it tougher to hear the riffs. Thankfully, Skolnick's excellent solo came through loud and clear, and their next song, Dog Faced Gods, was crushing, with Billy reverting from his high-pitched bark to a more death metal growl. It was a great contrast and an excellent way to showcase two different sides of this talented band. The set would get even better with The New Order, perhaps one of Testament's best songs. Opening with an awesome solo, the song seamlessly switches from a groovy feel into straight-up thrash riffs in the verses and chorus multiple times. By this time, the mix was a bit better, and the guitar work throughout this song was excellent, with Skolnick stealing the stage once again with a killer solo. The set would continue in this manner the whole way, with the band switching from a newer song to a deeper cut and then back again. Another highlight of the set was D.N.R. from the excellent album The Gathering, one of the fastest songs in their set with Chuck venturing into death metal territory once again with his vocals. By the time they reached their closer, The Formation of Damnation, the crowd was definitely much more engaged in the show than before, and it got even better when Chuck ordered a wall of death that put any wall at Mayhem Fest to shame. Their set was over much too quickly, and it lacked classics such as Into The Pit, Souls of Black, and Practice What You Preach, but for a 9 song set, the band did an excellent job of showcasing their ability to play songs of various thrash and death metal styles. The sound problems were there for the whole set, but they gradually improved and didn't really detract from my enjoyment of their set. I have high expectations for their next album, and I look forward to seeing them headline soon. One of the best opening acts one could ask for. 8/10
Setlist:
For The Glory Of....
More Than Meets the Eye
Dog Faced Gods
The New Order
Trial By Fire
The Persecuted Won't Forget
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days In Darkness
The Formation Of Damnation
Setlist:
Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
Hangar 18
Take No Prisoners
Five Magics
Poison Was the Cure
Lucretia
Tornado of Souls
Dawn Patrol
Rust in Peace... Polaris
-------------------------
Trust
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony Of Destruction
--------------------------
Peace Sells
Holy Wars...The Punishment Due (reprise)
Setlist:
World Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Blood Red
Spirit in Black
Expendable Youth
Dead Skin Mask
Hallowed Point
Skeletons of Society
Temptation
Born of Fire
Seasons in the Abyss
-------------------------
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
Aggressive Perfector
-------------------------
Angel of Death
This tour upstaged the Kreator tour as the thrash tour of 2010. I'd say Megadeth was the best band on the night, but all three were excellent and relentlessly pounded us with great music. Here's hoping Slayer can keep going for a while longer. Despite their faults, there is nothing quite like a live Slayer set, especially from the pit. I can't wait to catch Megadeth and Testament again as well, hopefully in headlining roles. With these kinds of quality bands, a co-headlining set doesn't do any of them justice.
Floor
Jake the critic
Jake the engineer
ding ding ding, winrar
started off the afternoon having a few beers with the band in the Foundation Room in the HOB. Everybody was cool as fuck. I had a Faith No More shirt on which led to probably a 15 minute conversation with Frank Delgado about FNM. We just sat there marking out for the band and how much we both loved the "Angel Dust" album. It was a bit ridiculous, but hey.
Baroness opened the show. Really didn't know much about the band. They were really solid, and sounded fucking great live. If your into progressive/sludge metal. Then I recommend given them a listen. Everybody else seemed really into it as well. Can't give a set. 8/10
Deftones were up next. They fucking tore shit up. With this being my 5th time seeing the band, it was by far the best Deftones show I've ever seen. The set-list was awesome. Chino was on fire. The entire band was just energetic and fired up like i've never seen. Sergio came damn near close to falling off the stage jumping around with the bass a few times. Dude was wild. The crowd was fucking intense and wild the whole time. Just the way I like it, and the way it should be for a show like this. Chino himself said, and I quote... "Every time we play here, you motherfuckers absolutely shit on every other city on the tour. We fucking love it." This was by far the funnest show i have ever attended by any band or artist. If your a Deftones fan, get out there and go see on this run. One of the most intense shows I have ever been to. Shit was wild. 10/10
Setlist:
Rocket Skates
Diamond Eyes
Beauty School
Be Quiet and Drive
My Own Summer
Knife Party
Elite
Digital Bath
Needles and Pins
Dai the Flu
Lotion
Hole in The Earth
Prince
You've Seen The Butcher
Sextape
Risk
Change
Birthmark
Nosebleed
Engine No. 9
7 Words