Megadeth: Destroy All Enemies
I had the absolute pleasure of attending Megadeth’s ‘Destroy All Enemies Tour’ featuring Mudvayne and All That Remains. During which I was able to participate in the VIP Meet and Greet and got to meet all four members of Megadeth and have the opportunity for signings.
As a brief overview, I thought that the parking situation was more than fair, estimated to be about $40 for accessible parking. The entry to the venue itself was relatively painless with the only caveat being the security staff not being aware of the VIP event and not knowing what do to with my personal item, a Dave Mustaine signature Kramer Vanguard Guitar, bought specifically for this event. After some brief exchanges with staff we were to get the situation resolved relatively painlessly and the staff was very helpful and professional, especially their head of security that ended up handling the situation. On a funny side note, the event staff thought I was part of the road crew and were about to let me into the event through the employee entry.
Moving onto the merch, the lines were not awful and the amount of gear available was pretty great, lots of shirts, a tour banner, tour poster, and some accessories. Later on in this review I will be doing a more in-depth review of the merch purchased; what I will say now is that the quality of the merch is pretty high, the materials all feel great and not cheap or rough.
Sentiments about the openers was that both bands, All That Remains and Mudvayne, were great and that the overall energy of their performance led to the crowd being able to get even more hyped when the legendary Megadeth took to the stage.
All That Remains
Starting off with the first of the two openers is Springfield, Massachusetts own All That Remains. Personally, I had only heard of the band in passing and maybe on the occasional Spotify playlist rotation. What I will say about them from the get go is that the band has a lot of heart and energy and that was felt throughout the whole performance, they definitely won me over with their overall performance. Metalcore is not my first choice in music, far from it, but I can say that as a result of their performance, that I am a fan of theirs and that I will definitely need to keep an eye out for their upcoming performances since I feel like this band is far from finished. The bands current set was overall about 40 minutes and focused on both new and old. The set itself was great with the stand out being the heart displayed by all members; its very easy for openers to simply phone in a performance and not give proper respect to the audience that came out early to see them. I believe this to be a result of the band being experienced (first forming in 1998) and having deep respect for Megadeth, even calling them one of the pioneers of the Metal scene, which I would whole heartedly agree with.
The performance as a whole can be described as being a show performed by fans, which I would not consider to be a bad thing. Overall, I am excited to see where their career takes them and I hope to see them on more concert and festival lineups.
Mudvayne
Following the great performance by All That Remains, the next performance was the final opener, Mudvayne. Mudvayne was an interesting act to follow the performance of All That Remains due to their overall aesthetic, that being a more seemingly tribal/supernatural look. Going into the performance based off of that, I will have to admit I was a bit confused and more unsure of what I was getting myself into, what I found was that I was very much impressed by their performance as well and the message that the frontman left to the audience. That message being, forget the worldly issues you are facing at the moment and just let loose and find meaning in the moment. I think that was what really won me over since I am doing this website as more of a passion project and as a way to get my love for music out there, but with the stress of work, bills and life as a whole, sometimes I get taken out of the moment of things I was looking forward to. This performance as a whole helped me to forget the rat race that is life and just enjoy the experience with my partner that was acting as my secondary camera operator.
I cannot wait to see Mudvayne again as I am now a fan of theirs. Their musicianship was superb as a whole, especially their bassist, that with their high energy and little oddball behavior, reminded me at times about how Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers performances and uses their bass as not just an instrument but as an extension of their whole essence; nothing is left on the table when it comes to performing for them it seems.
Megadeth
Now to the main event, and simply put they were great. I have seen Megadeth about four times before this performance and maybe it was being closer (albeit I have been closer when I had seen them in Arizona) but I felt this was the best performance I had seen of the group as of reporting. Going into the performance I was interested to see their latest addition to their roster, that being guitarist, Teemu Mäntysaari, since he would be filling in the spot that was occupied by long time guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who had grown to be beloved by the Megadeth fanbase. While still not on any studio credits, I think its safe to say that Megadeth is in safe hands as Teemu was able to absolutely carry on the legacy.
The setlist for the whole show bounced around between albums so for both new and old fans it was an overall treat. The energy through the whole night was electric and crowd reciprocated that energy with a sea of headbanging and singing along to most of the setlist.
Overall, the whole show went off without any hitches, no surprise stoppages or any technical issues. Some key highlights were the overall prowess of the whole band through, as well as the playing of the long unplayed ‘liar’. Overall, the Megadeth show was fantastic and the Youtube theater was a great venue for them as it allowed for a more intimate experience.
Megadeth Meet and Greet
After the show I had the pleasure of going to the Megadeth meet and greet with all four members of the band. This was a big moment for me as Megadeth was one of the biggest inspirations for me to keep playing the guitar. Their music helped me through my alcoholism and suicidal ideation. Not being able to walk and dealing with my personal demons, Megadeth, along with MCR, Bad Religion, and Metallica. Music was just one of the main forces that got me through that period of my life and so finally getting to meet some of my heroes was an amazing experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
James LoMenzo:
The first member I met with backstage was Bassist James LoMenzo, and overall he was super sweet and just a very cool guy to talk to. I was able to spend about 10 minutes talking with the guy and was able to tell him about how much the band means to me and that Megadeth was a huge part of my recovery from my alcoholism and that seeing shows like theirs is what gets me to fight off the urge to keep down that path. James was super receptive and thankful as a whole, just felt like I was talking to a guy off the street or in a crowd, no sense of being better than you or anything like that. It was kind of a shame that no one else went to go meet the guy because he was totally worth the price of admission and as a thanks for telling him my story, he gave me his guitar pick. I am going to be sure to cherish the memento and the experience as a whole, unfortunately I was unable to get him to sign my guitar since I was so overwhelmed with emotion to ask.
Dirk Verbeuren:
The next member I met with backstage was Drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and just like the rest was a super cool dude. Same as with James, it was a shame that no one else went to see him. Dirk was very chill with his interaction with me and was able to answer my questions about how it was like to be a member of such a big band and just how impressive it is that he is able to stay consistent with the overall performance since they were absolutely killing it the whole set.
Teemu Mäntysaari:
The next member I met with was Teemu Mäntysaari, the newest lead guitarist for Megadeth. I was very interested going into the performance to see how he would do with being in such a big band like Megadeth, what I took away from the whole performance is that the guy is a great fit for the band and absolutely killed it during performances of Tornado of Souls, Hanger 18 and Holy Wars. The stand out thing about Teemu was how approachable he was as a whole and just how calm and collected he was. It was amazing getting to talk shop with such a talented guitarist, I was able to ask about his gear (like his gifted from the CEO of Gibson electric guitar that was an absolute work of art) and how it feels being in a band like Megadeth. I was able to talk with Teemu for about 10 minutes and in this time, he was asking me about the gear I used when I played and how long I have been playing and not once did it feel like he thought he was better than me or like I was beneath him as a player. It was honestly such a cool experience just talking shop with a fellow guitarist and I had the pleasure of having him sign my guitar as well. Overall, I am excited to see how far Teemu goes with Megadeth and I really hope this band can become his permanent home since he is highly talented, respectful and clearly has a passion for what he does.
Dave Mustaine:
The final member I met with was the legendary Dave Mustaine, personally one of the main people I have always wanted to meet. Mustaine had always been a major influence in me wanting to play the guitar, even now listening to Rust in Peace gets me going and I feel the urge to play the guitar. On a personal anecdote, Rust in Peace and Megadeth were such a major influence with my feelings of falling short when it came to the guitar, if I ever felt disheartened about getting notes wrong or simply that I am not up to the standards of where I should be, listening to Megadeth always provides me with the drive to get back into the grind that comes with guitar, with the hopes of one day being able to play any of their songs.
Getting back to the actual meeting, we were only allotted about 2-3 minutes with Dave since I am sure he was pretty tired, at this time it was aroun 1240 am, so I am sure he was not doing the hottest. His overall demeanor was kind of disappointing since he seemed a little disinterested/distant. Not sure if this is me just simply projecting but with me being a transgender woman and visibly presenting as such, I am unsure if that just put him in a bad mood since going in I was aware of his thoughts and personal opinions when it came to transgender individuals as a whole.
Main take away from this is to just simply not take his attitude personally since he is who he is. I was still able to tell him a bit of my story and relationship with Megadeth, most I got in turn though was ‘Is that right?’ and if ‘I was going to play the guitar’ I told Mustaine that I would probably not play this particular one since its memento and means a lot to me, but that I would be buying another one that will join my three other guitars. Afterwards, we took a photo and I was on my way. Despite the sour experience I still thanked Dave for his time and remained professional throughout.
I would say that for $350 and if you are a diehard Megadeth fan, that this meet and greet was more than worth it since its not every day you get to meet a living legend.
Closing Thoughts:
Overall, I was very satisfied with the experience of getting to meet such an iconic and legendary band. Talking shop with Teemu was an amazing experience since it felt like talking with just a normal guy at a guitar shop. Talking with Dirk was amazing since he was just such a cool dude and you could just feel his enthusiasm when it came to what he does. Talking with James was amazing since he actually listened to my whole story and showed great interest in a fan that he was interacting with (something that I think is important with meet and greets, not simply because of ego, but because this is a big moment for any fan). Finally, meeting Dave was a cool experience that had some sour notes sprinkled in but overall was worth the price of admission just simply getting to shake his fan and be in the presence of a legend.
