Note: Due to restrictions from Megadeth’s management, no photographers were allowed at this show. Hence, the photos you see here are photos taken from Lunah Lauridsen’s archives from 2008 and 2012.

With the upcoming release of their 14th full length album, Super Collider, old-time thrashers Megadeth saw it fit to give Denmark a visit on their European tour, and judging from the large crowd they got, it was a wise decision.

“Are you feeling good? Then sing with me!”
- Dave Mustaine (vocals/guitar)

The nearly sold out large hall of Vega had had the pleasure of being warmed up for the nights event by the Danish up-and-coming thrash quartet Essence, and they had made an excellent job of it, so now it was time for the seasoned thrashers in Megadeth to swoop in and make the final kill. Given their history, I wasn’t sure they would do this or fall flat on their noses, but I was in a good mood and was looking forward to finding out what they had up their sleeve, waiting for us.
The first thing of notice was the three large video screens placed on the stage, one as a backdrop and one on each side of the stage. As the intro music played, the spoken beginning of the bands own Prince Of Darkness, we saw something like a construction site shown on the screens, a construction that in the end became a flaming Megadeth logo – things were off to a good start even before the band had arrived on the stage!
The concert then began with Trust, where drummer Shawn Drover was the first to hit the stage, followed by bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Chris Broderick, and Dave Mustaine entering by himself as the last one. If it was a light-guy mess up or an oversight I can’t say, but I thought it was a bit weird that Broderick was the only one not allowed a spotlight when entering – in fact, as I was standing at the other side of the stage, it took some time before I even noticed he was there, hiding in the shadows...

But who cares about that, as long as the performance is there to shine through?
Problem number one was thus revealed – while it looked like Broderick was having a great time playing and singing backing vocals with a huge smile on his face, both Mustaine and more surprisingly so Ellefson looked like they were half asleep up there. Sure, sometimes they would walk from the front of the stage to stand in the back instead, but it looked like they were running completely on routine with their minds far, far away from here. Knowing Megadeth, I was prepared for this being a possible outcome of the evening, but it saddened me nonetheless as I had had high hopes for the evening.
Well, at least the setlist was good – after world-premiering the song Kingmaker (apparently because the bands tour-manager had told them that they always do something special in Denmark (I wonder how many countries have heard that comment?)), they swiftly moved over to Hangar 18, and this hit home with the crowd.
If it was because they were beginning to warm up a bit by now, or it was the increase in shouts from the audience that did the trick I can’t say, but during the song the band members actually loosened up a little bit, and the long solo towards the end where Mustaine and Broderick took turns standing in the lime-light was actually quite entertaining to watch.

This small increase in activity seemed to take the breath out of the band though, as they all left the stage after one more song was done, and it took a little while before they re-entered. Having only played four songs so far, I thought it was a bit early to begin the encore, but Mustaine soon begged our pardon for not reaching Europe with a tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their Countdown To Extinction album last year, and to make amends they would dedicate a portion of tonight’s show solely to this album – four songs were played, and the crowd was ecstatic to say the least! The band was getting more comfortable by now as well, and finally performed on a plain worthy of their name and legacy. Mustaine’s white shirt was soaking wet and clinging tight to his body from the heat in the hall, as were many of the shirts in the audience I’m sure, giving the song Sweating Bullets a whole new meaning!

The crowd also got to warm up their voices with a unified “hey” chant in the above mentioned song, and a good thing it was too as after another short break to mark the beginning of the next phase of the set, we were all put to the test as we sang along to A Tout Le Monde, another great song from the bands glory days.
Some newer songs, including the title track of the upcoming album were ripped through without neither band nor audience losing concentration, and then I saw the shows first crowd surfer drift by as the band was blasting out their Symphony Of Destruction, which in turn was followed by Peace Sells, a song that saw a person in a Vic Rattlehead costume and mask walk out on the stage and receive much praise from the people below.
As the band was getting ready to leave once more, Mustaine saw a young kid on the shoulders of his father about halfway out on the floor. The boy can’t have been more than five or six years old, and he was wearing a leather jacket and holding his devil horns high in the air – the sight moved the old metalhead so much he proclaimed that this was the future of heavy metal and then invited the kid up on the stage, something which was accomplished by the crowd carrying him above themselves until he was standing next to Mustaine on the middle of the stage. Mustaine again announced that he was a big fan of the kid, and as a parting gift before sending him back to his parents, Mustaine took one of his wrist bands off and put it on the kids arm; how’s that for a future memory?

The show ended with Holy Wars... The Punishment Due being played as an encore, after which the band took a bow while the screen behind them showed the phrase thank you written in many, many different languages.
After parting with several guitar picks and drum sticks the band left, but Mustaine lingered on for a while longer than the rest of them – he was by now in such a good mood that he stayed and played some air guitar during the outro song, Silent Scorn!

Well, this was quite a ride – from entering with high expectations to being let down by a catastrophic first part of the set, to then being lifted high with that great middle and ending, the concert certainly didn’t lack drama. This was not the most memorable Megadeth concert I have ever been to, but I was glad to see not only that they could pull such a large crowd, but also that they made it worth showing up with a good performance and a great stage production – those screens and the videos constantly on display really helped lift the thing even further.

Setlist:

Prince Of Darkness
Trust
Kingmaker
Hangar 18
Public Enemy No. 1
Countdown To Extinction
Architecture Of Aggression
Sweating Bullets
Ashes In Your Mouth
A Tout Le Monde
Whose Life (Is This Anyways?)
She-Wolf
Super Collider
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
Silent Scorn