Another day that had started out a bit on the weak side but then turned real strong and enjoyable was to be finished off by Megadeth headlining it – would it go out with a bang, or revert to the way it had started?

“As much as you like me, I like you more!”
- Dave Mustaine (vocals/guitar)

The stage was set, and the crowd (possibly the entirety of Metaldays visitors) was ready and waiting. A long intro began playing, and on the stage we could see the video screen setup acting as a backdrop and on stage screens. Towards the end of it, the band members came on in quick succession and threw themselves and us into Hangar 18, a strong way to begin and a very welcome one!
As it turned out, the setlist in general was surprisingly good (more on that later), but what was even more important and welcome to see was how enthusiastic the band was about playing here – leading man Dave Mustaine have never been seen smiling this much before, and he made frequent and positive comments between songs. During songs Chris Broderick and he took turns at the front of the stage, playing scorching solos and wooing the audience. Shawn Drover was of course pretty hidden away by his drums, but he still played his part well, as did David Ellefson who never seems to disappoint when on a live stage! Ellefson didn’t take as much to the front of the stage as his string-bending colleagues, but he was almost constantly power-posing in the background, while Mustaine was wildly gesticulating with his arms to underscore his lyrical points (as far as his guitar playing allowed for it).

Back on the setlist side of things, things looked stunningly well as well – Megadeth’s highlight album Rust In Peace stood for delivering the most material for this evening, which spanned both earlier days and newer. No less than 18 songs were played, which is impressive for a festival gig, and even though I haven’t paid too much attention to the newer studio releases I could, like the majority of the crowd, sing along to almost every song. Long standing favourite of mine, Tornado Of Souls, made me scream my lungs out, and fuck me, Dawn Patrol was played! This is something I wouldn’t have dared bet on even in my wildest dreams, as I thought this slow-paced slice of darkness was long forgotten by the band, and deemed too obscure to work as a live song. But there it was, front stage and centre, in all its glory!
Several other songs made the Slovenian crowd go wild as well, some with odd video productions playing on the screens and some accompanied by their music videos, where Public Enemy No. 1 with its monkey/gangster mash-up provided a particularly entertaining addition to the latter category.
As something new (to me at least), and also highly entertaining, Megadeth provided us with intermission clips between a few songs, taken from popular films where Megadeth’s name pop up. The first was from Silver Linings Playbook, which I haven’t seen before, and the next was the classic Wayne’s World 2 clip where a girl dances for Garth and he asks if she doesn’t have some Megadeth to put on. The final one was from Oliver Stone’s 1988 film Talk Radio, where an excited (and slightly stoned) Michael Wincott shouts something nearly incomprehensible about Peace Sells, perfectly leading up to that very song.

The stellar performance and the super setlist was obviously well received by the Metaldays crowd which partied hard to the most aggressive quarter of the Big Four. There were raised fists, raised voices, and raised bodies as people rocked, screamed, and crowd surfed their way through the concert. It all turned up a notch during Peace Sells, as a tall Vic Rattlehead visited the stage, looking imposing and deliciously angry.
As you can imagine, this was one great Megadeth concert, one of the best ones in my experience. It’s great to see the band in this top shape, and the fact that it was mere days away before I would see them again felt better than ever.

Setlist:

Prince Of Darkness
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
In My Darkest Hour
Skin O’ My Teeth
Sweating Bullets
Dawn Patrol
Poison Was The Cure
Tornado Of Souls
Trust
A Tout Le Monde
Public Enemy No. 1
She-Wolf
Kingmaker
Cold Sweat (Thin Lizzy cover)
Set The World Afire
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Silent Scorn