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GIGANTOUR Live In Youngstown, OH With Photos! By Geoff Ketler, Cleveland Contributor Wednesday, July 17, 2013 @ 6:10 PM
The 2013 edition of Dave Mustaine’s hand-picked bill of metal bands rolled into Youngstown, OH amidst severe weather, thunderstorms, and tornado warnings. Earlier in the day we received an email from DEVICE’s publicist about a possible interview with vocalist David Draiman (DEVICE/DISTURBED). This was followed by a phone call from their tour manager and before we knew it we had an appointment with David Draiman on board DEVICE’s tour bus prior to the first set time. A day that we had already been looking forward to for weeks just got even more exciting. You can read our interview with David HERE. The interview went on without a hitch and as we navigated through the loading dock and backstage area we managed to bump into Zakk Wylde. We exchanged hellos briefly and headed back to the thin crowd on the arena floor to catch the opening act, DEATH DIVISION.
Being an opening band for legends such as Zakk Wylde, David Draiman, and Dave Mustaine is not an easy task. Believe me when I say that DEATH DIVISION killed it. They had such a great intensity about them, that it was able to gain the attention of the metal hungry crowd. FrontmanSean De La Tour worked the crowd like an old veteran. Playing songs from their recently released EP, they definitely got the show off on the right foot.
Setlist
NEWSTED quickly thickened the scattered crowd down front despite their early set time. Jason Newsted often addressed the fans between songs, talking about how we are all part of his greater metal family, which really got a rise out of the fans. They rounded out their short but exciting set with a cover of METALLICA’s "Whiplash" which really got the pit moving. I was pleasantly surprised by NEWSTED’s set and would love to catch a show where they have a longer set time, but that’s the nature of the beast when it comes to these larger-scale festival type tours. Sets are usually pretty abbreviated in order to cram all the bands on the bill.
Setlist
Setlist
Before going into a cover of LITS FORD’s "Close My Eyes Forever", David Draiman addressed the crowd and explained that we were all going to be part of this experiment. David sang both Ozzy and Lita Ford’s parts to the song which was a hit among the fans except for one in particular who was giving David the one-finger salute. The frontman quickly singled him out and splashed a water bottle at him while telling security to please escort him out if he does it again. Besides that, the only hiccup of the night was David Draiman’s microphone going on the fritz a few times, but the seasoned musician merely swapped it out with a roadie stage left and kept on going like nothing happened.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY wrapped up their set with the hit "Stillborn". The fans were just ecstatic. As the song drew to a close, Zakk Wylde picked up his signature Gibson, held it high in the air above his head and then set it down and began beating his chest like King Kong. A moment that just put an exclamation mark on their brutal show.
Now this was about the tenth time I had seen the mighty MEGADETH live and just like the nine times before, they did not disappoint me. The attention to detail and the precision of Chris Broderick and Dave Mustaine’s guitar playing was on full display. The band was flawless. The surprise of the night was hearing "Poision Was the Cure" and "Architecture of Aggression". When you have a catalogue that is so vast, it tends to be difficult to fit in little surprises because the majority of your set is comprised with songs that audiences expect to hear on a nightly basis. I was delighted to here "Kingmaker" – an aggressive track off of their latest release Super Collider, as well as their cover of THIN LIZZY’s "Cold Sweat" which they also recorded for that album.
Setlist
All Photos By Geoff Ketler & Steve Keller / Aces High Photography
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After a brief set change it was time for NEWSTED to take the stage. Since leaving METALLICA, Jason Newsted had been pretty much off the radar until recently when his new band, NEWSTED, released an EP and the single "Soldier Head". The quartet opened with "Heroic Dose" followed by "Soldierhead", which was very well received by the crowd. You could tell by the audience’s reaction to "Soldierhead" and "King of the Underdogs" that those songs had been spinning on radio.
The only thing bigger than Gray’s presence was that of drummer Vinnie Paul. After every few songs he would rise from behind his drum covered riser and the crowd would go crazy. Even if it was for a few seconds it was known that the fans appreciated his acknowledgment of them. Seeing Vinnie do his thing was one of highlights of the evening.
Setlist
Setlist
Vic Rattlehead, dressed in military officer attire, made his brief appearance during "Peace Sells" as the crowd screamed the lyrics. That concluded the set and then Dave Mustaine walked out on stage alone to thank the crowd. He made his way to each side of the stage and then to his center mic where he asked the crowd how they felt about having all of their emails and phone calls looked at by big brother. Any fan of MEGADETH knows that the focus of the lyrics has always been political in nature. He continued on to say; "I’m not a Republican, I’m not a Democrat, I’m an American." He urged the crowd to stand up, ask questions, and take back our country; a message that was pretty well received. Then he muttered the four words everyone was waiting for; "this is Holy Wars." The place erupted. With that the Gigantour 2013 stop in Youngstown, OH came to a close. I was sore, tired, bruised and beat…was it worth it? Of course it was. Gigantour 2013 brought the metal to the masses once again.
