Gigant-Snore Review
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:01AM Back on January 27th, I attended the Gigantour show at the Mohegan Sun area in Uncasville, Connecticut. On the bill this time around was (headliner) Megadeth, Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not a huge Megadeth fan, but there was nothing else coming around so I decided to attend. In fact, I think Megadeth is the band that I care least about that I somehow manage to see the most.
The evening started off with a 35 minute set from Lacuna Coil. I had never heard them (or Volbeat) before this show, and I was almost completely unimpressed by this band. The female singer Cristina Scabbia has an amazing voice and is not too bad to look at either. However the rest of the band, to me, seemed average. But the worst was the male singer, Andrea Ferro, who I can best describe as the Flava Flav of Nu Metal. He can't sing very well, interjects himself where he isn't needed, and continually annoys with instructions to jump up and down, clap your hands, etc. I was glad their set was only 35 minutes.
Volbeat was next, and while I was unfamiliar with their music, they put on a high energy set and were just a solid band. For me, they were the highlight of the night. They were tight and knew how to put on a show. Plus, the singer was generally appreciative of all reactions from the crowd (which was starting to fill in at this point), which I just like. The downside of this band is all of their songs start to sound very similar about half way through their set.
Next up was Motorhead, who were the real reason I attended. Believe or not, I had never seen them live before. They were exactly what you would expect them to be, so I was neither blown away or let down by Motorhead. Plus, I personally dig Lemmy's disposition, and find him to be hysterical.
Finally, it was time for the headliners, Megadeth, to take the stage. My God, what a lackluster performance this show was. My biggest gripe with Dave Mustaine is that he never seems to put any energy into his shows and is just going through the motions, and this was the worst example of this that I have ever seen. The set, which opened with "Trust," was stale and boring, and basically the same set that I have seen them play many times before. The vocals were low in the mix, but when you could hear Dave, he sounded like he was just whining into the microphone. Honestly, I could not wait for the show to end. The rest of the band are impressive, but when the frontman is a dud, there isn't much you can do to save the show.
If I had to grade this show, it would be a D+ or C- at best. I've been to many shows, and this one just simply lacked a spark that made it interesting or fun. That being said, I do think I am in the minority with my opinion, because the show had to be close to a sellout and the crowd was loving Megadeth. Maybe they see something that I don't...
Did you catch the Gigantour this year?
Reader Comments (10)
I also saw Motörhead for the first just a couple of months ago and they were great. Played two of my favorite tracks (The Chase Is Better Than The Catch & I'll Be Your Sister) so I was all smiles. It didn't make things worse that I saw them in Mikkey Dee's hometown Gothenburg.
Volbeat stole the show for me. Didn't know anything about them until recently but find them really refreshing. A little bit of everything and a lot of fun. They rock!
Oh, yeah! Look, Megadeth's had their Moments with some true classic. Case in point, "Peace Sells (But Who's Buying?)" and their stellar cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy", among a handful of others.
And Motorhead IS totally Killer, plain and simple.
The best way for me to describe them is a mash-up of Social Distortion and Metallica, with a touch of old-school Johnny Cash. It sounds weird, but it works really well. Huge, metal guitar riffs mixed with catchy punk-styled melodies.