I found this show very difficult to write about. Because of the hundreds (probably thousands now) of concerts and shows that I have attended, this is my favorite. I am not sure how to capture the magic that this night had for me.
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I've started to write this review/remembrance several times and then stopped because I didn't feel that I was doing the night justice. I still won't write up to what it deserves, but we've got to get it done even though it does not contain my true feelings of the night. This night for me was one of the perfect mixings of youth, friendship, and metal music. It felt like a coming-of-age story for me.
I was excited for this show - Megadeth was one of my favorite bands. I became aware of them through my older brother years earlier when he bought the Peace Sells album. I loved Peace Sells and probably played his vinyl record more than he did (although he did record it to tape, so he could play it in his car). Then I got So Far, So Good...So What on cassette for my 14th birthday in 1988 and pretty much wore it out. Those two months between release and getting the cassette were very difficult. My brother was able to see Megadeth live in June of 1988, opening for Iron Maiden, but my mom would not let me go (and I am not sure my brother and his friends would have had me anyway). A couple of years later, I would steal the concert shirts from my brother, and they would serve as an integral part of my wardrobe throughout high school and college. I still have and wear the two Megadeths...but did give him back the Iron Maiden about 5 years ago (Thanks for letting me 'borrow' it for 30 years!). I was SO disappointed that I wasn't able to go...and honestly, I wasn't sure if Megadeth would be around again for another tour (and especially one coming to Iowa).
Two years later, the Rust in Peace album was released...and I went to the midnight release at my local record store. This was my first midnight release, and although it was hyped really big, I was underwhelmed by the experience. It ended up just being 5 of us metalheads standing in line to buy the album. As a high school kid, I was the youngest there by close to a decade (it felt like)...it was probably only 5 or 6 years, and many jokes were made about the "baby" buying his first record and how "you aren't ready for Megadeth, go buy Wilson Phillips" and the like. So when it was my turn, I put basically all the money I had on the counter to buy the CD and the album-cover t-shirt. But I did get a free sticker...so, I got that going for me. The older guys did invite to go drink, smoke, and listen to the album with them afterwards; but I wasn't into drinking and smoking, plus I had school the next morning...so my first midnight release ended up being waiting in line (of 5 people) for two hours, then spending $50 in about 5 minutes, and going straight home. I am not sure what I expected, but it was more than that. I didn't have a CD player in my car, so my first listen would have to wait a bit. I pumped myself up listening to my So Far cassette on the way home. I arrived home just about 1am and put on my headphones, lay on my waterbed, and hit play. We didn't have cable when I grew up, so I hadn't seen the Holy Wars video previous but it was playing at the record store during the release, but it was hard to hear and see on the 13-inch tv hanging from the ceiling. Oddly, they weren't even playing the new album in the store...it was just the standard rock mix they used every day. But still, I picked up enough that on first listen of the CD that I thought it was OK. I lay there and listened to the rest of the album, and about 2am, I turned off my stereo and thought, "Well, that sucked." I hated the album. Even though I was disappointed, I wore my new shirt to school because I thought a couple of people might ask me about the new album...and I was prepared to tell them how awful it was. However, the release of a new Megadeth album was much more important to me than everyone else. No one asked; it was just another day (although my friends Cam and Paul did discuss it later that week). I felt somewhat dejected all morning, but, I then realized that bits of the album were stuck on repeat in the back of my brain all day - the opening drums on Holy Wars, the guitar solo on Hangar 28, "Give me Alchemy, Give me Wizardry...", bass line on Poison was the Cure, the opening riffs on Tornado of Souls, and "I spread disease like a dog." By the end of the school day, I couldn't wait to race home and listen to the CD again. So that's what I did, and I put it on repeat from about 4pm to 2am. By the time I went to sleep, not only did I love Rust in Peace; it was my favorite Megadeth album by far (and still waiting to be toppled). I am not sure why I didn't like it at first...maybe it was a little more mature of a sound than I was expecting; maybe it was too much anticipation on my part, maybe it was the slightly sour taste in my mouth from the midnight release. I was wrong, it is a great album. Still a top ten (maybe top five album for me).
When the Clash of the Titans concerts in Europe were announced, I was bummed because that sounded amazing. Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, and Suicidal Tendencies? I wasn't a huge Slayer fan, but I mean, that is an incredible line-up. Europe is SO lucky. But then the North American leg was announced about 6 months later as Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Alice in Chains. AiC only had the Angry Chair video out at the time of tour announcement and I had bought the album a week or so earlier, I wasn't super familiar with them yet, but they seemed like they would be great. Anthrax was one of my first album buys with my own money when I was 12. And although I love most of Anthrax's stuff, the sequence of Among the Living, State of Euphoria, and Persistence of Time is an amazing run; so Anthrax live would be awesome. I enjoy but am not a huge fan of Slayer (to this day), and I hadn't had a chance to see them live yet, so that too sounded exciting. But Megadeth was the crowning jewel for me...I was trying to figure out how I would be able to make a show in Chicago or Minneapolis or something, but then an Iowa stop was announced. I was overjoyed and bought tickets right away for me and what would become my semi-regular concert crew. My concert crew was me, my brother Kelly, his/our friends Steve and Zac. I am not even sure if I asked them if they wanted to go because it was such an obvious "yes."
This show was more than great music for me...it was more like a coming of age event. One of those nights where everything just had this feeling of electricity and awesomeness. It doesn't seem that far to me now, but back then, that would be the furthest that I had driven (130 miles from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids). My parents loaned me their "gas card" for the trip, which was nice as I was a poor high schooler...and I wanted to save my money for a concert tee(s). We took full advantage and filled the tank with gas and then stocked up on Cap'n Crunch, beef jerky, Mountain Dew, and Minute Maid Orange Soda (RIP - fuck you Coke, this was better than Fanta) for the trip. The trip over was a great night of four guys, music cranked, headbanging with the windows down. If that had been a non-concert night, that still would have been a great night.
We arrived several hours early...this was mostly due to my nervousness about missing anything. We grabbed some food at the nearby mall and then waited in line for about an hour before the doors opened. We weren't the first in line, but we were definitely one of the first 30 in the door. We walk around the arena and check out the fans. It's your normal, mostly guys, metal crowd, but a beautiful girl is standing in the front row on the right side of the stage. We are all too chicken to talk to her (especially me), but she became "The Boathouse" where we "The Fisherman" (trying to "catch" girls) would meet after going our own ways during the show. It is definitely a bit cringe now, but it seemed fun when we were young and dumb. I didn't really care about any of that anyway, as I was there for the music and I stayed pretty much in the same spot about 3 people from the front of the stage all night...I had a perfect spot where I could see well and wasn't getting too crushed by the crowd.
Alice in Chains had released Man in the Box as a single by then but it seemed like it wasn't huge yet...or maybe AiC just weren't huge yet. I'd had the album for almost a year by the time this show came around so to me, it seemed like AiC were well known stars but most of the crowd didn't seem to know most of their songs. AiC started with "Would?" which had not been released yet, so that was a surprise for everyone. They continued with a good chunk of the Facelift album with Man in the Box being the most known and closing their set...the crowd was into their set, but not as much as I thought they should be. Layne was definitely a star and rocking the entire set. He was headbanging so hard throughout that I am pretty sure one of his dreadlocks came off...which was kind of gross to think about (but had it flown into the crowd, I probably would have tried to grab it). I was glad when Layne went away from that look about a year later. Unfortunately, they did not play Angry Chair.
Anthrax rocked the stage next. They played a good chunk of Among the Living and a couple of songs from both State of Euphoria and Persistence of Time. I personally would have preferred a little more of both the latter (I know, I am weird), but it was a good set. The crowd went wild, especially when the bass line for Got the Time started off the second or third song...there was SO much frenzied energy. You couldn't help but jump up and down and bang your head. In the middle of the song a guy behind me all of a sudden grabs my shoulders and is using my back as a stepladder to go crowd surfing. He basically walked up my body...like, step on calf, step on spine, step on head and push off. It wasn't ideal. I was like WTF? and then quickly back into the show. He later came back to me and apologized after the set, he was just so "stoked" to crowd surf. He asked me if I wanted to "go up"...and I did, but I was a little afraid and also didn't want to miss any of the show. I regret that a bit.
Slayer was next and they put on good show, but as always, I just wasn't that into them. I had a good time, I headbanged, moshed a bit, but nothing really memorable sticks out for me. It was cool to see Kerry King with his giant spiked arm band because that was just iconic. They sounded good and their set was heavy and bone-crushing; it made me appreciate them more than I had previously, but it didn't convert me to a fan.
I took a break for a couple of Slayer songs to go pick up a couple of concert shirts. I picked up the Clash of the Titans tour shirt, a Hangar 18 tour shirt, and an Anthrax Not Man shirt. Unfortunately, I did not examine the shirts closely upon purchase. The Hangar 18 was a great shirt, great quality, great printing. I was disappointed in the Anthrax shirt because it did not have the tour dates. I swear, from the merch table display it showed the back with dates...but mine did not have it. I had previously had a Not Man shirt that was basically the same (but cost half as much from the local record store), unfortunately I had ripped it a year or so earlier and missed it...so I thought this would be a great replacement. I wish that I had gotten the Persistence of Time shirt instead of Not Man. I didn't wear Not Man as much because of the non-date disappointment and questions like "Is that supposed to be Mario on your shirt?" I was also disappointed in the quality of the Clash tour shirt, as the graphics felt like a big, thick iron-on instead of being screen printed (I don't know if that was the case or not). It made the shirt feel twice as heavy as it should have been, and mine front graphic was also off-center quite a bit. It was down, and to my left about 2-3 inches, which just made it look and feel weird...and since it was so heavy, it pulled awkwardly on the side of my neck. Still, Clash and Hangar 18 made it into my regular wardrobe for years (until they were stolen in college); I am not sure where my Anthrax tee ended.
The Megadeth set started with a pre-taped message (not voiced by the band, I believe) about martial law and everyone having to stay home, give urine samples, not ask questions, etc... or you would be shot. I got the point right away, and I liked the spotlights swirling around the arena and stage like they were searching for lawbreakers or whatever, but the whole thing was too long. You start yelling and cheering because you think the band is coming out, but the tape keeps going and going and everyone gets tired of yelling, so it gets quiet again and I'm just standing there. I'm sure it was like three minutes long, but it felt like 30...it should have been one minute. Or even better, not exist. It didn't add anything and was cheesy (in my opinion); I just wanted Megadeth.
Megadeth comes on stage towards the end of the message and starts ripping into "Wake Up Dead." It is everything that I wanted to see in Megadeth. Dave Mustaine was cool as shit - skin-tight jeans, bullet belt, black tee, long hair pouring down the sides of his face and brushing the top of his flying-v guitar as headbanged. His singing sneer sounded amazing (to me) and he was totally shredding. For me, at this time in my life, it was like seeing God. This was the lineup that would become the classic lineup. Nick Menza's drums were hammering your chest, Dave Ellefson's bass was thundering, and Marty Friedman's solos were slick. Before Megadeth took the stage, part of me was wishing for Gar on drums and Chris (maybe even Jeff) on guitar...I liked Rust in Peace, but these were still "the new guys" and I was more than a bit bummed that I didn't get to see the old lineup. Howeverm the new guys hit it out of the park at this show. I was headbanging and moshing the entire set...while still trying to keep my eyes on the all the action on the stage. My throat was sore for singing (yelling) along. I was a little bit horrified at Marty's playing style - it looked so painful. It looked like held his hand way too low, and curved his fingers and pick upward to the strings. I couldn't really even watch it, it made my wrists ache. It was a killer set - Wake Up Dead, Hook in Mouth, The Conjouring, etc... It was an amazing set (full setlist below from setlist.fm). Of course, I would have liked for them to play longer (hopefully the wedding didn't fuck us out of a song) or maybe swapped a song or two, but man, it was fantastic. The whole thing was a blur of metal, hair, sweat, and a great time. The hour long set seemed to last forever and only minutes at the same time. I felt high, euphoric...but not from secondhand smoke. I felt part of something greater with all the energy and like minded metalheads. It was a feeling that completely hooked me on concerts and live music. A feeling that I have chased for decades to feel again. I have felt it many times, but probably not quite as powerful as that night. I have been to many, many shows since and that feeling of unity/energy/power/comraderie still happens...but unfortunately far too infrequently. This Megadeth show was everything that I could have wanted with one tiny exception, and this would be something that would drive me nuts for most of the Megadeth shows that I have attended. That issue is that they ended the show with "Anarchy in the UK." It is a decent cover (of an OK song), the crowd goes wild, most people (even not Megadeth fans) know it, fast and fun...I know why they ended with it. But it is NOT a Megadeth song. I hated that they ended with a cover. It seemed weak, it seemed like they thought "Well, this song is better than anything we wrote."
There are so many things about that night permanently etched into my brain - from the smell of the summer air on the drive to Cedar Rapids, to the press of the crowd when near the barricades, to Dave Mustaine surrounded by light and looking like metal legend. I believe it was a night that affected the rest of my life. By this time I had been to a few other concerts...and had a great time, but this was different. It felt important and it felt like something had changed inside me. Live music was now in my blood and I constantly craved more.
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