Justin Nuoffer
MEGADETH
W/ Mudvayne and All That Remains
9/3/24 – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre – Tinley Park, IL
©Justin Nuoffer/NuofferMedia.com
The Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre played host to Megadeth and their “Destroy Them All” tour. The massive amphitheatre is located in the Southwestern suburb on the outskirts of Chicago called Tinley Park. The day itself couldn’t have been more beautiful. The parking lot filled and folks walked around with their favorite beverages before hitting the gates to enter. There were two sets of gates on each side of the amphitheatre. Both have small courtyards with various food and beverage stands. Right next to the walkway leading into the venue, the merchandise stands were packed with lines upon lines of people looking for their new gear.
Walking in through the side of the amphitheatre, you can take a walkway up into the grandstands or up to the top, which was the lawn section. There are no bad viewing sections. The facility itself is an immaculate structure.
The openers were All That Remains. The ATR crew have been smashing stages for a couple of decades now. Their brand of metal has varied over the years. Nonetheless, they are still heavy as hell and spared no time handing out brutal body punches. Their 2006 release The Fall of Ideals was the focus. Radio hit after radio hit from the album was unloaded. “Whispers” and “This Calling” anchored the back end of the set with “Two Weeks,” a platinum single from the Overcome album.
Frontman, Phil Labonte, delivered vicious vocals and made his way as far out towards the crowd as possible. The spacious stage was used to its max. All That Remains are very active and run around it. The band were a perfect opener who delivered their own greatest hits.
With Mudvayne’s triumphant return from hiatus back in 2021, they have managed to become road warriors once again. The fans have come out in droves at every stop they’ve had along the way. Mudvayne for a while, were in the classic costumes from their L.D.50 album, however, on their more recent runs, the now five-piece are in completely new versions of themselves every night out. The fire and intensity they bring on stage is contagious. From the very first notes of their opener “Not Falling,” the general admission pit went crazy and never slowed down.
Mudvayne are pure energy. They exude it from every pour. Frontman Chad Gray is a world class performer. He commands your attention and displays no fear. He flies around the stage, jumps off stands, and isn’t afraid to launch himself into the front row to sing and meet the fans. Nothing is off limits.
Their setlist heavily favors their first two releases, L.D.50 and The End of All Things To Come. They built their careers and fan base by relentlessly touring on these albums. “Nothing To Gein” and “-1” were fantastic palate cleansers for the monsters they had at the back end. Greg Tribbett on guitar with touring guitarist Marcus Rafferty had zero issues laying down those delicious riffs the Nu-Metal community grew to love.
Once Mudvayne reached “Death Blooms” they were firing on all cylinders. “Death Blooms” is a heavy hitting song with heavy lyrical content. However, it didn’t matter to the crowd, it looked like waves moving through the amphitheatre. Knowing that their biggest songs were left kept the anticipation and engagement at peak levels. “World So Cold” is an emotional journey that is also followed up with the radio smash “Happy?”. Gray took moments to speak to the crowd about mental health and just coming out to the show and leaving the world behind for a day. It is a sentiment I think is extremely true and honest. Escaping for a few hours is natural. With a scream of “Can you dig it!?!”. Bassist Ryan Martinie walked towards the front of the stage and launched into that infamous bass line of “Dig”. The ground shook and a chorus of screams filled the air. Mudvayne know their place and capitalize upon it.
With a large black curtain draped over the middle of the stage, a wooden wheeled cart was being wheeled across the front of the stage by a collector in a medieval plague doctor mask. The phrase “Bring Out Your Dead” being repeated over and over, and then the curtain fell.
Mr.Megadeth himself, Dave Mustaine stood on the front of the drum riser and ripped into “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”. His head banged and he looked as fresh as ever. Making his way towards the microphone up front, he stood still for a moment and looked out over the amphitheatre. With an impressed look upon his face, he and his band of highly skilled musicians ripped through “Dread and The Fugitive Mind” and “Angry Again”. Dave asked, “Are you feeling good?” he then said, “We are going to play a song and, uh, it’s about our capital and…” the intro to “Washington is Next” rings out and the infectious mellow vocal groove took over the calm night. A constant theme of the evening was guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari walking up front to the edge of the stage for nearly every solo he ripped. Mustaine would step back and let him shine. The duo were immaculate. If there is anything one should know, there was no fire or CO2 cannons. Simply put, they let the music talk to the audience.
If there were a Mount Rushmore to metal music there would be no doubt Dave Mustaine’s face etched into the stone. His acknowledgment of his history lies within the setlist for the evening. Megadeth filled it with nothing but their greatest hits and crowd favorites. From “Countdown to Extinction” to “Sweating Bullets” to “Trust” and “Tornado of Souls,” the action was furious and the sounds of the time tested guitar riffs left the crowd in awe.
The mythical status of one of thrash’s Gods continued to gain fervor. The devoted fan base head banged away and played air guitar in their seats or in the aisles. The feeling was surreal. To no surprise though, once the intro to “Symphony of Destruction” started to chug through the PA system, that emotional rollercoaster amplified. It was breathtaking. Everyone was letting loose. The circle pit in GA opened up wide and spun wildly. Everything built to this moment and it wasn’t even close to over yet.
With an encore left to complete, Megadeth weren’t close to calling this night finished. They ripped through “Mechanix” and once the intro to “Peace Sells” hit the ears of the faithful, a massive eruption overtook the facility. A legendary song with heavy political implications couldn’t have been a better anthem for the times we live in.
Even more impressive, Megadeth came out for a second encore with “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”. It was hard to believe this evening was over. The feeling was overwhelming. Megadeth provided an incredible experience. Every note was struck with perfection. It was a straight forward rock show with impeccable sound. The night sky was empty and cool but our hearts were full and warm. Megadeth delivered over and over. Their status on top of the thrash echelon was merely confirmed and it proved they are still not to be missed after all of these years of doing it.
Comments