By Todd Matthy
Gigantour did not live up to its name. Before I continue none of it was the fault of the bands or their members. It was the sound and the timing. Sound was off, you couldn’t hear the singers (especially during Megadeth), and performances were too short (like Motorhead’s). There were times when distortion was stronger then the musicians. But we’ll talk about that later for now let’s talk about the bands.
Lacuna Coil kicked the night off with a trippy, dark, and colorful lightshow that matched Cristina Scabbia’s haunting vocals. Sound wise, I had trouble hearing Andrea Ferro’s voice but no trouble with Cristina’s. The fans were very into the bands performance and Cristina held onto them like a siren luring sailors. Then the performance was over. I was surprised their set was over so fast but then again when you’re the opener on a four band bill, there’s only so much time you can have.
The second band up was Volbeat. Sound wise, Volbeat had by far the crispest audio of the evening and sounded as polished as they would on an album. Musically, they knew this gig was a big opportunity for them to make a statement and they played with a fast version power/groove sound. Volbeat’s fans were very vocal in their support of the band and they got the crowd roaring with a Johnny Cash cover.
Finally we got to the band that was one half of the main event, Motorhead and even though they were by far the loudest they’re set was too short. They opened up with “Bomber” and threw in some more lesser known songs from the 1916 album like “The One to Sing the Blues” and “Going to Brazil.” The highlight of the set (and perhaps the evening) was a killer drum solo from Mikkey Dee. He played fast and hard for quite a few minutes while being bombarded by strobe lights. It was a sight to behold. When he was done the band went into “Killed by Death” before closing with “Ace of Spades” and “Overkill.” Great performance, great set but it was too short. I think Volbeat played longer then Motorhead did. Did I mention how great Mikkey’s solo was?
Finally, there was Megadeth and it was here that flaws in the sound system were most apparent. Dave’s mic was so low that he couldn’t be heard at all. Which really screwed things up for people who wanted to sing along with him. The bands light show was by far the brightest but not so bright that it was distracting. The set list was composed of a host of classics like “Trust,” “Symphony of Destruction,” and “Sweating Bullets.” They also played a few songs off the new album including “Public Enemy Number One” and “Guns, Drugs, and Money.”
Some people were happy with this decision some weren’t. After that they went into “Tout le Monde” with a very special guest. Cristina Scabbia came out and sang with Dave like she did on United Abominations and the crowd ate it up. When Cristina left Dave brought out another special guest, his daughter who turned fourteen that night. The stage flashed “Happy Birthday” as Dave played the song on his guitar. When she left, Dave asked us what the world would be like if he was President. He was proudly able to say, “no one would fuck with us” before going into the last song “Holy Wars…the Punishment Due.” For an encore they played “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying.” Then the show was over.
At first I thought I was the only one who noticed problems with the sound so I talked to people after the show to get their opinions. Many of them shared my opinion of the sound. One fan told me they were able to have a conversation during the show. Many fans were also upset the show ended at 10:30 but Dave, before “Holy Wars” said they had to wrap up due to union regulations. But that is another story. In the end, I don’t know if it was the sound system or the venues acoustics but it was apparent the Theatre at Madison Square Garden was not a good venue for a show like Gigantour.
