It’s always good to go out of your comfort zone every once in awhile. As a music fan, I have my favorite bands just like you. As a music journalist, I get the chance to experience all kinds of different sounds and shows that I may have missed otherwise. And so when the Jagermeister Music Tour came thundering into New Orleans recently, I was there, earplugs in…but eardrums wide open.
Featuring three of the biggest bands in the thrash/speed metal genre, this tour has been rumbling across the states like a hell-bent tornado, sweeping up fans and tossing them into a whirlwind frenzy. Loud, fast, sweaty music never sounded so, well, entertaining.
With the grandpappies of the genre together on one stage, this tour would have been more appropriately titled “Retirement My Ass”, as there were no signs of lethargism, creaky amplifiers, or excuse-me-while-I-sing-a-ballad moments. No, these men have been rocking and sharpening their metal claws since the early 80’s and have decided that old age is for sissies.
Anthrax, the fun boys of lightening metal who hail from New York City, opened up the show with newly reinstated vocalist Joey Belladonna back up front where he belongs. Smiling and having a total blast, Joey, founding member Scott Ian, bassist Frank Bello, drummer Charlie Benante and scorching hot guitar player Rob Caggiano, fired up this crowd who were already on the verge of fist pumping apocalypse. You couldn’t have asked for a better opener, as they played some of their biggest hits like “Caught In A Mosh”, “I Am The Law”, “Antisocial” and “Indians”.
Megadeth received a huge reaction upon taking the stage, providing the filling to this trio of monster bands. The crowd unfortunately threw beer cups towards the stage in, I assume, some kind of worshiping ritual, but Dave Mustaine and his cohorts kept on playing like nothing was happening. Head down, red hair in ragtag ringlets covering his scouring face, Mustaine growled out the entire Rust In Peace album, which happens to be celebrating its 20th year as a Metal masterpiece.
Acknowledging the crowd and soaking up the adulation, Mustaine thanked his legions for sticking with them all these years, and pointed out that New Orleans “is the one city that scares me. So I want to hear all you scary little fuckers sing with me”. With long-time on and off again bass player David Ellefson, guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover, they sounded like a locomotive in overdrive, following Rust In Peace with “Trust”, “Head Crusher” from the fairly new Endgame, a fantastic “A Tout Le Monde”, “Symphony Of Destruction” and “Peace Sells”.
I want to make sure that I single out the guitars of Megadeth, especially Chris Broderick who did great guitar solos on “Trust” and “A Tout Le Monde”, sharing licks with an already better-than-ever Mustaine. Wow, whiplash at its best.
Slayer. You could sense the anticipation from the crowd. You could almost choke on it, in fact. And we (the photographers in the pit) were fore-warned that when the curtain dropped and the band was revealed, we needed to be on our toes as the moshers would go completely insane. But it wasn’t that bad and we remained intact. Scorching the eardrums of many in front, Slayer never let up, never apologized for the insanity and never once made their fans feel unappreciated.
I was told beforehand to keep my eyes on Kerry King, the leader of Slayer, which have been erroneously labeled devil worshipers since they came into existence in 1981. If you actually sit down and read some of their lyrics, they’re just speaking about issues that affect most of us in our everyday lives. They just poeticize it more differently than we’re used to.
Standing more to the side with a lean towards the backstage walkway (and bumping into Anthrax’s Rob Caggiano in the process), I was able to watch Kerry just sit back and shred, arm muscles flexing, tattoos dancing, eyes focused on giving the people what they wanted, which was a heavy dose of Slayer classics like “South Of Heaven”, “Raining Blood” and the new “World Painted Blood”. Along with vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, guitarist Jeff Hanneman and drummer Dave Lombardo, they may have single-handedly opened this city back up to the powers of faster-thrashier-ball busting rock.
