Megadeth, Testament, Exodus at The Tabernacle, Atlanta 3/21/2010

Battered and bruised.  Feet ache from standing for five hours amongst other things.  Yeah, I went to a show. It was great. Everyone that I told about this show, you should have gone and you missed out.

First off, I-20 through Eastern Alabama can suck it.  The speed limit drops to 55MPH for about 75 miles and the idiots on the road drive 15MPH.  Took about an hour and a half longer than usual so I made it to Atlanta late.  To top it off the hotel and Tabernacle are around CNN Center, which is dense, unfamiliar territory where half the streets are missing street signs. Fine if you're a local, not so good if you're using Google Maps. Left my ticket in the garage so I had to walk from the hotel to the garage, half a block away from the Tabernacle, climb some stairs, and make it to my car then walk back.  

I made it in while Exodus was half way through their first song.  I'm not well versed on their repertoire so I don't know anything about the set list other than THEY PLAYED THE TOXIC WALTZ and that other song of theirs that's popular.  Exodus is a firm believer in The Pit, but the crowd was saving their energy for the main act.  They forced a circle at the start of Toxic Waltz.  While it spread the entire width of the floor and about two thirds of the way to the back of the house, it stopped just as they were getting to, "...and you're injury bound..."  While the lack of pit activity made us all wimps, I'm fine with that since I'm still recovering from back surgery.  They played two more songs and their set was over.

I actually ducked out to the restroom as they were playing their last song as I knew there would be some turnover in the crowd between sets. Perfect opportunity to get to the front. Ended up at stage left, touching the barricade. More on that later.  

After an excruciatingly long setup, Testament began to sound check. I heard some warm ups and I thought, "that sounds like Glen Drover, former guitarist for Megadeth and that band he formed with his brother up Canada." Sure enough, he's filling in for Alex Skolnick. I heard mention of this on Liquid Metal on Friday night but I didn't notice who was filling in as I had other things on my mind, like driving and eating and getting ramped up for the show.

Testament is amazing.  Chuck Billy, the vocalist, brings a stage presence infinitely larger than his massive, portly frame. The crowd was moving a bit more, but I ended up staying pretty much in the same spot. Testament decides to stir the crowd with "Into the Pit," but the crowd didn't do much. A pit formed and a small eddy hit me a couple of times, but nothing major. Megadeth was running late, Dave explained it during the Megadeth set, but the 2000 screaming fans kept me from understanding what he said.

So Testament finishes and they begin setup for the Megadeth set. The crowd starts squeezing and pushing. I get moved from my original spot to about a foot to the right.  This continues throughout the entire show and I end up half-way between center stage and stage right! I also ended up with another layer of bodies in front of me which meant I was at the front edge of the pit. I ended up in another eddy, moved around in a six foot circle, stopping right where I started. The crowd was pushing like crazy, and there were some kids thrashing in front of me so violently I wanted to throw them into the pit, but the pit was a gentleman's pit. Someone went down, someone helped them up. Things get a bit too intense, verging on fists flying, someone talked it down in a second and a half. The pit was safer than the crowd at the front, especially when it got near the end of the show. Everyone wanted picks, and the much coveted wrist bands. I ended up covered in sweat, most of it belonging to others. Was nearly kicked in the face by numerous crowd surfers, many of which ended up booted from the floor when they were dumped between the barricade and stage. One guy was dropped on his head before Megadeth's set started.

Folks, there's a reason venues don't like attendees bringing cameras. It's not that it somehow detracts from the value of the show, devalues the band's image, and so on. It's not that the flash is overly annoying to the performers; it's only mildly so. It's that those boxes, when combined with a few thousands hands in the air, blocks the view of everyone behind you. This isn't limited to proper cameras. Cell phones are just as bad when raised to the air.

The actual show was nothing less than amazing. First on stage was Shawn Drover. He amped the crowd with just a couple of waves, not that it took much, as the guitar tech was enough to get the crowd shouting, "MUSTAINE! MEGADETH! WOOOOOOOOOO!" Next up was Chris Broderick, the friendly giant. Next up was David Ellefson, whose appearance drew about ten times more insanity from the crowd. A few seconds later, Dave Mustaine. Crank it up another fifty decibels.

Don't even get me started on the set list. During the tear down/setup between sets I was surrounded by pot smokers, one of whom accidentally flicked the glowing ember from the head onto my hand while attempting to extinguish his medication. I had enough second hand smoke to make me hazy thanks to the three stoners behind me exhaling while standing a mere 4 inches behind me. They apologized for the whole burning my hand thing. Not a big deal. It's a concert, and the stoners were much better than "DUIDE I GOT DRUNK BEFOER WE LETF THE HO...

...ATELLL" guy.

So they played four songs, the entirety of Rust In Peace, and then another few songs. I had stated before that I hoped they played the first half of Holy Wars, stopped, played the entire show, and finished with the last half. Well, they halfway did that. They reprised the last bit of Holy Wars, starting with the pm'd harmonics. Dave didn't sing this time. When it got to where, "Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away," should be they drop the guitars, leaving bass and drums. Dave does some talking, guitars return, finish the song, and then the standard show ending "You've been great! We've been Megadeth! Thank you! Good night!" This was followed with the ceremonial tossing of picks and sticks, and Dave's wristbands. The show ended at approximately 23:15, a good 45 minutes later than the norm.

Everyone in the band interacts with the audience in such a way that it doesn't feel like you're watching rock stars perform. Yes, I know it's partly because of the small venue with a stage only four feet off the floor, but there is no arrogance, and there is no strong separation between The Band and The Audience. In-your-face solos and lead breaks are actually in your face, with a smile or Mustaine snarl, eye contact and a nod of acknowledgment

I finally remembered one of the reasons for the delay. Headcrusher was dedicated to a crew member that decided today would be a good day to quit.

Body damage:
• elbows slammed into various parts of the body, including top of right wrist
• someone's head shoved into right hip
• someone's body came in horizontally and slammed into right hip
• someone's head slammed into my back on top of the surgical scar
• someone's elbow slammed into my back on top of the surgical scar, twice
• someone came in horizontal onto the side of the my right knee as I was tripping over someone, shin pinned between the two. Could have been worse, but I managed to twist around so that I suffered no real damage
• that happened again
• someone from the pit ends up with the back of their head slamming into my tail bone and their torso slamming into my legs, knocking me over onto the kids in front. helped this guy up
• pinned, pushed, tumbled and squeezed countless times.
• between songs, as I was pushed further towards the right side someone else was trying to head left. elbow jammed into this person's ribs with audible cracking... over the noise of the crowd and over the 20dB of attenuation offered by the ear plugs!
• Stepped on countless feet during the mass shovings
• due to the pushing of others, nearly elbowed a girl in the head multiple times. As she was fairly short, she could easily duck so I would elbow the chest of the guy she was with