What.
The.
FUCK!
Me and Greg got to the venue exceptionally early - about 11am - and we waited out there for a total of 8 hours until the doors opened. Waiting for lord Mustaine of course :P
Anyways, we;re sat there and our good ol'e brit buddies Evile come round the corner, so we think 'Fuck this we're getting a photo'. Which we did ahaha. I spoke to Matt for a bit saying that I fucking loved the album and they'd best be as good live as they were on record, then bid him farewell. After that we ended up hanging with these guys and Mike (Evile's bass player) even came out for a sneaky cigarette haha. No joke, they loved us and we loved them. Megadeth have competition. The only downside to all this waiting was the fact that after waiting 8 hours in the cold, we didn't get to meet Dave Mustaine - although we did manage to have a quick word with Shawn Drover (Megadeth, drummer) and the almighty Chris Broderick (Megadeth, lead guitar). I can fully understand why Dave wouldn't come out and I respect that, but it was a bit lame.
Alright so we get inside and the second we get near the front Evile's set begins. Me and Greg were floored (almost literally) by the fucking sheer intensity of their set! It must've barely been 40 minutes long, but they fucking killed it. I knew they were amazing, but last night Evile came out all guns fucking blazing and were quite possibly the best band that night (well, maybe ;P). Highlights of their set? The songs played, our jaws dropping when Oli was shredding, and perhaps the most humbling when he flicked up a thumbs up halfway through 'Thrasher'. Dear God, keep an eye on these guys people because they're fucking intense!
Job For A Cowboy... hmmmmmmmm. Hard to say. They played well and their set was mostly comprised of material from their 'Doom' EP. But their bass player needs to die, he acted/looked like such an idiot. No offence haha. Johnny Davey was sick but kept making these weird hand motions and shit, me and Greg are stood there going "z0mfg wtf". I wouldn't rate these boys too highly, although congratulations to them for at least keeping the crowd going.
Megadeth. Oh. My. Fucking. GOD. I honestly can't say enough good things about them! Every riff, every solo, every lick, every bassline, every single lyric... perfect. It was pure insanity. Their set was incredible too - Ashes in Your Mouth, Take No Prisoners, and best of all an EXTENDED rendition of Symphony of Destruction! For those not familiar with this extended version, go on Youtube and search for the 1999 video at the Fillmore Auditorium - fucking amazing! We got some banter from Dave in between some songs, most of which raised some laughs ("Be quiet, let me speak and stop being a dick"). He gave us speeches before 'Burnt Ice', 'Never Walk Alone' and 'Holy Wars' too - 'Burnt Ice' touched me in particular, with Dave saying thatthose who have done/are doing meth should stop because he loves them. Best was 'Holy Wars' - "This song was written here, in this very venues so if anyone tells you this song sucks tell them 'you're wrong, because this is my song'". Abslutely amazing. The ONLY gripe with Megadeth's show was their setlist - no sign of 'Set the World Afire', 'Return to Hangar' or "The Skull Beneath the Skin" but in all honesty, what was played more than made up for it. And Chris Broderick, WHAT THE FUCK?! That guy is IMMENSE!! Every solo perfectly replicated and made even better!? How does he fucking do it!!
So all in all - from the bottom of my heart I can honestly say that Gigantour Europe 2008 was the best show I have ever witnessed. Job For A Cowboy were pretty lame in some areas, but Megadeth completely destroyed.
But I'd have to say that Evile completely stole the show. Some would say thats blasphemy, but in all honesty their set was the best I've witnessed. Ever. Even Megadeth didn't match up to their level of energy, and thats saying something!
Three words to anyone who is planning to go to any of the Gigantour dates - Best show ever.