It has been years since I’ve attended a Metal show. I’m not too sure why there’s been this genre drought in my coverage, but I decided I needed to change that. Thankfully I wouldn’t have to wait any longer because on February 15th, Save-on-Foods Memorial Arena would host the first date of Megadeth’s final Canadian tour. Joined by Anthrax and Exodus, this Canadian tour became quite the buzz immediately after it was announced. I think it’s pretty easy to see that the demand for throwback Thrash Metal was there. Walking up to the arena, all you could see were lines upon lines of fans waiting to get inside to grab their merch, their beverages, and brace for a killer show. Once I made my way inside, I immediately ran to catch the first band.
Kicking off the night was a swift 6 song set by Exodus. Since 1979, this California based Thrash Metal band has been ripping cords and taking names. Today, they are still crushing it and showing just how hard they throwdown. Rob Dukes, lead singer of Exodus, wasted no time with the crowd. Not even 10 seconds into the performance, he called for a circle pit to form, and the crowd humbly obeyed. Rob’s not only good at commanding crowds, but he’s also good at helping out his fellow bandmate. During a guitar solo by Gary Holt, Rob walked over with a beer for him. Instead of stopping to drink this beer, Gary continued to play the required notes for the song and Rob helped strum his guitar. Their teamwork is a testament to how solid this band was. Before the end of the show, Exodus had the crowd form a Wall of Death. From one end of the pit to the other, the crowd rushed and slammed into each other as the pace hit an all-time high. Overall, Exodus showed that you don’t need a 15-song set to make a statement. You can have that same effect with only 6 songs, though we hope to see them return to Victoria for a longer set.
Moving forward with the night was legendary New York City metal outfit, Anthrax. Heavy metal in 1981 wouldn’t be the same without the music this group was putting out, and their music still has a chokehold on fans today. Before the beginning of the set, Anthrax had a real Blues Brothers moment as they walked out to; I can’t turn you loose by Otis Redding. From there, it was absolute carnage as the band went into a 9-song set. The amount of headbanging really increased with this set, and you could tell Anthrax was enjoying every minute of it. Before their set wrapped up, Scott Ian, Anthrax’s Rhythm Guitar player, had a moment of realization when thinking about how in 40+ years of being a band, not once had they played Victoria. Scott made it very clear that the band would return to Victoria. From there, the band cruised through the final song of their set. It’s crazy to think that there are still older bands just discovering Victoria for the first time. We might be in our own corner of the world, but if we give bands like Anthrax a reason to be here, then they will surely be back.
There’s a lot of history with a name like Megadeth, and Dave Mustaine is the true holder of that history. The impact Dave had on the fans in SOFMA, both young and old, was clearly on display. VIP ticket holders were escorted up on-stage to get a better view of the band during their final performance, and with a quick drop of the stage curtains, Megadeth’s final performance in Victoria began. Now oddly enough, I believe this was Dave’s first time in Victoria as well, so it will have been a first and last for the city. In any case, the band played a relentless 17-song set. If you were wondering if Mustaine still has it, then that setlist should be your answer. Granted, there were times when breaks were taken, but overall, the band played through a strong set of classics. Every time Dave got on the microphone, the crowd roared showing just how much Megadeth meant to them. Of course, the show had to come to an end, but not before the crowd cheered for one more song. Dave and the band would choose Holy Wars… The Punishment Due as their encore, giving fans one final chance to mosh and enjoy. Megadeth’s skull figure from their new album even made an appearance on stage with them. When the song finished, the band took a photo with the crowd, Dave then turned around, gave us a bow and walked away.
I’ll quote a common saying in that, “All good things must come to an end eventually”. Though, is this really the end? Mustaine mentioned that he could be touring for another 3 – 5 years as he says goodbye to the rest of the world. So, Megadeth is still far from ending if fans wanted to travel to see them. Besides that, this tour continues onto Abbotsford on February 17th and continues all the way through until March 6th, where the band concludes the tour in Quebec City. When Dave finally decides to call it quits, Megadeth will continue to make an impact on all metal fans for generations to come. Finally, since attending this show, I been getting a few Megadeth memes on my instagram feed. Dave looks like someone who you always find in random places, so when he does retire, I’m sure it won’t be the last we saw of him.
