Monday, March 29. 2010
by Jeff Barringer - Staff Writer
Pioneer thrash metal band Megadeth made a long overdue stop in Austin Texas, led by founders Dave Mustaine on guitar and vocals, Dave Ellefson on bass, as well as former Jag Panzer guitarist Chris Broderick on lead and long time drummer Shawn Drover. Plowing through their hits to a sold out crowd that spent their time either chanting along or moshing, Megadeth pushed their show close to the curfew after a long encore.
With the Stubb's packed to the gills, the pit did get pretty hairy for a while, with an endless stream of black t-shirted bodies being ejected, only to re-enter the streams of surfers and moshers and appear again. It's been a long time since Austin had a headline thrash band (one of the big 4) visit a big venue and the crowd took every opportunity they could to make the most of it.
Opening for Megadeth were Testament and Exodus, beyond legendary thrash metal bands in their own right. It was a special treat to see Testament making it's first Austin appearance since reforming.
Click here to check out the rest of the Megadeth pics.
Click here to check out the Exodus pics.
Click here to check out the Testament pics.
photos by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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Monday, March 22. 2010
by Jeff Barringer - Staff Writer
GWAR closed out a busy festival week in Austin Texas, with an outdoor set at the Mess With Texas Festival Saturday night. Despite winds and temperatures that more resembled winter than spring in Austin, thousands of GWAR faithful turned out to get drenched in "blood" despite the chilly walk back to the car.
GWAR did not disappoint, with copious quantities of GWAR goo blasting from the stage, caught by the wind it coated most of those in the front with a fine even spray mist while those of us closer to the stage still managed to catch the blasts full force. Even then many photographers chose to bail than face a full out GWAR assault and at times it did seem they were battling the press.
Though cramped into a somewhat small stage GWAR still managed to find room for the whole band as well as their inevitable props and weaponry. Still part of the stage act were the "Blood Cannon" as well as the Micheal Jackson and Barack Obama props. Missing was the 20 minute opening video sequence shown their last tour though, but with the temps hovering in the upper 30s with the wind, that proved to be a blessing.
Click here to check out the rest of the pics.
photos by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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