by clint gilders - clubkingsnake staff
The Arrow Hall. Toronto, Ontario.
April 30, 2008
Jeff recently posted his
Ten Bands I Have To Shoot Before I Die, and while mine is maybe a little more ever changing and ever growing I knew with the announcement of a Gigantour stop in Toronto I would be able to tick two bands off my list.
Fighting an ass-kicking cold that had been speading through my home, family, friends, and city I fortified my self with the potentially lethal combination of Contact-C and Amp energy drink and headed to the airplane hangar come concert venue known as the Arrow Hall to get my metal on.
First to take the stage were California's High on Fire. This power trio plays pretty straight forward metal that harkens back to Motorhead and Venom. They were a good warmup act, but didn't light me on fire.
Job For a Cowboy were a band I have wanted to see for a while. Yeah, they have one of the coolest band names in rock, but there's also something about their brand of Death Metal that raises it above the rest of the genre. Seeing them live simply confirmed my initial impressions. The musicianship is exceptional, and their stage presence is fantastic. I will go on record as not being a fan of Death Metal in general. Job For A Cowboy has won me over (to the dark side?) though and I'll be exploring this genre more deeply in the future. Maybe I'll find a few more gems like JFAC.
Now to the first band I can check off the "before I die.." list. Children of Bodom. Alexi Laiho, the frontman of Finland's power/death/melodic metal giants has handily insinuated himself into the ranks of guitar heros like Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde and for the last couple of years it has seemed that every guitar magazine has had some form of Alexi Laiho coverage every month. Led by the diminutive frontman with the polished black nails Children of Bodom play a precise pummeling metal with delicious riffs and lots of rock star posturing. Heavy as shit but still accessible describes Children of Bodom, and an obviously successful recipe for creating a guitar hero.
Few bands can really claim to have created a genre of music. Along with At The Gates and Dark Tranquility, In Flames are generally viewed as founders of the genre known as Melodic Death Metal. With a backline of strobes and spotlights it was a photographers nightmare, but I did manage to get a few useable shots. After our alloted songs I settled in to watch the set. This is a band that I had never listened to before but by the end of the set I was digging their sound. Lots of guitar harmonys, some keys, growls and some vocal melodies. Lead singer Anders Friden mentioned that they would be returning to Canada in November of this year, so I will be diving into their substantial back catalog and waiting for a date to be announced.
Now to the second band of the night that I can tick off my list. F@ckin' Megadeth! Gigantour founder and headliner Megadeth began their set with Sleepwalker, the lead off track from 2007's
United Abominations. What followed was a roller coaster ride through their entire catalogue. "Take no Prisoners", "Hangar 18", and "Holy Wars" from 1990's
Rust in Peace, "Wake Up Dead" and "Peace Sells" from the 1986 classic
Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?, "In my Darkest Hour" from 1988's
So Far, So Good… So What!, "Skin o' My Teeth" and "Symphony of Destruction" from the 1992 release
Countdown to Extinction as well as "Washington Next", "Burnt Ice", "A Tour Le Monde" and "Gears of War" (which Dave quipped is "about cutting people in half with a chain saw") from the aforementioned
United Abominations. Now well into his third decade at the helm Dave Mustaine and his Megadeth show no signs of slowing down, or turning down their Symphony of Destruction.