It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen Megadeth perform live, so I was pretty excited to be covering the show for Club Kingsnake. I arrived about 45 minutes early, got my pass for photographing the show, and went over to check with security to get the scoop on what the rules for the night would be. Then I headed off to the side bar to check out some local bands on the smaller stage.

I came back and got into the backstage area about 10 minutes before show time -- just enough time to get my gear out and have a look at the stage and pit area before the first band came on.

First up was The Confession, a band out of Orange County California. The bands' members Taylor Holland Armstrong (vocals), Kevin Fyfe (guitars), Justin Norman (guitars), Matt Pauling (bass), and Jeff Veta (drums) combine to make a great sounding melodic metal mix with heavy dual guitar harmonies and great solos, which is refreshing these days. Even though the set was short, the band performed with a lot of energy and got the crowd pumped into a head banging frenzy. Two songs really stood out for me, “Burn the Virgin� and “Requiem,� both with great vocals and blistering guitars with a hard driving bass and kick drum behind them. Check out their debut album, Requiem, out now.

Next up was another newcomer to the metal scene. In This Moment just released their debut album in February ‘07 and have just come off a huge summer tour on the Ozzfest Bill. The band -- Marie (vocals), Chris (lead guitar), Blake (guitar), Jesse (bass), and Jeff (drums) -- put on a high set. Maria has a great voice that can be sweet and melodic and turn into a great throaty and almost tiger-like growl. The dual guitars are heavy, and the solos hit you like a brink in the face, backed by blazing blast beats, heart pounding double bass, and heavy bass. The set was short but sweet. The second song was “Prayer,� which seemed to be the favorite with the crowd. They all were screaming along word for word throughout the whole song. Also performed were “Beautiful Tragedy� and “Daddy’s Falling Angel." All on their album Beautiful Tragedy, which would be a great addition to any metal fan's collection.

Next up, the headliners, Megadeth. About 20 minutes before they took the stage, all the others had filtered in from the other stages throughout the club and packed the floor and upper deck to beyond full capacity.

The lights dimmed and the crowd broke into a frenzied roar as Dave took the stage followed by the rest. The band has gone through some lineup changes over the years, but the sound's still the same (fucking amazing) .

They put on a great 90 minute set mixed with new and old. “Sleepwalker� was the opening song, and got the crowd going mad with head banging, fist pumping and of course plenty of crowd surfing. The third song in was “Wake Up Dead,� and I can still remember listening to this in my basement as a teen at 10 on the volume dial (if only there was an 11). Some of the older songs were “Peace Sells,� �Holy Wars,� “Darkest Hour,� and “Symphony Of Destruction.� There were some new, like “Gears Of War� and the remake of “A Tout Le Monde,� which the whole place belted out word for word with the band. At one point, all I could hear was the crowd overpowering the sound from the stage; it almost gave me goose bumps.

All in all it was a great show, the crowd and bands were amped up, and at one point I think I saw a smile on Dave’s face. Check out their new album out United Abominations, and catch them on tour where you can.