Megadeth Pack Arenas as They Kick Off Their Final Tour

The precision and ferocity that Megadeth's Dave Mustaine plays his guitar has only gotten more impressive as the bands career surpassed forty years. We were a little surprised last fall when they announced their final album and the eventual retirement of the band. What we didn't expect, was that their final offering was going to be such an earworm. The band is reliably great and, while a few albums over the years have come in a bit below expectations, most have been absolute bangers. Their self-titled final effort is no exception.

Now for the show! We booked the trip up to London, Ontario the day this tour went on sale. The opportunity to see Megadeth in a new city with Anthrax and Exodus on the bill was an easy choice. We booked an AirBNB and planned to spend the night in town.

After a pre-show dinner at Holy Diver (an exceptional restaurant/bar down the street from the venue), we headed over to the show. Before even getting in the door, the massive line wrapping around the block was an indicator that this was going to be an exciting night. The arena (with a concert capacity of approximately 9,000 was almost entirely sold out).

Exodus' Rob Dukes and Gary Holt opening up the show in London, Ontario

Exodus took the stage to warm up the crowd and did not disappoint. Featuring newly rejoined vocalist Rob Dukes, the band ripped through a short set with renewed energy. We've caught Exodus a number of times over the years and similar to other '80s thrash metal bands like Testament, they're turning out solid material deep into their forty-year career. Tonight's show was no exception.

Anthrax was the next to take the stage. We're no stranger to this band either, having seen them as far back as 2011 at The Big 4 concert in New York City, just as they were celebrating Worship Music, their reunion album with longtime classic vocalist Joey Belladonna. The band has been sparse with new music since then, only releasing (an incredible) covers album and their 2016 album, For All Kings. Word is, a new release is just around the corner, however!

*Anthrax' Joey Belladonna and Scott Ian shredding through their set*

Their show largely consisted of live staples, including "Madhouse," "Caught in a Mosh" and "Fight 'Em Til You Can't." They wrapped their show with a cover of "O Canada," the Canadian national anthem, which sealed the deal in terms of winning over this evening's crowd. If you've seen Anthrax before, then you'll be delighted to know they're showing up with all the energy, excitement and hits that you've come to expect. If you haven't, then prepare to be delighted.

Megadeth finally took the stage to finish off the night, opening with "Tipping Point," the lead single from their new eponymous album, released this past January. From their, they launched into a seventeen-song setlist littered with career-spanning hits. Highlights include "Hangar 18," "Tornado of Souls," "Peace Sells" and of course "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due." Additionally, we got a few more new tracks including "I Don't Care" and "Let There Be Shred," along with the tour debut of "A Tout Le Monde."

*Dave Mustaine performing in London, Ontario*

This show was awesome! One thing is for sure, we're going to see Megadeth as many times as possible over the next few years. We'll catch them this May in Columbus, OH at Sonic Temple, and again this summer in Toronto with Iron Maiden. The band that Dave has assembled over the last decade is exceptional. We were at drummer Dirk Verbeuren's first show back at Rock on the Range in 2016. Admittedly, we were so impressed with Chris Adler's work on Dystopia that we were skeptical of another change. We're happy to have been proven wrong as Dirk has proven to be an absolute machine. Similarly, the re-addition of bassist James LoMenzo made for a seamless transition. Lastly, the exit of Kiko Loureiro and the introduction of his hand-picked replacement Teemu Mantysarri has left us wanting more new music from this lineup!

Our single hope is that we're fortunate enough to hear "Countdown to Extinction" live at least one more time. From the sounds of it. This tour should last 2-3 years, so there's plenty of time!

Setlist: