Gigantour tore through Milwaukee last night at the Eagles Ballroom
fueling Milwaukee’s long time love for metal. Reaching the midpoint of
the tour, passing through the heart of the Midwest, Gigantour proved
once again to be the “rip your face off” show of the year. Featuring
Megadeth, Motörhead, Volbeat, and Lacuna Coil, Gigantour was as big as
ever, bringing some of the hottest names in metal to cities across the
nation.
Making their stop at The Eagles Ballroom, a place all too
common to heavy metal, put Milwaukee in for a real treat. Although
booked on a Sunday night, Milwaukee and our metal roots didn’t let
Gigantour down as showed up in the thousands.
As Lacuna Coil
started their set at 630 sharp, the crowd continued to trickle in
through the length of their performance. Nearly all opening bands don’t
get the crowd response they deserve, but in this case most of the
ballroom erupted for Lacuna Coil, especially in the area nearest the
stage. As expected, Lacuna Coil threw down pretty hard and did a
fantastic job of setting the bar for what was to come.
Oddly
enough, most of the crowd nearest the stage were younger than you’d
expect. Seeing as the headliners were in their prime back in the 80’s
and 90’s you’d think the demographic would be quite different. More of
the middle aged crowd that you would expect were near the back of the
venue, casually looking on as their youth counterparts had most of the
fun.
after Lacuna Coil. Starting strong with “A Warrior’s Call”, Volbeat
really pumped up the crowd and threw gasoline on the already big fire
that Lacuna started. Chanting “VOLBEAT!” every chance they got, the
crowd roared in excitement for these guys. I’d have to say this was also
my favorite performance of the night, really taking me by surprise. Not
letting up for anything, Volbeat powered through an awesome set-list
and cranked the rowdiness of the crowd up tenfold. Shortly before
leaving the stage, Volbeat broke into an improve Slayer song fragment
for some well deserve chanting and applause.
As Motörhead
eventually took the stage, things seemed to wind down a bit, as they and
Volbeat have vastly different genres of music from different
generations. You either loved or hated Motörhead’s performance.
Personally, I was not very enthused or impressed by their set, though.
From what Motörhead as been hyped up to be I though they were less than
enjoyable and lacked the energy than Lacuna and Volbeat brought to
Gigantour, but that might just be the way they are. Overall, Motörhead
seemed a little dry in addition to being unbearably loud to the point
where I couldn’t hear much of Lemmy’s vocals. At one point Phil Campbell
(guitars) even asked for the volume to be turned up.
proven very wrong, the crowd seemed to really enjoy Motörhead with the
majority of crowd surfing taking place during their set. Immediately
after they left the stage the crowd signaled that many of them were
there for Motörhead only. As it neared the time for Megadeth to sink
their teeth into the Milwaukee crowd, many fans left and the ballroom
thinned out a noticeable amount. Don’t get me wrong, there were A LOT of
people who stayed for Megadeth, but not as many as Motörhead.
Things
really got crazy as Megadeth took the stage. The clean stage setup,
stacks of Marshalls, and extravagant lighting show really brought
Megadeth up to a superior level showing everyone who’s boss. Shortly
after starting their spectacular show, Megadeth brought out Cristina
Scabbia of Lacuna Coil to sing a duet with lead vocalist Dave Mustaine.
Needless to say this was a truly special moment for all fans of either
band. Through thrashy riffs and crisp guitar solos, Megadeth gave the
crowd a run for their money, putting on a great show.
For the complete concert gallery visit nicksemradphotography.com. Follow on Twitter! @NickSemradPhoto
Megadeth
Trust – Wake Up Dead – A Tout Le Monde w/Crisina – Hangar 18 – She Wolf
– Foreclosure of a Dream – Dawn Patrol – Poison Was the Cure –
Headcrusher – Public Enemy – Whose Life – Guns, Drugs & Money,
Symphony, Peace Sells, Holy Wars
Volbeat
Intro/A Warrior’s Call – Guitar Gangster – Human – Sad Man – Goat – Who
They Are – Fallen – Mirror – Pool Of Booze – Still Counting/Slayer
Lacuna Coil
Intro – Our Truth – Upside Down – Fragile – Kill The Light – Trip The Darkness – Spellbound
