MEGADETH brings the Thrash Attack to The Armory!

CONCERT REVIEW :: MEGADETH, MUDVAYNE
The Armory in Minneapolis, MN
9/24/24
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

MEGADETH led a well curated package to The Armory in Minneapolis for a pretty packed Tuesday night show. MEGADETH brought along MUDVAYNE for their first MN show since they reformed and ALL THAT REMAINS who just recently released their first new music without their late guitarist Oli Herbert.

MEGADETH came out pulling no punches swinging with the guitar pyrotechnics from the moment the curtain dropped on “The Sick, The Dying and The Dead” right into “Dread and the Fugitive Mind” and then “Wake Up Dead”. The crowd ate up the back and forth shredding between Dave Mustaine and newer recruit Teemu Mantysaari as Megadeth’s sound was pristine from the moment they came out. The fantastic soundsystem at The Armory is one of the best reasons to go check out a show at The Armory but also that these bands can bring in a full arena size rock show in. Megadeth brought all the lights with them. When you think of the late 1980’s performance music videos and you see all the lights they had overhead on stage, that is exactly what Megadeth brought with them. Enough lighting to power a small town! Which really brought a fun energy to the show as there was no video screens, just a massive backdrop with Vic Rattlehead staring intently down at the crowd and all these lights.

This was easily the best sounding show I’ve seen from MEGADETH in quite a while. While they sounded great at The Armory back in 2021 with Lamb of God, this was a more focused, tightly knit masterclass for the fans. Bassist James LoMenzo was firing off all the classic bass lines with great ease. Drummer Dirk Verbeuren holding court behind the drums with great force on a massive riser behind a drum kit that every drummer has ever wanted since first seeing those classic videos on MTV. And oh yes, those songs came out swinging too! The crowd singing along loudly with “Sweating Bullets,” “Peace Sells” and of course “Symphony of Destruction” into the closer “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” going for a fantastic 1, 2, 3 punch to close the show just as they started with the guitar pyrotechnics 1, 2, 3 punch right out of the gate.

Unfortunately, traffic led us to miss ALL THAT REMAINS’ early set but we arrived just as MUDVAYNE kicked off their set with a blistering “Not Falling”. MUDVAYNE looked great with Chad and Ryan running all over the stage while Matt blasted on his pretty monstrous drum kit. Chad sounded great tackling the punishment of some pretty unforgiving vocal passages in their tight 10 song set including “Silenced,” “Internal Primates Forever” and the set closer “Dig.” MN was definitely happy to see MUDVAYNE back on stage as they had the pits going, crowd surfers and they even ran out of most of their merch early in the evening!

The Minneapolis stop is towards the end of the summer Destroy All Enemies run, this was Megadeth shining at it’s brightest while once again bringing a solid package with them to entertain the packed Armory for a bring the whole family fun filled evening of metal proportions that only Dave Mustaine and Megadeth have been known to do for years now!

SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS OF MEGADETH HERE!