"daddy, who are the Yankees playing? cause these guys look SCARY!"…read more- a small frightened kid on the D train as a blackshirted armada disembarked
I still can't get over the fact that this show happened, let alone that I was there to witness history!
30 or so years of touring, records, injuries, fights, breakups, deaths, realignments, lawsuits, and much more between these four bands...and they came together to rock 50 thousand people in unity.
Anthrax. Megadeth. Slayer. Metallica. the influence these bands have made is legendary. true, they may have "sounded more real" back in the 80s, but they also didn't have the historic catalog of sounds to reach into back then, nor the reputation they have now.
Anthrax - always underrated, these guys stole the goddamn show. their sound was tight and they got the crowd pumped for the rest of the bands. setlist was a rousing stomp through 80s thrash classics like "Madhouse", "Antisocial", "Caught in a Mosh", and even a song from the new album. my favorite set of the night.
Megadeth - Dave Mustaine should be our President; simple as that. sadly, Mr. Mustaine had a neck injury ("I shouldn't be playing here tonight") so the setlist was short and he didn't seem as energetic as the other times I saw Megadeth. still, tore through classics from all over the place and even a new song to whet our appetites.
Slayer - just all-out, balls-to-the-wall aggression and fury. you could blow up a small Third World country with the energy these guys got out of the crowd. my second time seeing them and somehow I'm still not clicking with their live set. I can enjoy the crowd favorites, but the rest is kinda "eh" to me. don't get me wrong, I like them, but of the four bands, probably my least favorite.
Metallica - my fourth time seeing them and they again sounded awesome. the setlist DOES need to be switched up - I'd like to hear some more variance - but they threw in "Orion" as a tribute to Cliff Burton. completely solid. for some reason they were the only guys with a stage show - lasers, fog, balloons, explosions, fireworks, and more!
there was a unity song where members of all the bands came out to play "Overkill" by Motorhead. the energy, already at a boiling point, erupted. Kerry King standing next to Kirk Hammett! Joey Belladonna and Dave Ellefson side by side!
to think, in Europe, they get massive metal festivals all the time! let's outlaw professional sports and give the stadiums over to rock bands. there, I said it! you wanna fight? I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!
the sound was perfect. the bands were great. the weather was warm. 50 thousand people of every type descended upon Yankee Stadium and witnessed history, singing along to every song.
my kids will envy me.