Megadeth Takes No Prisoners at the Scranton Cultural Center

Thrash metal pioneers Megadeth headlined a sold-out show in Scranton, Pennsylvania last night, shredding through the entire Rust in Peace album for over 2,000 raucous fans.

The Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary tour, a 22 date trek also featuring Exodus and Testament, is hitting venues in mostly smaller markets for just one month, bringing a unique show to fans who often get passed over on larger national tours. Before the show, I spoke with both Chuck Billy of Testament and David Ellefson of Megadeth: click here to see my interview with Billy, and here to watch my interview with Ellefson.

The Scranton Cultural Center is itself an impressive sight, a former Masonic Temple turned into an entertainment venue. Massive stone walls and ten foot steel and wooden doors created a fortress-like vibe, with just enough room for the high-energy show in store for those lucky enough to snag a ticket to the sold-out event. Fans drove to the quiet, unassuming Scranton from as far as Maine in their quest to hear one of Megadeth’s finest records played live in its entirety.

Testament, who along with Exodus is one of the lesser-known first generation thrash bands, followed Megadeth’s lead by ditching a traditional setlist for this tour, and instead played their debut album, The Legacy, from start to finish. While the band’s later records would evolve in style to more of a death metal sound, The Legacy is nine tracks of pure guitar riffage and wild solos. Vocalist Chuck Billy commanded a massive stage presence as he roared the lyrics to opening songs Over the Wall and The Haunting, playing air guitar on his microphone stand with the same ferocity as guitarists Eric Peterson and Glenn Drover, the latter of whom is filling in for Alex Skolnick on this tour, and by coincidence happens to be an ex-Megadeth member as well.

The crowd response to Testament was fantastic, with fans crushed up against the barrier, and singing together in a call-and-response with Billy on Alone in the Dark. The nine tracks of The Legacy seemed to fly past in a whirlwind of bass drum kicks and shrieking lead guitars, as Billy roared through his vocals with the power and enthusiasm of a frontman half his age. All too soon, though, final song Apocalyptic City came to a close, and as the house lights came on, the tension in the room ratcheted up significantly in anticipation of Megadeth’s set.

Thirty minutes later, the lights dimmed once more, and one by one, the four musicians in Megadeth appeared on stage, with recently rejoined bassist Ellefson garnering tremendous applause, seconded only by the massive roar that accompanied frontman Dave Mustaine’s appearance. The famously volatile musician, known equally for his flaming red hair and personal quarrels with other musicians as well as for his role in creating and defining the thrash metal sound, smiled gleefully at the crowd before launching into Skin O’ My Teeth, a fan favorite off the Countdown to Extinction album. The audience barely had time to catch their breath before that was followed by an especially intense In My Darkest Hour, Mustaine’s face rippling with emotion as he sang the song’s deeply personal, deeply bitter, lyrics.

The band played one more single, the catchy She-Wolf, before leaving the stage, and allowing the anticipation in the audience to build to a head. “You know why you’re here, right?” the always edgy Mustaine asked the wildly cheering crowd upon returning to his microphone. Ripping into the well-known opening guitar progressions of Holy Wars, and playing against a backdrop that recreated the famous Rush in Peace cover art as a 3D set, the band began to play what would be an uninterrupted 42 minutes of straight thrash metal brilliance.

Mustaine ripped through the album’s complex arrangements flawlessly, buffered by lead guitarist Chris Broderick, as the two took turns trading off on the short but frantic solos that mark the end of the epic Hanger 18, the audience chanting “Me-Ga-Deth!” in time to the three-beat riffs in between each mini-solo. That proved to be just a warm-up for Take No Prisoners, however, the crowd overpowering the bands’ vocals as they shouted out “Take no shit!” on the end of the song.

The next two songs, Five Magics and Poison Was the Cure, were notable for never having been played live prior to this tour, but the energy really took off on fan favorite Tornado of Souls, the packed crowd slamming about in waves as Broderick shredded through the explosive solo. The cheers grew even louder as chants of “Dave! Dave! Dave!” rang out during Ellefson’s two minutes alone in the spotlight for the bass-led Dawn Patrol, as the guitarists left the stage and Mustaine rasped the spoken word vocals from off to the side.

With only one song left to the album, virtually every fan in attendance sang along on the two-part Rust in Peace… Polaris. Drummer Shawn Drover laid down perfectly timed drum blasts for the song’s signature beats as Mustaine, Ellefson, and Broderick stood shoulder to shoulder, shredding their way to the peak of metal perfection.

The audience roared with appreciation as they applauded the band’s completion of the 1990 masterpiece, but Mustaine and friends still had plenty in store. Headcrusher, the only new song to be played last night, was introduced with a story about a museum of torture in Amsterdam, and appeared to be well-received by fans. It was followed by hit single Trust, and the fist-pumping energy of Symphony of Destruction, a song that has been standard live Megadeth fare for almost two decades without losing its freshness.

After a brief break, the band encored with the timeless Peace Sells, the audience shouting out the song’s eponymous lyrics at the top of their lungs as a bare-chested Mustaine reveled in the throbbing, electric energy filling the room. A partial reprise of Holy Wars ended the night in traditional Megadeth fashion, but even as fans outside made their way to parked cars or hotel rooms, shouts of “Peace sells!” were answered by screams of “but who’s buying,” audible even several blocks away from the venue.

Other than a brief period of inactivity in the beginning of this decade, Megadeth has been a stalwart and dependable force of heavy metal for well over 20 years. Dave Mustaine is unquestionably one of the key founders of thrash metal as it’s known today, and his band has served their millions of fans well. However, even by Megadeth’s high standards, last night’s show was unique in its presentation, and fantastic in its execution. Along with Exodus and Testament’s fiery sets, Megadeth proved that heavy metal can feature premier musicianship even as it whips audiences into a violent frenzy, as highlighted by the incredibly complex, almost byzantine nature of the Rust in Peace album.

Fans lucky enough to experience this once in a lifetime event will likely treasure their memories of the show (or lack thereof, considering that the venue ran out of beer before Megadeth was halfway through their set) for a lifetime, and rightfully so. Mustaine and his hand-picked band of professionals have outdone themselves once again, and set a sky-high bar for every other metal act to follow.

Both Megadeth and Testament will next be in the New York region this August, as they play Izod Arena together with the mighty Slayer. Tickets are still available for the American Carnage tour at Ticketmaster or the Izod box office.

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