Big Mega History... The where's and whens.

May 16th will mark the 8th time I have seen Megadeth live. That is kind of crazy. It is also over a 20+ year span, so it is not like I followed them Grateful Dead style. To tell you the honest to god truth, they really aren't that great live, or maybe it's better to say that they are not very animated, and Dave's voice is pretty much shot at this point. BUT for me, being at a Megadeth concert is more than going to see an amazing live show, it is about celebrating the band that helped mold me and supporting a hero of mine.

I often say that I don't get star struck, and that is mostly true. Once at the Airport, directly behind me on the escalator, was Hines Ward. I was completely tongue tied as I stared directly at him. Angi and I both did not know what to say, and I honestly think that was the only time I can remember being absolutely wordless in someones presence. So maybe I was star struck, but I think maybe I was just shocked to see him that close up. All I kept thinking was "damn, that phucker is small in person" and "wow, that is a big diamond earring".

One of my music heros was eating at the same local bar Angi and I were at before a concert one night, and I just let him eat. I kind of regret that now, because I may not ever get the opportunity to thank him or just let him know how much his music means to me, but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do. Mikael Akerfeldt, if I ever get the opportunity to meet you again, I am going to make you sign my frontal lobe.

My point.... If Dave Mustaine and I ever met, I am sure I would go directly into idiot mode and trip over my tongue. Dave is the exception to my "starstruck" rule. That dude is a demi-god to me. I would feel like a 3rd grade math teacher waxing poetic with T S Eliot.

Nice intro, eh?

I am thinking that I should try to capture each point in time that I saw Megadeth. I think that would be interesting to see what my 37 YO brain remembers about concerts from years past. I will start with today and work backwards:

May 16th 2012: Stage AE Pittsburgh

• Rob Zombie, Megadeth and Lacuna Coil

I have not seen Rob or Lacuna Coil, so I am looking forward to this show. It will also be the first outdoor show I have attended at Stage AE, and I am wondering how it will to compare to the amazing indoor facility that I seem to be a regular at these days. There is a 30% chance of rain, so we will see how it goes.

One thing to note: the tickets were purchased as a Mothers Day present for Angi at her request.

I fully expect to see Christina Scabbia come out and sing "À Tout le Monde" with Dave. That might be worth the admission price right there.




March 12th, 2010: Palace Theater - Greensburg, PA

• The Rust In Piece 20th Anniversary Tour featuring Exodus and Testament

What a great night. I somehow managed to get some of my bros from back in the day together for this concert. Me, Seth, Jimmy D and Scott Allen went to the show, and Chaffee showed up at the hotel afterward. Drunken buffoonery at it's absolute best.

My favorite memory of the night? Seth ordering "Like 20?" Cheeseburgers 2 minutes before McDonalds closed. Shame on them for asking how many we wanted. Oh yeah, he and I walked up to the drive through window. They were pissed, but made them for us.

May 7th, 2008: Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee WI

• Gigantour feat. JFAC, Children of Bodom, In Flames, High on Fire

This show is one of my favorite memories. My son Kameron and I went to this show Mano a Mano. Our gracious host, Jon Rice (drummer extraordinaire - JFAC) was cool enough to take us back stage and on the Tour bus, which Kam and I had to leave when Matt Pike (High on Fire) brought girls on to meet the band. Kameron was only 15 at the time.

Looking back, I am sure it was pretty tame for Kam overall, and I know he has been back to Eagles several times since, but it was the one time he and I got to do something like this. The actual distance between Hartford Wisconsin and Pittsburgh PA is a really difficult barrier, but that night we knocked it down with style.

May 11th, 2007: Tower City Amplitheater - Cleveland OH

• Heaven and Hell feat. Megadeth and Machine Head

In a joint effort with my ex brother-in-law to do something cool, we headed to Cleveland to catch Ronnie James Dio's Sabbath headline over Megadeth and Machine Head. This concert was fantastic, except at some point in the night, I turned around to see Bobbo swaying. He said to me "we have to go man". The draft beer had gotten the best of him. So I one arm carried him back toward Tower City, through the Terminal Tower and down the street toward the hotel when he miraculously sobered up and wanted to drink more at a local bar, which we did for a few.

I got to see Heaven and Hell again later down the road, so all was not lost. The thing I remember the most? Bobbo cracking beers doing 80mph down I-90. I also remember hearing Hardline's "Hot Cheri" for the first time on XM. I remember Bob and I shutting up mid conversation and we both were like, "where the hell were these guys in 1988?". As it turned out, they came along at the height of grunge, so poo poo on them.

Also, that night Bob bought a Machine Head hoodie that he didn't want, so he gave it to Angi when we got back. She still wears it to this day.

August 17th, 2005: Pepsi Amplitheater - Pittsburgh PA

• Gigantour feat. Dream Theater, Fear Factory, Dillinger Escape Plan, Nevermore

Louie's wife Terry got us VIP booth seats. Fantastic!

Strange billing. Dream Theater and Megadeth. But it was a great show. I remember we ran into Ryan (former Crown the Lost bass player). He was hammered, but he payed our band Domicile a high compliment. He said we were the heaviest thing he had ever heard on WXDX. He had heard our song "Statue of a Monster" on the Sunday night local show and had been waiting to tell us about it. He did not know it was us, which surprised me, but hey, that made it even cooler.

August 30th, 2000: Star Lake Amplitheater - Burgettstown PA

• VH1's Maximum Rock Tour feat. Motley Crue and Megadeth

Louie's future wife Terry scored us VIP box seats!!! We had a great stage view and our own waitress. Not that bad.

Talk about a strange billing, Megadeth opening for Motley Crue. Strange indeed. That was tour where the girl from Hole was touring with Crue in place of a dead Randy Costillo and a MIA Tommy Lee. She was not that good. However, Mick Mars was fantastic. He was playing in front of us, stage left, and he gained 1000 points with me that night. What an underrated master of his craft.

Al Pitrelli was playing 2nd fiddle (guitar) for Megadeth that night. Al had somewhat replaced Marty Friedman in the band (I say somewhat because Al is no Marty). Dave and Al had a strange chemistry, but it worked.

Musical highlights of the night: Dave and Al trading leads on "Shewolf"and Mick Mars guitar rendition of "Home Sweet Home". That was probably the last time I saw lighters outshine phones at a concert.


November 11th, 1999 (I think that is the date): Warner Theater - Erie PA

• Megadeth feat Static X

Static X put on a great high energy show. They were absolutely peaking in support of Wisconson Death Trip. Louie and I went and we definately agreed on that.


What I remember most about Megadeth is that it was right at the end of Marty Friedman's tenure with the band, and you could actually see the tension between Marty and Dave. First of all, the tour was in support of the absolute flop "Risk" album. Marty was dressed in white. He was acting like a rock star the entire show, throwing pics, stage hogging, hot dogging and acting like lead wanker at wankfest 1999. It was not the same badass I saw 8 years earlier, that's for sure.

I was excited for this show. It was the first time I had seen Megadeth since 1991, and I really wanted to re-connect with the band of my youth. Unfortunately, this show put a pretty dark cloud on them for me that still lingers. No matter how bad the band performs, I always say "its better than the Risk tour".

June 19th 1991: Darien Lake Amplitheater - Darien Lake, NY

• Clash of the Titans: Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Alice in Chains

Before I get my high school nostalgic goggles on, I have to say that this show remains one of the best I have ever attended. Allow me to set the stage: A bunch of Teenager piling into vehicles to go see 3 of the most legendary Thrash bands, all at their peak. My bro literally picked me up from summer school on the way there.Windows down, radio up, Beers, friends and music. It's a movie in my mind. I would not want to ruin the memory or cheapen it by giving one time-skewed version of the event, but I will offer you some highlights:

• I slept on the lawn through half of Slayers set, and the other half I spent in the pit. I have never seen a pit quite that violent since (that was before pit rules were really established, it was straight up moshing).
• Anthrax (touring on Persistence of Time) had a killer stage set-up, and were amazing that night.
• Marty Friedman was absolutely on fire.
• Dave Mustaine wore a fringe leather jacket.

When Megadeth played (they headlined that night) the crowd did not mosh that I can remember, they moved. Like the whole crowd shifted side to side and forward and backward in unison. It was pretty cool to me then.

I could go on all night (literally I could). The above were concert memories, my memories of my friends from that day were something else entirely. We were young, brave and crazy. It is one of the highlights of my teenage years.

And there you have it. My Megadeth experience summary. Pretty lame, eh? I leave you with how it all started for me. The video that made me sew Megadeth patches to my Jacket. Wake up Dead.

Hello nerd, meet the real me.