Home Gigs Gig Review : Kings of Thrash Limelight 2 Belfast

Gig Review : Kings of Thrash Limelight 2 Belfast

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So tonight, in Belfast we are going old school with Kings of Thrash. One of the first Megadeth albums I ever heard was “So Far So Good So What” with two of the guys tonight in that lineup, the venue tonight is the Limelight 2 and a small crowd in already for the first band although a really early start time yet again.

Hellgrimm

Hailing from San Antonio TX, this three piece are an odd mix of almost doom metal crossed with traditional heavy metal, unfortunately for them they were playing 5 minutes after doors opened and not everyone was in, the sound was not on their side tonight with the guitars being really hard to hear, unfortunately the guitar player breaking a string within the first couple of songs to be fair though, entertaining on stage and a good band to get the crowd going, I think the main issue is the singing drummer and a lack of a focal point on the stage, there wasn’t really much to watch, still fair play to them!

Andry Lagiou

I haven’t heard of these guys before tonight hailing from Greece, the lead singer Andry having been on Greek Pop Idol these guys are an interesting mix and very power metal, I actually thought the band were amazing the keyboard player particularly was fantastic as it was stood in front of him all night, lead singer Andry showcases a great vocal range and strength and commands the stage, musically they sort of reminded me of Yngwie in the 90s?

You sort of get everything from Deep Purple style riffs crossed with Rainbow crossed with Stratovarius, the crowd I thought where slightly reserved for these guys, great stage show and they are all looking like they are having a ball up there, guitars where a bit quiet in the PA would be the only thing I would say, closing with a cover of Purples Burn which I believe was covered on the Pop Idol show, great version with the guitar and keys unison excellent, short set and they are off!

Kings of Thrash

Into the Lungs of Hell

Well this is a fitting opener to the night, from the album these two guys played on here’s the opening track to kick things off and it brings back a certain amount of nostalgia actually seeing these two guys playing this together because realistically, this sounds like the band that actually played it hearing Jeff Young’s up there playing the solos that he did on the album it makes so much sense and also being a guitar player I realized that the way I played the start of that is not anywhere close to the way he played it, the sound mix is immediately a lot clearer than any of the previous 2 bands and the drummer in particular has an absolutely slamming sound, what a great track to kick us off!

Mary Jane

The way this song comes in it almost feels like someone’s drunk with that guitar part, before it launches into the chorus refrain of the song and then that lovely little guitar melody played by Chaz over the chugging guitars, I actually had to go back and listen to this track today because I didn’t realize how much stuff Jeff adds in like the harmonics and stuff that you can hear in the album but until I seen live I didn’t realize that he did, when the song breaks in the middle it gets proper heavy and a real head banging riff comes in the crowd behind me respond to it, I have to be honest I really forgot how good the end of the song gets with the riff and the harmonies, absolute banger!

Wake Up Dead

From that stuttering drum groove at the start, this one kicks in from the Peace Sells album, one of the few older tracks that you’ll actually hear Megadeth still play, there is so much interplay in this song between the bass and drums and all the different odd time signatures and these guys are absolutely are locked in tonight and again hearing Jeff do his variation on Chris Poland’s guitar solos is really interesting, Chaz pretty much sticking to the exact Mustaine solos, loads of guys in the crowd obviously know these older songs because I can hear guys around me singing, a good mix of age ranges in here tonight and a few people obviously were there back in the 80s but a lot of new fans here as well!

Train of Consequences

Because it’s the 30th anniversary of the Youthanasia album we are getting some tracks tonight based on that album and this one I have heard before because I’ve seen Megadeth on the tour in 1994, Chaz doing the Mustaines vocal snarling to the microphone and really staring into the eyes of everyone in the front row, Dave over on the left hand side holding it down on the bass and Jeff on the right hand side filling in Marty Friedman’s guitar parts in this one which are not easy to do but he does his own variation yet again on this, which I found really interesting, another absolute classic track!

Victory

Now I was so pleased to actually hear this track because I have always loved this song from the Youthanasia album and all the references to previous track Megadeth tracks through it, the thing that I was thinking tonight was that the guitar solo start, always reminded me of Therapy Screamager the song just the same sort of melody pattern, love this one!!

502

Jeff kicks this one off beside the drum kit and I’m pretty sure that drummer Fred is making the siren noises into the microphone that was on the album intro to this, Daves bass part in this one is gets like is like getting slapped in the chest so punchy and then whenever that solo comes in with Jeff’s tapping part it’s really awesome watching him play it live, this might be a reading like a full on nostalgia trip but actually getting to see the guitar player who really played the parts originally it’s just completely different!

Holy Wars

David tells us the story of 1988’s notorious incident at the Antrim forum and how that event turned into the next song called holy wars which was the first track off 1990s Rust in Peace album, we get the intro riff into the drum fills into the first part of the song before the song stops and morphs into……..

In My Darkest Hour

This is a bona fide Megadeth classic and one I have heard the band play before many times remember they have played in Belfast but the funny thing is that actually hearing it tonight with Jeff playing the solo really sounds more like it should than all the other times I’ve seen the band play it, I also want to mention rhythm guitar and vocalist Chaz who has put in a shift all night filling in for the Mustaine part and doing a fantastic job of it not only ripping off the solos that Dave did but also really nailing the vocal parts and if you didn’t know any better you would think you’re actually listening to the man himself, the crowd really loved this one you could absolutely tell that and for me it was nearly the track of the night!

Good Mourning/Black Friday

The 1-2 punch from the Peace Sells album, now if any song bar the last got the crowd going it was definitely this one, is it thrash metal is it speed metal that’s for you to decide but this song is absolutely crushing live and the crowd get the sing along with the breaks and the vocal refrain, again Jeff absolutely kills the solos filling in Chris Poland’s parts I’m making them his own, I’m loving getting to hear all these old songs I haven’t heard in years these guys are absolutely crushing it!

Dawn Patrol

Not exactly a bass solo but Dave gets to show off on this one from 1990’s Rust in Peace just him the drums and the vocals, it was during this one I noticed how clean his bass sound actually was and really punchy it was really cool as well because people in the crowd knew the lyrics and were singing along with this one!

Rattlehead

Back to the killing is my business album with this song and definitely one of the fastest tracks of the night, you sometimes forget just how good Gar was as a drummer and tonight drummer Fred really kicks in gear and handles all the fills, the other thing I loved and this song was the way Jeff handled Chris Poland’s guitar solos adding his own twists into them and really cool concepts, you can tell that the crowd really loved this fast one!

Guitar Solo

Then we lead off into Jeff’s guitar solo and I could be confused with thinking now as a jazz fusion gig as we got a really nice swing drum beat coming in from Fred and Jeff with a nice clean tone playing some very jazz chords before he switches sounds and Dave comes onto the stage and helps out on bass and the two tear it up for a little bit, not that I didn’t know but you realize how good a guitar player Jeff actually is and how little recognition he actually does get amongst the list of Megadeth guitar players, fantastic playing. all night

These Boots Where Made for Walking

The guitar solo morphs into this track from Killing is my Business, one I never thought I would hear live and the cover of these boots are made for walking, yeah actually caught me by surprise how heavy and fast this one came out live, and some really twisted guitar solos on it as well it was a really cool track, another deep cut that you’re not going to hear the main band actually do, and something like this is where you can hear these really deep tracks from some of these albums!

Cold Sweat

Well what else can you do whenever you come to Ireland except play a Thin Lizzy cover, this one was done by Megadeth on one of the albums as a bonus track and it’s a bit heavier and beefier than the original version is, the guys dedicate this one to Ricky Warwick he comes from Belfast and supported Megadeth back in 1990 on the Rust in Peace tour when he was in the Almighty, Jeff really nailing the John Sykes guitar solo in this one and also the little pinch harmonics as well you could see him smiling at the crowd while he was doing it!

Peace Sells

Well, I mean there’s only one track you can really finish this sort of an evening with and this is the track that Megadeth play every night as well, everyone in the crowd singing the break part vocal line and everyone in the crowd singing the vocal at the end and it’s just amazing to witness these guys actually play this live they’re so tight and it’s so on the money, I think a lot of credit has to go to drummer Fred and to vocalist Chaz who have really been up to the mark tonight, as well as Dave and Jeff, the band is on fire, what a gig!!

There are only two shows left on this tour so get out and see these guys if you’re in the UK mainland you will not be disappointed!!

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