Mustaine and Company Still Got It

“Twenty years ago, I wrote an album about how much I hated our government.”

Those were the words emitted from the snarling curled upper lip of Dave Mustaine just before Megadeth launched the Polaris that is “Rust In Peace” to a sold out crowd at the Scranton Cultural Center in Scranton, PA on March 18.

Over the last month, one of the greatest tours of all time has been going hog-wild on metal heads across the country. Megadeth, Exodus and Testament have been on the “Rust in Peace 20th Anniversary Tour” in honor of the Megadeth album of the same name, which Megadeth is playing in its entirety, along with a few other hits.

The trash-metal titans of Testament are also playing their first album, “The Legacy,” in its entirety. Unfortunately, lead guitarist Alex Skolnick will not be joining them due to prior touring commitments, but however is being substituted by former Megadeth guitarist Glen Drover.

What a twist.

It is also the 25th anniversary of Exodus’ first album, “Bonded by Blood.” Surprisingly, they are not playing it in its entirety. However, they played a few songs that haven’t been heard for a while.

Another interesting feature is Megadeth reuniting with founding member and bassist extraordinaire David Ellefson, who couldn’t have been happier as he tore through songs like “Tornado of Souls,” “Dawn Patrol,” “Holy Wars” and, of course, the classic “Peace Sells.”

“It just looked so right to see David playing those songs again” said Roberto Zuluaga, a fan in attendance at this mammoth of a concert.

The venue was strange. It was a huge cathedral in the center of town. The acoustics were odd, the barricade was weak and the place looked just too nice to put on a metal show, but interestingly enough, the stage was gigantic.

The sound was also a little weird, as Exodus guitarist Gary Holt had technical difficulties that resulted in cutting one song and singer Rob Dukes resorting to standup comedy when he ran out of plugs for the new album “The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit B,” which hits stores on May 18. Testament’s sound was fine – Megadeth’s stage right speaker was going in and out, and Mustaine’s mic was a little low, but not low enough to drown out his voice.

Overall, the show was fantastic. The set lists were top-notch with two monumental albums being played from start to finish. It was one of the best tours in thrash metal history. The merch was amazing and the crowd response was great, the only flaw being the venue itself, due to the security and sound.

In a nutshell, it’s another Megadeth album that would be great to see live. “So far…So Good…So What…”