GIGANTOUR August 23, 2005 @ Tommy Hilfiger Jones Beach Amphitheater Wantagh, NY
Megadeth, Dream Theater, Fear Factory, Life of Agony, Nevermore, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Bobaflex
Major summer metal tours are great. The masses get easy access to a plethora of bands. The concept works. What don’t work are over-produced concerts. Save that nonsense for the Backdoor Boys and Booby Spears. Metal is about the music, not the pretty lights.
Keep in mind; this is an account of a single stop 2/3 of the way through the tour at a venue that really should not be hosting metal concerts. So what is to be expected from a metal concert? Lots of big, sweaty and bloody alpha males venting their unchecked male aggression in a consensual pit of mayhem. Sounds exciting just reading about it doesn’t it? But that just doesn’t work when the audience is restrained to seating resembling a high school graduation. The second stage was the best we could get but there’s something intrinsically too dangerous about a mosh pit on asphalt in a parking lot.
Jones Beach is a state of the art, way too expensive, but well designed venue seating just over 15,000. Food prices are ridiculous. $7 for a McDonalds size burger is disgusting. Though not a venue issue, tour t-shirts starting at $45 is friggin’ outrageous. Metal has always been known for being the most inexpensive music genre when it comes to merch. What the hell happened?
Stemming from the decades old rift between metal fans and security comes the next gripe regarding excessive security. It really felt like a prison camp. Granted, the security team runs like a well-oiled machine but it took a lot of the enjoyment out of being at a metal show.
Getting there a little late and not knowing there were two stages, I only saw four of the bands on the bill.
Fear Factory: They put on a good set. Not the best I’ve seen from them over the last 7 years but it wasn’t completely their fault. I was surprised how early they played. I walked into the venue to their opener. Now keep in mind that their latest release dropped the day of the show so I was expecting them to play more than just the title track off of Transgression. With only 45 minutes to play it’s tough to cover 6 albums of material which left hardcore fans like me begging for more. Fear Factory is the kind of band who requires a pit in front of them for their insane energy which didn’t happen due to the seating. (I will say it till I die; all seating venues and metal do not mix).
Life of Agony:: It was great to see LOA back in their home town. Standing near the pit I could tell who came to the show just to see these guys. The pit was pretty weak, but again, asphalt hurts. Singer Keith Caputo was on the ball with the new material but struggled a bit through some of the oldies. All in all, clean Keith sounds much better. I still believe that this royalty of New York Hardcore are much better suited for an intimate club atmosphere than a big budget tour. For a Life of Agony fan, it was still a good set.
Dream Theater: Having never seen Dream Theater before let alone heard their music, I was mildly impressed. I don’t consider D.T. “metal.” The first thing I thought of was Phish meets Judas Priest but with more talent than both combined. They are an incredibly talented technical band which I guess is what they are known for. 80’s over produced hair metal lives on with blazing guitar solos, glass shattering vocals and even keyboard solos? Yes, I said keyboard solos. The drum solo guest starred Richard Christie from the Howard Stern Show along side Mike Portnoy of D.T. This drum kit is so grandiose that both drummers dueled simultaneously on the same kit teasing the crowd with snippets of Van Halen, Queen, Twisted Sister and Metallica. It was a real treasure for the huge D.T. constituency in the crowd.
Megadeth: After more than a decade and over a hundred concerts, this self proclaimed metal head finally got to see the one and only Megadeth. I left halfway through the set. The opening was great. A dark stage fills with fog; background noise grows louder as the lights come up to reveal Dave and the guys’ full metal stance. They suddenly pound into the first note with 8 massive fireballs and a thunderous pyrotechnic explosion behind them on the stage. Ok, that got my attention. Then that was it. Except for some more fun pyro stuff, Megadeth turned into Megamundane. The sound was horrible. I think the sound tech set all the levels to 10 and walked away. The vocals were completely drowned out. I couldn’t even tell what songs were being played. I know they’re getting older but they should try to look animated. What a disappointment. On a good note, they sounded incredible a ¼ mile away in the parking lot.
Jon Sevastra
