Friday night October 6th it was the return of MEGADETH to the Pearl Concert Theatre at the Palms Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas! Megadeth are currently on tour with the Scorpions, but the Vegas date was a solo headliner for the band at the Pearl, with local band A Friend A Foe scoring the opening slot.
It is rare to see a local band open for a national touring act (that is not touring with said act) so I can imagine these guys were beyond thrilled. A Friend, A Foe played earlier this past summer at the Las Rageous festival in downtown Las Vegas and were well received, and earned a lot of new fans from their festival experience. At the Pearl the band played an extended set in front of approx 2000 fans, getting the crowd warmed up for the night for Megadeth.
A Friend, A Foe Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Megadeth made a triumphant return to Vegas after a 2017 Grammy win for Best Metal Performance, and brought that energy and success to their show. The stage opened with a cool video projected on screens all over the stage, and like a hurricane the band hit the stage full force and ripped into "Hangar 18". Without slowing down they went straight into a crowd fav "The Threat Is Real", and it is apparent that Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro are a perfect match on guitar, trading off licks and playing up to the crowd. At one point bassist Dave Ellefson joined them in the middle of the stage in a circle, while the Mustaine and Loureiro continued to shed the hell out of their guitars. Megadeth's set was full of classics such as "A Tout Le Monde", "Symphony Of Destruction", and the band closed out their set with "Peace Sells", "Holy Wars", and "The Punishment Due". Megadeth is a band for the fans - fans of hard thrash / speed metal - always a great show and a great metal night.
Megadeth: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos