Megadeth Played A Symphony of Destruction For Wantagh, NY

For the past month, heavy metal icons Megadeth have been tearing up stages across the US on their Destroy All Enemies Tour with Mudvyane and All That Remains. The all-star tour made a stop in Wantagh, New York at Northwell Health At Jones Beach Theater.

The night saw All That Remains starting things off. All That Remains is a melodic metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts that was formed in 1998. The band is currently made up of Phil Labonte (vocals), Jason Richardson (guitar), Mike Martin (guitar), Matt Deis (bass), and Anthony Barone (drums). Known for their crushing riffs, dynamic harmonies and brutal breakdowns, combined with lyrics that are focused on relationships and personal issues, All That Remains have had an influential impact on the metalcore genre and is one of the big names that were a part of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. The band has released a total of nine studio albums and have sold over a million records worldwide.

All That Remains took the stage once it was time to and began their set with “Now Let Them Tremble”. LaBonte possesses the ability to perform powerful screams and switch to clean vocals in an instant and Richardson is a wizard on guitar. If you know him from his work in Chelsea Grin, Born of Osiris or his solo stuff then you are well informed about his amazing talent and his icrnedible melodic guitar solos. After crushing their delivery of their two new songs “Divine” and “Let You Go”, LaBonte asked the crowd if they were cool with playing older stuff the rest of the set. The crowd responded very positively to that and the band started the old school portion of the set by once again revisiting The Fall of Ideals with “This Calling” and closed their set with their most popular song “Two Weeks”. As Richardson did another mind blowing guitar solo, LaBonte decided to assist Barone and was hitting the ride cymbal while Barone was hammering away on the drums. Fans responded to All That Remains' performance with moshing and singing and it was enough to get the blood pumping for what was next.

Next up was Mudvayne, an alternative/nu-metal band from Peoria, Illinois. The band was formed in 1996 but found success in the early 2000's with the release of their debut single "Dig". The band's lineup consists of Chad Gray (vocals), Greg Tribbett (guitars), Ryan Martinie (bass), and Matthew McDonough (drums) and are known for their use of face and body paint as well as their musical experimentation and compelxity. After going on hiatus in 2010 following the release of their self-titled fifth studio album, Mudvayne returned in 2021 and have been performing live since. In total, the band has sold over five million records worldwide.

Mudvayne took the energy to the next level. As the rest of the band played the opening notes to "Not Falling", Gray took center stage and let out a massive scream that led right into the song. Fans assisted Gray in singing along with him as "Not Falling" is a Mudvayne fan favorite. The band kept the ball rolling with "Silenced" and "Eternal Primates Forever" and the crowd was feeding off the energy with moshing and one person crowd surfed too. What makes Mudvayne stand out amongst other bands is their face/body paint and stage attire. What was the most notable to me was Gray and Tribbett's attire. Gray donned his signature back and white face paint but also had fake blood painted all over his arms and one right on his forehead that resembled a bullet hole and Tribbett wore a red and black mask with red dread locks on it that resembled The Predator. Visuals definitely play a huge part in Mudvayne's music and identity overall. After crushing it with other bangers including "Fall Into Sleep", "-1" and "Death Blooms". Gray whispered the words "all work and no play, makes me a dull boy", signaling the next song "Dull Boy". Fans continued to sing along with him and those that weren't, kept moshing.

Gray took the time to speak to the crowd about how important metal music is for him and how it saved his life. He said if it weren't for this music and the fans support, he wouldn't be here today. He told everyone they were not alone and to leave whatever issues they have at the parking lot and that this concert was save place for everyone and got a standing ovation for it. After a few more words of praise for metal music, Gray introduced the next song "Nothing To Gein". Gray always sings (or screams) with pure emotion and you can see it on his face. To him, these aren't just songs, these are an outlet for all of his emotions and feelings. After tearing it up through "World So Cold" and the fan-favorite "Happy?", the band was about to wrap up, but they have one more song left and if anyone noticed, they hadn't played THAT one song yet. Well after Gray asked Jones Beach if they could "dig" it? The crowd instantly knew what was coming and Mudvayne played that "BR BR DENG! BR BR DENG! BR BR DENG!" leading right into "Dig". The crowd sang the loudest they have sang the whole time the band played the song. Martinie kept moving back and forth on stage and made weird movements and weird faces while play, just letting the song take him in whatever direction it did. Mudvayne gave Long Island an electrifying perforamcen and it left them amped up and ready for the main event.

Both Mudvayne and All That Remains got the crowd warmed up and now they were ready for the final act, the legendary Megadeth. Megadeth was formed in 1983 in Los Angelas, California by Dave Mustaine following his dismissal from Metallica. The band's full lineup consists of Dave Mustaine (vocals/guitar), Teemu Mäntysaari (guitar), James LoMenzo (bass), and Dirk Verbeuren (drums). The band saw instant success with their first two albums Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! and Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? and are a part of the Big 4 of Thrash Metal, alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Megadeth's music is known for its comlex gutiar rythms and lyrcis that deal with war, politics, religion and even death and it has remained consisten across all sixteen studio albums. In total, the band has sold over 50 million records worldwide. Their most recent album, The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! was released on September 2nd, 2022.

The stage had a platform for the drums and a curtain covering it. When the lights went out, the sound of a bell started ringing and a plague doctor walked across the stage, pushing a carriage of dead bodies. As he was pushing the carriage, he would periodically stopped to shout at the crowd "bring out your dead". After doing that a few times and walked off stage, all the crowd could hear was Mäntysaari's guitar, this was the intro to the first song, "The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!". The curtain dropped and the whole band was already on the platform, getting right into the song and jumping off the platform as each member took their spot. Mustaine took charge with his raspy vocals and Mäntysaari grabbed everyone's attention with his leads and solos. The crowd joined Mustaine in the song's chant "die, die, die!" before the band finished the song. The band kept the momentum going, chugging away with "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and on "Angry Again". After that, the band revisited their 1992 album Countdown To Extinction with "Skin o' My Teeth". Fans kept the moshing and the singing going which the band fed off of. Megadeth then went right into one of their fan favorites, "Hanger 18". The song ends with a jam session by all members on stage. Both Mustaine and Mäntysaari went all out with their guitar solos, almost like they were battling each other to see who had the better solo. After the song ended, the band played "Dystopia", the title track off of their 2016 album Dystopia.

After finishing "Dystopia", the band traveled back to Countdown To Extinction once again and played "Sweating Bullets". Throughout the whole performance fans aided Mustaine in "talking to himself" as the song's verse is structured. They didn't stop there as they went right into the title track, "Countdown To Extinction". The band paused for a but after and Mustaine took time to talk to the crowd and say how he loves playing Jones Beach. He then introduced the next song and mentioned it was a deep cut, having not played the song since 2009 and also mentioned that bass player LoMenzo had a hand in writing the song. The song was called "Washington Is Next!" which is taken off their 2007 album, United Abominations. An album overlooked by fans, Megadeth hasn't played a single song from this album in 15 years. To see something from that time period see the light of day again in 2024 was indeed a unique experience. The band revisited old material once again, playing "Trust" and "Tornado of Souls" before going back to their latest album once more time with "We'll Be Back".

With not that much time left, Megadeth only had a few songs left and fans were about to recognize this next one by its main riff. After a chorus chant played, Megadeth played one of their iconic songs, "Symphony of Destruction". The song is instantly recognized by its main guitar riff and whenever it's played live, fans chant back "ME-GA-DETH! ME-GA-DETH, ME-GA-DETH" in conjunction with the guitar riffs timing and fans continued that trend here. The next one was a song old school Megadeth fans would recognize, one off the very first album; Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! called "Mechanix", initially a demo from Mustaine's time with Metallica, the song was released on Megadeth's first album and would only be played live peroidically. All the Megadeth fans that were at the show sang to every word Mustaine sang. In closing out the main set, the band finished up with their live staple, "Peace Sells". Everyone knew what was coming when LoMenzo played the song's opening bass riff and towards the end of the song, the band's mascot Vic Rattlehead made an appearance on stage and played air guitar on stage with the band as they finished the song.

Despite the band walking off the stage, it wasn't over yet, as Megadeth had one more song left. The band revisited their Rust In Peace album one last time to play "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due". Megadeth wasted no time and just got right into it. The whole band played the song at full speed. I even had a hard time catching up with Verbeuren's parts. Fans continued to mosh in the small area Jones Beach provided for them and a few others were crowd surfing but for the most part, everyone was just singing along and banging their heads. Mustaine let out one last "next thing you know, they'll take my thought away", ending the song. The band gave the crowd one final bow followed by Mustaine thanking them and telling them to drive home safe in the hopes of seeing them next time. He then said goodbye to the crowd with his signature closing line "You've been great! We've been Megadeth!" Both the band and the crowd would take their leaves as the outro to "Silent Scorn" played over the PA.

Megadeth has been going strong for over 40 years and for them to still play at the level they do, it's absolutely incredible. This was my sixth time seeing Megadeth and it never gets old. With Mustaine's vocals and powerful riffs, Mäntysaari's mind-blowing solos and Verbeuren's thunderous drumming, Megadeth had all it needed to give the fans the show they came to see. I'm confident there will be a seventh time soon.