So I went to Gigantour in San Jose this Monday, and here's how it went.
Basically, Gigantour is Megadeth touring with some other bands. This year was much more "some other bands" than the two previous tours. Last year they had Mastodon, and the year before Dream Theater. This year, not so much.
High on Fire
Stoner metal basically. I only caught the end of their set. They're a trio.
Lemme break down trios here for you.
Trios work well in studios and on albums. To see a great studio-mixed trio, here is Prong from last year in their music video for "Power of the Damager".
However live...they can't layer the guitars well and it sounds stripped-down. I like their stuff, just not live.
Job for a Cowboy
Good god do they suck. Deathcore is just noise, and live it's even worse. All the songs in their set sounded identical. They managed to find themselves on the main stage of Download Festival this year, how I know not.
Children of Bodom
I liked these guys a lot. They're Finnish and have a keyboardist who doesn't do much, but adds a symphonic touch similar to Nightwish. Pretty heavy, they play well live, and their songs are crisp and coherent.
In Flames
I love these guys. This band is from Sweden, and the founder of melodic death metal. Unique sound, the vocalist is both funny and powerful, and they opened with Cloud ****in' Connected. Nothing not to like.
Megadeth
It's ****ing Megadeth. They open with Sleepwalker, then Wake Up Dead, then two more songs before they even stop to introduce Washington is Next. They mixed Dave's vocals out a lot, but the guitar work is amazing, the songs are classic, and they had plenty of old favorites in their lineup.
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Overall, three good bands, one **** one, and one that doesn't play well live. Good value for 37 bucks. Plus the arena was small, so I got rather close to Megadeth when I moved down to the floor for their set.
Waterproof
