Megadeth! Megadeth! Megadeth! Fronted by singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine, Megadeth is known for being one of the Big Four thrash-metal pioneers along with Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. The band made a name for themselves by employing two lead guitars and crafting songs with pointed lyrics centered on war, religion, and politics. Recorded October 9, 2005, A Night in Buenos Aires (previously released as That One Night; Live in Buenos Aires) is a great show and captures them at their best. Many of the tunes that made them world famous are featured as the energetic crowd at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium roars with delight.
Buy Megadeth: A Night In Buenos Aires Bku-rayThe concert film starts off with the band departing their homes headed for the airport: destination Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once landed, Dave and the boys are greeted by adoring fans and the fun begins. As they unload at the hotel, crowds gather outside the building and Dave expresses his desire to play for a small group of them acoustically in a small park. This intimate footage will be shown as short clips between a few select songs. Once on stage, Megadeth opens with the then-recent “Blackmail the Universe” then proceeds to ramp up the energy and cut loose. Keeping their foot on the gas, they launch into bigger hits such as “Wake Up Dead,” “In My Darkest Hour,” “She-Wolf,” and “A Tout Le Monde” before circling back to wind down with Mega classics like “Symphony of Destruction,” “Peace Sells,” and “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due.”
What makes A Night in Buenos Aires awesome is the amazing crowd. They are energetic and dialed in throughout the entire performance. Not only do they sing along with Dave and back at him but they even “sing” and chant some major guitar parts to a few songs. They chant what sounds like “Megadeth” as the guitars rip into killer riffs between verses. This total frenzy is exemplified during “Hangar 18,” “Return to Hangar 18,” and the “slow” song “I’ll Be There” which provides the crowd another chance to chant in unison. Dave fires up the crowd even more by giving his thanks and singing a verse of “Trust” in decent Spanish. Dave endears the crowd to him even further as he alters the lyrics to the acoustic “Coming Home” to add “to Argentina.”
Megadeth: A Night in Buenos Aires plays like a rocking, kick-ass, best-of live album that finds the band in superb form and doesn’t stop banging for 95 minutes. The sound is clear and the camera work is pretty cool, making good use of twisting, zooming, overhead camera work to highlight the mood and keep the home audience excited. Makes one wonder how much cooler a show like this would be with the use of drones? The Blu-ray includes an extra alternate version of “Symphony of Destruction” further making this a total must-have for Megadeth fans that don’t already own it on DVD or as part of a bigger set that includes the CD. I know it’ll be on repeat on the iTunes for a while with me. Rock on.
