APRIL 28th, 2023
MEGADETH CRUSH THE WORLD TOUR
Review by Richard Steven Hensey
Photos by Peter Ruttan

Crush the World Tour 2nd stop landed on Friday night at the Abbotsford Sports Arena with support bands Oni and Bullet for My Valentine.

Oni is a progressive metal band formed in Ontario, Canada by singer Jake Oni. I really didn’t know what to expect from them, but what I got was a great performance that I could have carried on watching for hours. With Oni they prove that the heavier side of rock music is alive and kicking.

Yup next was Bullet for My Valentine who are a heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998 which fitted the bill nicely. They too had a blistering attack of guitar work by lead singer Matthew Tuck and Michael Paget and bass-man Jamie Mathias. I was impressed with drummer Jason Bowld, who really throttled his kit to a frenzy crowd. The boys made the most of their time, and I played classics like Your Betrayal, Piece of Me, Knives, and Tears Don’t Fall. As a metalcore band they definitely bring melody and light to an often dark and sombre genre. The mix was loud in my opinion but when lead singer Matthew Tuck says jump you know everyone in the room does indeed jump. There's lots of melody and even a couple of my beloved woah-woah choruses to keep fans of BFMV happy!

I was a little starstruck when the band and Dave, hit the stage. The metal thrash iconic band formed in 1983 and has since sold 40+ million albums. There has been alway the banter who’s better Metallica or Megadeth? This is a tough one but i do tend to lead towards early Megadeth over Metallica especial there first 4 full length album release Peace Sells But Who’s Buying, So Far, So Good So What! ,Rust In Peace and Countdown to Extension.

You have front man Flying V vocalist Mustaine, lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro and bassist James LoMenzo getting together in the triple-threat guitar stance on multiple occasions during the show, with drummer Dirk Verbeuren blasting the beats in the background. Dirk doesn’t miss a beat, no matter how fast the tempo of a song is or how many time changes his band members throw his way.

For most of his career Mustaine can be pretty grumpy, and has frequently made controversies with his on-stage banter. Last night, he was just happy to be alive since he defeated cancer and covid which is now in the past for him as he talked about writing his latest album The Sick The Dying and The Dead during those difficult times in front of fans that cheered him on.

“I’ve had a great fucking time with you guys tonight,” Mustaine addressed the crowd as the band returned for the encore Holy Wars, and it’s a fantastic way to cap off an excellent performance. The circle pit returns, the crowd surfers have their last bit of joy, and we relish our final headbanging. So what do all of these bands have in common?  Simple, they play rock music damn loud, they provide engaging and exciting performances and they play songs about stuff that really matters. The next time someone tells you that metal rock is dead tell them to get out and watch a Megadeth show.

Hangar 18
Dread and the Fugitive Mind
Angry Again
She-Wolf
Sweating Bullets
Conquer or Die!
A tout le monde
Trust
Tornado of Souls
We'll Be Back
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars