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MEGADETH, MUDVAYNE, ALL THAT REMAINS In Houston, TX With Photos!

By Larry Petro, News Monkey
Wednesday, August 7, 2024 @ 8:35 AM

The "Destroy All Enemies" Tour Lands At 713 Music Hall On August 3rd

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

One of the most anticipated tours of the year, the "Destroy All Enemies" Tour featuring the iconic MEGADETH along with a rejuvenated MUDVAYNE and the long-running ALL THAT REMAINS, made its way into Houston after kicking off the trek the night before in Arkansas. MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine promised an all-new stage production and setlist changes that would include tracks rarely played or not played in years. Did the show live up to that promise? Read on and see...

First up for the evening was Springfield, Massachusetts metal stalwarts ALL THAT REMAINS. Founded more than 25 years ago, the band has released 9 studio album, the last being 2018's Victims Of The New Disease. But it’s been a rough ride of late as in October of 2018 lead guitarist Oli Herbert was found drowned in a lake behind his home, setting off a somewhat tumultuous period for the band. However, with those issues now behind them the band released a brand new single "Divine" in May of this year, followed by another title "Let You Go".

In a brief 30 minute set the metalcore act kicked things off with "Now Let Them Tremble" from the For We Are Many album of 2012. The band would play the two aforementioned new songs during their stage time along with other known numbers like "This Calling", "Six" and "Chiron" before concluding with the Overcome album track "Two Weeks". Frontman Phil Labonte is still as ferocious as ever and the current lineup of drummer Anthony Barone, guitarists Jason Richardson and Mike Martin and bassist Aaron Patrick are out to prove that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Setlist:

"Now Let Them Tremble"

"This Calling"

"Six"

"Divine"

"Let You Go"

"Chiron"

"Two Weeks"

Next up was MUDVAYNE, another metal band with its start in the mid to late 90s. Probably the most famous of its members is frontman Chad Gray, whom fans will also remember as a member of the 'supergroup' HELLYEAH which also featured former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul. The band achieved a decent amount of success with their 2000 debut album L.D. 50, Lost And Found (2005) and 2002's The End Of All Things To Come. The band would go on hiatus from roughly 2010-2021 at which point MUDVAYNE would announce their reunion and play multiple festival that year before hitting the road on their first US tour in 13 as co-headliners on the 'Freaks On Parade' tour with ROB ZOMBIE, once again returning them to the spotlight.

Now on the road again, this time as support to the mighty MEGADETH, MUDVAYNE came to lay waste to those in attendance and they did so in a brutal manner, unleashing their 11-song set with their debut single from their debut album, "Dig". Vocalist Chad Gray appeared onstage with his face wrapped in bloody gauze bandages as he stalked the stage like a beast during "Dig" and the second number, "Under My Skin" before slowly stripping off the bandages for "Not Falling", revealing his trademark face painting.

The other band members themselves were an odd assortment with guitarist Greg Tibbett in his red face paint and spectacularly spiked hair, bassist Ryan Martinie, whose playing style and body painting reminiscent of Flea of the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, second guitarist Ryan Martinie and his kabuki makeup along with drummer Matthew McDonough and the satanic symbols adoring his bass drum (the whole shtick of which seems tired and worn out these days).

MUDVAYNE did their finest to emasculate the crowd as they ripped through a greatest hits set of selections including "Death Blooms", "Dull Boy", "Nothing To Gein" and Fish Out Of Water" before leveling what was left of the 713 Music Hall with the smash hit "Happy?". Though not a big fan of them or their music, the crowd's reaction would indicate that they were indeed, happy.

Setlist:

"Dig"
"Under My Skin"
"Not Falling"
"Death Blooms"
"Fall Into Sleep"
"A New Game"
"Dull Boy"
"Nothing to Gein"
"Fish Out of Water"
"World So Cold"
"Happy?"

Finally it was time for the mighty MEGADETH. Still out in support of their latest album The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead! from 2022, the band was absolutely on fire from the opening notes of the set-opener title track to that album. There was a bit of a hiccup in the PA system during the second song, "Dread And The Fugitive Mind", but other than that Dave Mustaine and company steamrolled Houston with a setoff of hits encompassing their 40+ year career, highlighted by "Angry Again", "Hangar 18", "Sweating Bullets", "Trust" and the smash "Symphony Of Destruction". And true to his word, MEGADETH are tossing things up a bit on this tour, particularly to the setlist. Opening night in Arkansas got tracks like "A Tout Le Monde" and the night after Houston got "The Conjuring" and "Mechanix", while H-Town got "In My Darkest Hour", "Wake Up Dead" and "Countdown To Extinction" (which Dave stated had not been played live in about 20 years. Even the order of the song performances differed from the first night to the second though the third night appeared to be the same other than the switching out of 2 songs.

The stage production for this tour was unlike any I had seen from them in recent years that accompanied the band. The light show was nothing short of phenomenal, especially during songs like "Tornado Of Souls" and "Dystopia". The personal performances of the individual members themselves was as close to perfect as could be, and it should be noted here that like Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine has made a point of surrounding himself with great guitarists over the years and Finnish newcomer Teemu Mantysaari, who Mustaine himself has said plays 'a lot like Marty Friedman', was astonishing in his abilities. Photographing him during the first 3 songs left me awestruck and even until the final notes of encore "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" the band had laid it all out on the stage.

It should be noted that even with general admission tickets priced at nearly $90 each the 713 Music Hall was completely packed with around 5,000 fans, a testament to the drawing power that MEGADETH still enjoys to this day. The 'Destroy All Enemies' tour continues through the end of September and I fully expect that some shows will sell out so you can either get your tickets now or kick yourself later for missing out on an incredible tour!

Remaining Tour Dates: