Mustaine and company let their music do the talking for them
To many people, Dave Mustaine may always be regarded as a reject living in Metallica’s shadow, but with 2010 marking the 20th anniversary of the ‘Rust in Peace’ release, Megadeth should certainly not be cast aside as merely a consolation band. As a result of the recent milestone celebration, much of their Download set was understandably centred around the album, but the band pleasingly managed to integrate songs from their entire catalogue including early works such as ‘Peace Sells’ to the more recent song ‘Headcrusher’ from their latest album ‘Endgame’.
Although the Los Angeles band have ventured through a number of personnel changes during their 27 year history, the current combination of Mustaine and fellow guitarist Chris Broderick is delightful, with each axe-wielding musician complementing the other perfectly. Co-founding Megadeth member David Ellefson is still with the band on bass guitar, with drummer Shawn Drovers thundering away on his double bass drums (both of which were displaying visually-striking radioactive drum heads).
Megadeth’s 70 minute set may not have been terribly engaging for the audience, but the quality of their musical performance was certainly adequate. Lengthy virtuosic solos were plentiful in this Megadeth set, but variety should not be expected to feature in any show by this speed metal group. Mustaine showed no visual signs of delight to be performing once again in front of thousands of fans at Donington, with the fiery-haired guitarist typically saying little in between songs. However, Megadeth let the music do the talking for them and this was ample for most.