I’m of the age where I’ll pay $25 to see tribute bands cover artists like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd so seeing Kings of Thrash, featuring two members of the ’88-era Megadeth lineup (guitarist Jeff Young and bassist Dave Ellefson), perform two albums in their entirety (’85’s Killing Is My Business … And Business is Good and ’88’s So Far, So Good … So What!) was a no-brainer. As Young mentioned when I interviewed him a few weeks before the Columbus tour stop, the plan to do this tour hasn’t been cooking for decades, it really came about when the two performed some songs together at the Big Four tribute during an Ultimate Jam Night in Los Angeles.
On a rare, warm February night, The King of Clubs ran a tight ship, sticking to the schedule meaning that Kings of Thrash hit the stage precisely at 9pm. While not sold out, it was a respectable crowd size that was, as one might expected, predominately middle-age men who were old enough to have bought the two albums being performed when they were originally released. While I met the ’88 lineup at a record signing event in a Cleveland suburb back in the day, this was the first time I’ve seen Young in a live setting and from the very get go, it became obvious that not only has he not lost his chops but that he was very underrated when compared to his ’80s thrash metal peers.
In recent weeks, Dave Mustaine has admitted to having some difficulty these days hitting certain pitches which made the Kings of Thrash show all the more a great experience for Megadeth fans who wanted to hear their favorite songs. Newcomer Chaz Leon, who fronts both Megadeth and Soundgarden tribute bands, resembled Jeff Scott Soto a bit and it’s easy to see and hear how he’s able to fill Chris Cornell‘s role when fronting the grunge tribute band.
With Young’s only Megadeth recording appearance on So Far, So Good … So What!, Kings of Thrash wisely kicked off the set playing that album in running order, in it’s entirety. This is not the first time I’ve seen a band play an album in running order and, while not a problem, I have to wonder if they would have sequenced an album differently had they known that 30 years later they’d be playing it top to bottom? What it meant for Kings of Thrash is that the Sex Pistols cover, “Anarchy in the U.K.,” was an early-in-the-set highlight as was “Mary Jane” which followed immediately after. A small, but dedicated, mosh pit started pretty much as soon as the music kicked off and continued through the entire set. While Young and Ellefson exceeded all expectations and, perhaps, played with even more vigor than they did back in the day, singer/guitarist Leon and drummer Fred Aching provided a fresh energy that the current lineup of Megadeth would be challenged to match. For the young guns, it must be a thrill playing these song to a crowd that is intimately familiar with them and singing back.
For me, the highlight of the set was “In My Darkest Hour,” far from a power ballad but, in the thrash world, one of the slower songs in Megadeth’s catalog. Leon’s snarl sounded like Mustaine’s in his prime and, aside from physical differences, does a great job of not straying from the source material.
While Kings of Thrash’s current tour is a celebration of Megadeth’s music, the band intends to write and record their own material. Young has been mentioning in the press, including to me, that he resurfaced a riff that was written in the late ’80s and presented it to the band which turned it into the first original recording by Kings of Thrash. “Bridges Burned” made it’s live debut at this show and demonstrates that the new band is not stuck in Megadeth mode. If this is an indication of what to expect, I’ll be listening.
My introduction to Megadeth came via Headbanger’s Ball and the “Peace Sells But Who’s Buying” video. I don’t know 1985’s Killing Is My Business and Business is Good as well as I know the three or four albums that followed but it was great to hear these early thrash songs in context of where Megadeth headed. With the benefit of knowing that the band was playing albums in running order, nothing was a surprise and I knew right when “Rattlehead” – one of the songs I do know and was looking forward to hearing – would show up. While Ellefson is the only person in Kings of Thrash who played on the recorded version, the new band was like a prize fighter in his prime, throwing haymakers left and right and it was the perfect lead in to “Chosen One.” It’s given me an all new appreciation for the album.
When I interviewed Young, he hinted that the encore would include non-Megadeth songs and he rattled off a few while asking me not to print them to avoid spoiling any potential surprises. On this particular night, fans were treated to a ripping version of Black Sabbath‘s “Paranoid” before Kings of Thrash closed out the night with the song that most people expected, “Peace Sells But Who’s Buying.”
The one thing this did not feel like was a tired performance by a bunch of guys out chasing any last dollar they could make for nostalgia sake. Ellefson and Young are playing with all the intensity they did back in the late ’80s and with a couple of young and relative unknowns who don’t carry baggage or expectations, this felt like a special treat. I speak for many when I say there were many songs that I never expected to hear in a live setting and to be able to do so at an extremely fair price while standing 10 feet in front of legendary Megadeth band members is something that I’ll remember more than when I’ve seen some “going through the motions” Megadeth shows over the past two decades.
