Four bands, an audience on fire, nearly five hours of metal and a thundering atmosphere, the metal marathon featuring In Flames, Trivium, Lamb of God and Megadeth, at the Videotron Center, lived up to expectations and celebrated in style.
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Often, during these evenings where several formations follow one another on the boards, it often begins slowly and timidly. Thursday, it was not at all the case. It must be said that the program for the evening was consistent with four big names in metal.
At 6 p.m., when In Flames showed up on stage, there were already a lot of people inside the amphitheater for the last night of the tour Metal Tour of the Year! A tour that bore its name well, which was to show up in Quebec on October 27, 2020 and which has been postponed a few times. And the last shows of a tour are always special and intense.
We quickly felt that metal fans were bored. There was a lot of atmosphere. More than during the Queensrÿche-Priest double at the beginning of April. In the stands, we make “high-fives”, we are happy to meet again. It felt like a reunion.
Sweden’s In Flames were greeted by a raucous crowd as if they were the stars of the evening. “In Flames, In Flames, In Flames,” chanted the faithful. It must be said that there seems to be a strong connection with the Quebec public. We were far from the timid reactions to certain first-party bands. And so it was throughout this metal marathon of almost five hours.
Led by singer Anders Fridén, In Flames offers a clever mix of heaviness, speed and melodies.
red flames
The American team Trivium, from Orlando, kept up the pace. Beginning its performance in the carpet and without too much subtlety, the melodies ended up crossing the sound wall. And there, again, without the singer-guitarist Matt Heafy asking, people started chanting “hey, hey, hey”, fists in the air.
After two hours of metal, fans were still in for Lamb of God’s performance, kicked off by an explosion and the coin Memento Mori from their latest album. It had been almost forever since Randy Blythe had been seen twirling his long hair and dreads in the Old Capital. Their last visit was in November 2009, opening for Metallica, in the good old Colosseum.
The quintet from Richmond, Virginia offered a more elaborate performance with the presence of smoke effects and red flames during a walk with me in hell particularly successful. We were treated to a particularly active “circle pit”, on the floor, during Redneck.
veterans
The icing on the cake of this high mass of metal, the veterans of Megadeth, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, had a warm audience in front of them.
In front of six luminous panels scrolling the imagery of the Californian formation, Dave Mustaine and his band launched their performance with Shed 18. Dirk Verbeuren’s drums are elevated and surrounded by amplifiers.
The sounds of Megadeth contrast, not badly, with those of In Flames, Trivium and Lamb of God. We are more into “old-school” metal. The quartet offers an excellent, lively version of Dread and the Fugitive Mindfollowed by a solid rendition of Conquer or Die! and Dystopia.
the anthem To everybodytaken up by the crowd, is always very effective and a highlight of the show.
We have the impression during Sweatshirt Bullets, Symphony of Destruction and Peace Sellsto see, finally, after a few uneven passages, over the years, in Quebec, a Megadeth at the top of its form and in full possession of its means.
It was, however, a bit short with a performance of 65 minutes. We would have taken a little more. Certainly, without being too mistaken, one of the best life performances of Megadeth in the Old Capital.