The American Carnage Tour – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, Chula Vista (CA) 8/29/10

Posted by Aaron Mayagoitia on 08.31.2010

Slayer, Megadeth & Testament put on a show that’s well worth the buck.



High on the momentum created by their historic appearance at Sofia, Bulgaria’s Sonisphere Festival, Slayer and Megadeth continue to bring thrash to the masses, this time as co-headliners of the American Carnage tour (with Testament as supporting act). This tour’s selling point is that both Slayer and Megadeth will be commemorating the 20th anniversary of their respective classic albums Seasons In the Abyss and Rust In Peace by playing them from start to finish to the delight, or dismay, of their fans. As for Testament, there really isn’t anything new in tow; the Bay Area band is still promoting its most recent album The Formation of Damnation and still has original guitarist Alex Skolnick back in the band’s ranks.

The Chula Vista stop of the American Carnage tour was a highly energetic event that can best be reviewed on a band-by-band basis, for Slayer, Megadeth & Testament each had very specific pros and cons that made their performances distinct from those of their fellow tourmates.

First up:



Spearheading the metal onslaught was Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Eric Peterson, Greg Christian and Paul Bostaph of Testament; with an attention-grabbing stage presence the San Francisco band had no trouble softening up the crowd despite its faulty sound mix which favored Chuck Billy’s archetypal metal voice and Paul Bostaph’s pummeling drum attack over Alex Skolnick’s searing leads and Eric Peterson and Greg Christian’s aggressive riffing.

Testament’s main downside was its setlist which left out classics such as “Disciples of the Watch”, “Into the Pit” and “The Preacher” in order to focus more on cuts from The Formation of Damnation which, despite being one of the band’s best albums, can’t compete with the songs from the group’s heyday. Having only about 50 minutes to do a set makes it complicated to squeeze every crowd-pleaser in, I know, but the band could’ve used more from that arsenal to make a much bigger impression instead of relying too much on running around the stage and taunting the audience.

Considering that Testament’s opening slot felt short on classics and didn’t have the best of sound mixes, still the band got the job done of readying the audience for the night’s headliners. Testament is one of thrash’s best bands and can easily slay an audience if given a headlining role with appropriate mixing and without a constricting time slot, but on this particular occasion the band lacked that extra mile which takes them from good to great.

Score: 7.5



Next up:



Staying true to advertising, Megadeth started its set with “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” and stuck to the running order of Rest In Peace until the band’s seminal 1990 album had been played in its entirety. The RIP part of the set was played close to perfection by Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson, Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover, had it not been for Mustaine struggling to sing appropriately; the fact that Chris Broderick stuck to Marty Friedman’s original guitar solos and that “Dawn Patrol” (a filler track) wasn’t left out say a lot about the care the band put into playing the album from start to finish, which received a warm response from the audience.

The rest of Megadeth’s set was full of crowd-pleasers and a single track (“Headcrusher”) off new album Endgame. Staples such as “Symphony of Destruction”, “A Tout Le Monde”, “Trust” and “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” lit up the place before going into a reprise of “Holy Wars” with which the band closed its set and left the stage for Slayer to take.

Aside from Mustaine’s vocal problems, Megadeth was the best-sounding band of the night and also the one with the best setlist; Rest In Peace is an album that includes lots of awesome tracks fans are always begging to hear, so that night was all about one awesome track after another. Not once was there a dull moment.

Score: 9.0



Last but certainly not least:



Slayer decided to play a couple of tracks (“World Painted Blood” & “Hate Worldwide”) off its most recent album World Painted Blood before scorching through the whole of Seasons In the Abyss… That album had never sounded better, except for one thing: you couldn’t hear Jeff Hanneman’s guitar. That huge hole in the band’s sound, thanks to whoever was manning the boards, for the night took much of the excitement of Slayer’s music away and cost them a perfect gig, for Dave Lombardo gave the performance of a lifetime, Kerry King’s tone and playing was spot-on and Tom Araya was in fine voice.

Just like Megadeth before them, Slayer left the second half of its set for the usual classic tracks “South of Heaven”, “Angel of Death”, and a surprise medley of “Raining Blood” and “Criminally Insane”.

Slayer had the crowd by the balls that night. There was no room left for catching your breath nor blinking; Slayer’s set was lightning-fast, brutal and had a choice of tracks that can only be beat by when the band played Reign In Blood from start to finish six years ago. Even with Jeff Hanneman’s technical difficulties, Slayer’s performance was incredible.

Score: 9.0

The 411: The American Carnage tour is a solid ticket for people craving that rush of adrenaline only metal can provide. With hard-hitting bands Slayer, Megadeth & Testament in tow, it’s dead certain there will be plenty of metal goodness to take in and talk about once your neck stops hurting because of intense head-banging. Catch this one before it’s too late.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]