I flew solo for this one but I had to do it because I had somehow never seen Megadeth. Spurred by the amazing riffage of “Symphony of Destruction” I had the Countdown to Extinction album on loop in my Walkman around the time I was a freshman in high school. I had not followed Megadeth very closely since Cryptic Writings and by now they were on tour for the album United Abominations, which was the fourth album since Cryptic Writings. Due to my casual fandom I did not know the majority of songs played during the first part of the set but they went on a nice little run starting with “Ashes in Your Mouth” that made the show for me. I felt like I was in an 80’s music video with all the hair flying around. Randomly enough this concert was professionally recorded and released as “Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego” which I was able to find on YouTube and post below.

SETLIST: Sleepwalker, Wake Up Dead, Take No Prisoners, Skin O’ My Teeth, Washington Is Next!, Kick the Chair, In My Darkest Hour, Hangar 18, Burnt Ice, A Tout Le Monde, Tornado of Souls, Ashes in Your Mouth, Sweating Bullets, Symphony of Destruction, Trust, Peace Sells, Holy Wars…The Punishment Due