It’s been what seems like a lifetime coming, but Australia has finally been awarded the opportunity to see musical legends David Ellefson and Jeff Young reunite together on stage.
And not just for any reason. This is a reunion for the ages, witnessed live by only a small number of lucky punters in the US previously.
Going back to where their partnership began, Ellefson and Young have come together under the banner of Kings Of Thrash, armed with a collection of songs made popular by their former band Megadeth. It is only a recent collaboration, borne out of musical frustration within the last twelve months, but it is the musical pairing and trip down memory lane craved by music lovers of all ages and especially heavy metal for longer than I care to remember.
After starting the run of four shows the previous night in Canberra, Kings Of Thrash touched down for the second show at The Zoo in Brisbane with local thrash outfits Odius and Asylum being granted the honour of opening the night.
But first there was the meet and greet to get through and if you thought that was going to be a casual segue into a night of metal history then think again.
The staging area – while large and spacious – was packed to the rafters with fans standing in line armed with everything from albums to shirts to books ready to be signed and to their credit the band stayed and happily chatted until the last person was left with a smile transfixed across their face.
I have been to enough of these to know meet and greets can often be hit and miss when it comes to enthusiasm from both parties, but I can gladly convey that Kings Of Thrash seemed genuinely excited to share stories with the fans and weren’t just there for the extra tea and biscuits supplied as some bands are known to do.
But, seeing I had nothing for the band to sign, I skulked back out to front of stage just in time to hear Odius lay down their first battle notes for the evening.
I have followed these guys since before they became Brisbanites but even a long-time fan like myself had to get a bit emotional at the sight of the boys up there in front of a growing crowd giving it their all.
Odius are a pure melting pot of unbridled chaos and aggression, thrashing their way through each performance like it could be their last.
Which, in the modern fickle world of music, it could be for any band at any time.
Not that Odius look like they give a fuck. Their music is delivered from the soul, and tonight they took yet another step forward with a crushing set that saw the boys showcase a large selection of new tracks from their upcoming album which should hopefully be unleashed before years end.
I must confess to knowing little about the next band Asylum, but they certainly looked the part. You know how you can just tell when a band is going to kick ass before they even play a note? And for a change I wasn’t wrong as Asylum came smashing out of the blocks and only intensified as they progressed.
By now the crowd was near capacity and Asylum revelled in the sweaty conditions, laying a solid foundation from which Kings Of Thrash could make their assault.
The crowd hushed respectfully as the four members of Kings Of Thrash took the stage, but only for a second before Young struck a ferocious note that reverberated around the room, a sonic blast of intent that signified this was going to be more than a casual attempt at reclaiming past glory.
Kings Of Thrash were here on a mission, and if there were any doubts they would have been allayed by the prolonged intro instrumental pieces that saw Young hunched aggressively over his guitar with Ellefson violating his bass between genuine smiles of happiness cast lovingly at the crowd.
It would have been a good five minutes before a note was sung by Chaz Leon and fuck me was it worth the wait!
It would be easy to draw comparisons to Leon’s vocals with other vocalists in the metal realm but for me he has a distinct and powerful voice that quickly allayed any fears that Megadeth’s music without a certain flame-haired individual would be little more than a cheap imitation.
Leon controlled centre stage with an air of confidence that instantly proved he belonged there, and, along with Fred Aching on drums – who played a blistering early solo – the recipe was set for a night of magic which it delivered in buckets.
After rumbling through Mary Jane, 502 and In My Darkest Hour Jeff Young took centre stage with a majestic guitar intro to Liar that only gathered momentum as the night drew on.
An awesome rendition of Anarchy In The UK was next, complete with brutally heavy breakdowns and all of a sudden the first part of the show was behind us as the band finished their collection of songs from So Far, So Good…So What and moved onto the album Killing Is My Business… And Business is Good.
Ellefson gave a little speech to warm the heart before Young launched into the one-two of Last Rites and Rattlehead and if it were even possible the whole intensity of the show lifted even more as Young seemed to find yet another gear before proceeding to deliver a master class of guitar playing that will go down as a major WTF experience for those lucky enough to have seen it.
Powering through Skull Beneath The Skin, Looking Down The Cross, Killing Is My Business, Loved To Death, Chosen Ones and Mechanix, each song provided a plethora of highlights but while only half of the band were the main focus leading into the show the musical quality of the remaining two members rose to prominence more with each blistering song.
Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the last few songs of the set because one member of our concert party had fallen too quickly in love with the massive Coopers stubbies that seemed to spring up from our table and was by now staring at me with the puppy-dog-take-me-the-fuck-home eyes that only a true friend would give in to, but the roars of appraisal from the crowd still hung in the air half a block away.
This was truly a performance for the ages and if you missed out I would suggest looking at flights to Melbourne and Sydney to catch one of the remaining two shows.
It was that good.
