Megadeth kicked off the North American leg of its “Dystopia” world tour last Saturday (February 20) at South Side Ballroom in Dallas, Texas, Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.
In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie, Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine stated about the band’s setlist for the current tour: “We had to modify our setlist several times over the last couple of months of playing when we went from headlining by ourselves to playing with Lamb of God in the U.K. to going down to Mexico and playing Knotfest festival. Each time the set got shorter and shorter. I’m hoping we’ll have a good 75-minute-to-90-minute setlist that we can play. Either way, we’re going to try and play several songs off of [Megadeth‘s latest album] ‘Dystopia’.”
Asked in a 2013 interview what it takes for a new Megadeth song to stay in the setlist beyond the album touring cycle, like ‘She-Wolf’ has, Mustaine said: “You know, a lot of it seems so scientific, but a lot of it isn’t. It’s just a matter of how long the set is, how high the song is singing-wise, who we’re playing with… The set we did for Gigantour isn’t that different from what we did for the Iron Maiden tour, but we took out a couple of songs, we took out ‘A Tout Le Monde’ and we took out ‘Trust’, kind of let it rip. I think a lot of people were totally surprised by that setlist for the Iron Maiden dates, and so was I. I thought that was a good setlist, but a lot of times you have people saying, ‘Oh, you gotta play ‘A Tout Le Monde’. That’s your biggest song. You gotta play ‘Trust’. That’s your number one hit. You gotta do this, you gotta do that.’ I ain’t gotta do nothing. And listening to the fans, what they like, and listening to what I like. Between the two of us, one of us is going to be right. And I know that when it comes down to playing stuff that makes me feel good, I like playing the heavy stuff.”
“Dystopia” debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 49,000 equivalent album units in the week ending January 28.
In terms of pure album sales, “Dystopia” opened with 48,000 copies, marking Megadeth‘s highest-charting album since 1992’s “Countdown To Extinction” debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the chart dated August 1 of that year. “Dystopia” also logged the group’s best sales week since 2007, when “United Abominations” landed at No. 8 with first-week sales of 54,000.
In addition to Mustaine, Megadeth‘s current lineup includes bassist David Ellefson, Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, best known for his work with Angra.
The setlist was as follows:
01. Hangar 18
02. Kingmaker
03. Wake Up Dead
04. In My Darkest Hour
05. She-Wolf
06. Sweating Bullets
07. Dawn Patrol
08. Poison Was The Cure
09. Tornado Of Souls
10. Trust
11. Fatal Illusion
12. A Tout Le Monde
13. Skin O’ My Teeth
14. Symphony Of Destruction
15. Peace Sells
Encore:
16. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Upcoming Shows:
US.
Feb. 23 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore Auditorium
Feb. 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Feb. 26 – Las Vegas, NV – The Pearl
Feb. 27 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
Feb. 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
Feb. 29 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
Mar. 02 – Honolulu, HI – The Republik (MEGADETH only)
Mar. 03 – Honolulu, HI – The Republik (MEGADETH only)
Mar. 05 – Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre
Mar. 06 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Resort
Mar. 08 – Dawson Creek, BC – Encana Events Centre
Mar. 09 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
Mar. 10 – Moose Jaw, SK – Mosaic Place
Mar. 13 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
Mar. 15 – Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre
Mar. 16 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
Mar. 17 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
Mar. 19 – Bethlehem, PA – Sands Bethlehem Event Center
Mar. 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
Mar. 21 – Boston, MA – House Of Blues
Mar. 23 – Bangor, ME – Cross Insurance Center
Mar. 24 – Quebec, QC – Centre Videotron
Mar. 26 – Sioux Falls, SD – Badlands Pawn
May 27 – May 29 Pryor Creek, OK Catch the Fever Music
May 29 San Antonio, TX River City Rockfest @ AT&T Center
EUROPE:
Jun 2 Milan, Lombardy Gods of Metal Festival
Jun 3 Bologna, ITA Estragon
Jun 5 Nijmegen, NLD FortaRock
Jun 7 Lodz, POL Atlas Arena
Jun 9 Solvesborg, BLEKINGE LAN Sweden Rock Festival
Jun 10 – Jun 12 Paris, FRA Download Festival
Jun 11 Castle Donington, UK Donington Park
Jun 14 Groningen, NLD Oosterpoort
Jun 15 Basel, CHE Pratteln Rockfabrik
Jun 16 Esch-sur-Alzette, LUX Rockhal
Jun 17 – Jun 19 Clisson, FRA Hellfest Sold Out
Jun 17 Dessel, BEL Graspop Metal Meeting @ Festivalpark
Jun 22 Berlin, Berlin Huxleys Neue Welt
Jun 23 Hamburg, DEU Docks Club
Jun 24 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhell
Jun 25 Oslo, NOR Tons of Rock Festival
Jun 28 Köln, DEU Live Music Hall
Jun 29 Frankfurt, DEU Batschkapp
Jun 30 München, DEU Backstage
Jul 1 Rishon LeZion, ISR Live Park Amphitheatre
Jul 7 Sofia, BGR Universiada Hall
SOUTH AMERICA:
Aug 2 Santiago Metropolitan Region, CHL Teatro Caupolican
Aug 7 São Paulo, BRA Espaco das Americas
Aug 12 Brasília, BRA Net Live Brasilia
Aug 13 Fortaleza, BRA Siara Hall
Aug 20 Asuncion, PRY Independiente
Aug 22 Buenos Aires, ARG Luna Park
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