Episode 89: Metallica Sphere Residency

Sebastian and Mandatory Music discuss the 40th anniversary of Metallica's Master Puppets album, with Sebastian noting the album's significance and Mandatory Music agreeing it is the greatest metal album of all time. They compare it to other influential metal albums like Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

Robbie Williams' Ozzy Osbourne tribute @ 2:37

Mandatory Music mentions a recent Brit Awards performance where Robbie Williams sang Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears", though he struggled with the high vocals. They discuss Robbie Williams' career and persona, noting his unique style and charisma.

Metallica's upcoming Las Vegas residency @ 5:00

The discussion turns to Metallica's upcoming residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas, with Mandatory Music sharing details on the exorbitant ticket prices, which start at over $1,100 USD for the cheapest option. They lament the high costs and lack of affordable options for fans.

Reflections on the Megadeth concert @ 13:06

Sebastian and Mandatory Music share their thoughts and critiques on the recent Megadeth concert they attended. They discuss the opening acts Exodus and Anthrax, as well as Megadeth's setlist and performance, noting areas for improvement such as a more diverse song selection.

Encore trends and concert etiquette @ 22:51

The two discuss their views on the encore trend at concerts, with Mandatory Music appreciating Megadeth's decision to simply end their set without an encore. They also touch on their annoyance with audience members leaving shows early to beat traffic.

Mandatory Music is proudly hosted and produced by Michael Heide and Sebastian Kwapich

Contact Mandatory Music:
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Thanks for listening and keep on rocking 

Transcript

@0:06 - Sebastian

Mandatory Music, that's right that's what the man's saying it is mandatory music it is mark third we took last week off because I still had no voice is the stupidest sickness of all time Mike lost his voice at the Megadeth concert not because I was screaming just literally I just lost it it was just gone yeah we both got sick yeah I made him fine can't really do a podcast you can't speak now and I literally felt like absolute trash yeah no it was it was fine I wasn't feeling that great either so no so it's all good we're back it's March 3rd you know March 3rd is uh it's the day after March 2nd it is it's also the day before the 4th also true something very uh the monumental was released 40 years ago today 40 years I should probably know this should 1986

Master Puppets?

@1:02 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes, sir. What's the first thing that comes to your mind if someone says Master Puppets, the album? What's the first thing you The first thing?

Yeah.

@1:11 - Sebastian

Right off the top of my head? Tombstones.

@1:14 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. Absolutely.

@1:16 - Sebastian

That's the first thing I thought of when you asked me that question. I just saw the white tombstones of the album cover.

@1:23 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

For some reason, that's the first thing that came to my mind. Crazy. Yeah, we're just going with the gut here, but musically, it's obviously Master Puppets.

The greatest metal album of all time?

@1:33 - Sebastian

Well, the song specifically, but yes.

@1:35 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Sure.

@1:36 - Sebastian

Yeah, it's in the Library of Congress, isn't it?

@1:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It is.

@1:39 - Sebastian

It's an important piece of music.

@1:41 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Because there's always the arguments, always that, and I think it's Paranoid, right?

@1:46 - Sebastian

Yeah, different albums though, right? Very much so. Like, Master Puppets is, I'm not going to say that the Paranoid album has very complicated and complex songs.

But that's. Yeah. I mean, it does not, but you know, like that was the style of what they were going for back then.

Right. And so like, it's two very different albums, I think. So you could say that Paranoid is the grandfather and Master Puppets is the father of metal albums, I guess.

@2:18 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You could, or you could say, yeah, Sabbath was the, was the father and Metallica is the son, the chosen one, like Anakin, know, not leaving the force in darkness.

@2:31 - Sebastian

Metallica did have the high ground, so.

@2:33 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Clearly.

@2:34 - Sebastian

They totally did.

@2:37 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

And rest in peace, Ozzy. Did you see, pardon me, the other night at the, I think it was the Brit Awards, there was a celebration of Ozzy Osbourne and.

@2:49 - Sebastian

I did not see it, no.

@2:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Okay. So Zach Wilde was on guitar. They played No More Tears. It was Zach and I don't know who else was in the band, but Robbie Williams was singing.

@2:59 - Sebastian

Robbie Williams.

@2:59 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Williams. Robbie Williams. I love Robbie Williams. He's, he's so cool. Um, that song was a little, it was a little out of his range.

@3:08 - Sebastian

Too high.

@3:09 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. He, you know what? He, I think for a live performance, it, I think he nailed it, but that's a, that's a rough song to sing.

That's Ozzy gets up there pretty high.

@3:18 - Sebastian

Yeah. It's also kind of outside of his wheelhouse for what he normally sings. Cause he's more like a pop rock singer, not like a metal tone, but I should check that out actually.

You should. Yeah.

@3:29 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Should, should, I should have made a clip ready to play, but I just thought of it.

@3:31 - Sebastian

Just thought of it now. That's fine.

@3:33 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

But it was interesting. It was neat to see it. Like Robbie is just, I don't know. Robbie's the .

He's just cool.

@3:39 - Sebastian

Yeah. He's, he's funny, man. If you ever watch him in like interviews and whatnot, like he has some crazy stories.

@3:45 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I saw him on, uh, what's his name? Uh, Graham Norton.

@3:50 - Sebastian

Is that about the maid?

@3:51 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, it was a couple of years ago. He was on there celebrating. Oh my God. My voice. Pardon me.

He was like, they were celebrating. I think he has a new record. He had a new record coming out or something, but he played his one big hit from the 90s.

@4:04 - Sebastian

I can't remember what it's called, it's so good. Rock DJ?

@4:08 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes. Rock DJ, look at you.

@4:10 - Sebastian

I'm a rock DJ.

@4:12 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That song is so good.

@4:13 - Sebastian

It's groovy, man.

@4:15 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

And he's got all sorts of gray hair and stuff now, but he's out there, all the female dancers. That song just got so much energy.

I love that song. It's so good. Oh, the 90s.

@4:26 - Sebastian

Yeah, he's like a punk... Not punk. He's like a pop rock artist, I guess.

@4:32 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, absolutely.

@4:33 - Sebastian

He's got rock tendencies, but a lot of his music is very poppy.

@4:37 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. He's a pop artist. I wouldn't say he's not. Yeah. It's a good way to put it. But yeah, Robbie Williams sang Cosby Osborne and he tried.

My hat's off to him for trying, because to do that live and he didn't, there's no pre-recorded nothing. It was...

It's a rough go, man.

@4:53 - Sebastian

That's a rough go. you can... Yeah. Yeah. Struggling vocally.

@4:58 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. you. So I was moving on, so I was on the internet yesterday, looking at, because obviously Metallica's playing The Sphere, that's the big news of the week.

@5:08 - Sebastian

Yes.

@5:09 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They've announced a residency in The Sphere in October, and then they're playing like six more shows again, I think in either November or whenever they are, January or something.

Ticket prices, shockingly, are a little out of control.

@5:22 - Sebastian

Yeah, I would assume so. Are they actual, not like, well, they haven't really gone on sale yet. There's just a couple of pre-sales.-sales, okay.

@5:30 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So I was looking at pre-sales last night, because I was like, you know what, let's just have a look-see here.

Obviously, I'm not going, because.

@5:37 - Sebastian

It's expensive.

@5:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It would be a you and I thing, right?

@5:40 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@5:40 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So the cheapest tickets with hotel, which I'm not, yeah, it was with hotel, was starting at $1,100 U.S. with three nights in a hotel.

@5:50 - Sebastian

you need to get there.

@5:51 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Plus the flight, yeah.

@5:52 - Sebastian

That's for two shows, though, right?

@5:53 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's for two shows. But it's not terrible. Well, the seats won't be good, because you'll be at the very top.

@5:59 - Sebastian

You'll be seeing, yeah.

@6:00 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Absolutely nothing. So if you went up next level, which is, I think, so I think it's like 400, 300, 200, 100, and then the floor.

So then the next level, they were at 2,000 US, then the next level, they were at 3,000 US. So we do live in Canada, so our dollar is not exactly worth a lot of money anywhere else.

So it's like a dollar, I think it's like a dollar 30 per US dollar. Yeah, it's not great.% higher, so you just add 30% to whatever we added in free US dollars.

And then the next one was three, and then one was four. And then the floor was, I think you're on the floor, because there is like some general admission, like there's actually...

@6:46 - Sebastian

I feel like the floor tickets are cheaper than the stand tickets.

@6:48 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, they're not.

@6:49 - Sebastian

Really?

@6:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No. And then there was the next one up, which was the snake pit, because they're having the snake pit.

Yeah.

@6:56 - Sebastian

I did see that.

@6:57 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. It was like, of course, resale is going to be... You know, three times as much, but I think I saw it was like around like $5,000 or $6,000.

Plus, you're staying at the Venetian. Okay, the Venetian's nice. Sure. And you get like a limo ride to the show, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

@7:17 - Sebastian

I'm not sure when the last time you went to Vegas was, but the price got married 21 years ago.

Yeah, it's a lot has changed since then. It's not, you can't just go for a couple hundred bucks for a couple of nights.

Like the hotel prices are astronomical. Like they don't do a lot for the tourists now. It's everything's expensive. And they normalized a lot of the drink prices because what we used to do, when we used to go to Vegas 20 years ago, is we used to just buy, you know, cans of beer in the gift shop because they're like two bucks, three bucks.

Right.

@7:52 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

And then you didn't have to pay the bar prices, which are like $7, $8 for a bottle.

@7:57 - Sebastian

You just go to the gift because the gift shop has like cold.

@8:01 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Well, they caught on many years ago, and they basically flatlined all the prices. Oh, boy.

@8:08 - Sebastian

It's the same no matter where you buy it, if it's the gift shop or whatever. That's not good. Yeah, you can't really do that anymore.

@8:14 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, that sucks.

@8:16 - Sebastian

But yeah, I haven't been to Vegas in, oh, man, I can't even remember, like 10 years ago, maybe.

@8:21 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Really?

@8:21 - Sebastian

Yeah. But I know people that go consistently for work conferences and stuff, and yeah, it's not affordable anymore.

@8:30 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, which is a shame, because it always kind of was, like you said, was that thing.

@8:34 - Sebastian

could go for three nights, you know, four or five hundred bucks.

@8:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Okay, not so bad.

@8:40 - Sebastian

I remember our local radio station used to do $99 trips to Vegas.

@8:44 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Whoa.

@8:45 - Sebastian

It's a 24-hour trip. So you leave at like six in the morning on the flight. You get to Vegas, and you party for 24 hours, and then your flight leaves the next day at 6 a.m.

@8:57 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

back home. Whoa.

@8:58 - Sebastian

But there's no hotel room. It's just a flight down there, like on a party plane, and then back.

@9:04 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, I'm trying to find some prices. So presale for the second batch. So you got two in November and then a couple in January, because I guess they can't play more than a month in a row, two days a week, because they're old.

@9:21 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@9:22 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I'm still trying to, yeah, I'm trying to find if I could get into the pricing again, because it was just like, seriously, like, what the hell, man?

@9:29 - Sebastian

Also, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but for the first batch of concerts, which I think is like six, they're like Friday, Sunday, and then the next week, Friday, Sunday, they're not doing any repeat songs.

@9:43 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, it's the no repeat weekend.

@9:46 - Sebastian

No, but I think all six shows.

@9:49 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, they can't. There's no way.

@9:51 - Sebastian

I'm not sure.

@9:52 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Dude, come on, man. I don't think so. They'd have to. If you're playing. If If you're playing basically 14 shows, and you're playing 15 songs a night, you can't repeat any of they don't have that many songs.

@10:11 - Sebastian

They have a lot of songs.

@10:13 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

But they're not going to be playing Escape and Thorn Within and Ronnie, which would be cool, but they're not playing Ronnie.

@10:22 - Sebastian

Stop with the Ronnie, man.

@10:24 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Come on, Ronnie's good. I don't know what your hate on for Ronnie is, but... Yeah, come on, I didn't sign up.

What? I don't know, I got on this last night, and I was like, oh, cool, I can see some prices.

And for whatever reason, Ticketmaster is being stupid, because, well, let's just say, it's stupid.

@10:51 - Sebastian

My location is not So are they moving? I guess they won't be moving to Vegas for the run. No.

Right, because it's the first and third, 50. 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, and 29th, and 31st of October. So that's for them.

And then apparently Tool is going to the sphere the year after.

@11:12 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I think Tool would be a better show than Metallica in the sphere.

@11:15 - Sebastian

Well, they're a very visual band.

@11:16 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes, Metallica.

@11:17 - Sebastian

and it's about the psychedelics and stuff like that.

@11:19 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, I think it would be amazing. I'd rather go see that, honestly.

@11:22 - Sebastian

I don't know. I think there's a lot of opportunity, and Metallica being the first heavy metal band to play in there.

@11:28 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Like, the first band that opened up the sphere was U2, which I think is a very safe choice and a very global choice.

Absolutely.

@11:36 - Sebastian

Like, you know, they're professional enough to deal with any type of discrepancies or issues live and just roll with it, right?

They're so talented in terms of a band, and it's like a global safety artist that can appeal to the most people.

Absolutely. And they're willing to try.

@12:00 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

At first, it's like vanilla ice cream, right? It's the same thing.

@12:03 - Sebastian

Yeah. I mean, I like vanilla ice cream. It's good for everything. You just add flavor on top of it and you're good.

@12:09 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah.

@12:10 - Sebastian

Yeah. I would like to go, but I mean, I, I went pretty hard on world cup tickets this year.

@12:16 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You did.

@12:17 - Sebastian

So that's kind of my choice with it. And ultimately I made the choice with soccer, you know, cause I don't think he'll ever be in North America.

In our lifetime, again, the world cup, right? So to have it in the backyard and be able to go see Canada play in BC places, something special.

Yes.

@12:39 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Without a doubt. I think that's more special than seeing it banned for the 12th time.

@12:43 - Sebastian

Hey man, if I win the $75 million jackpot tonight, I'll, I'll take you, I'll take you to the sphere, bud.

@12:48 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, gee, thanks. If you can get tickets, that's, that's the thing.

@12:51 - Sebastian

I'll buy them on resale.

@12:53 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Doesn't matter. You're crazy, man. I think we're all hoping to win the lottery tonight, but yeah.

@12:58 - Sebastian

75 million. A lot of money.

@13:03 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So we did go see Megadave.

@13:06 - Sebastian

Yes, we did.

@13:07 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

did. So two weeks ago, guess it's two weeks ago now? More than that. Two weeks.

@13:11 - Sebastian

It's two weeks ago. Yeah.

@13:13 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So looking back, you've had some time to think about it. Pontificate. What was your experience? We'll start with Exodus.

Was it everything you thought they'd be? Was it like, why are we watching these guys?

@13:30 - Sebastian

Or was it just kind of... fine. My issue... Okay. So the issue always with opening bands, I'm not sure if you share my sentiment or not, but I think a lot of people do, is they're not...

It's never tailor-made for the opening band, like the setup, the sound setup and stuff like that. So there's always issues with the sound, right?

There's always... It's very noisy, especially in the metal world where it's not like clean and crisp. Like I remember going to see Metallica in BC Place and...

Gojira was one of the opening bands, and I'm just like, I can't hear them properly, right? And when we saw Pantera in Edmonton, like...

@14:10 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They stunk.

@14:12 - Sebastian

Well, it's not even a matter of their ability to play. It's just that the sound mix was poor. It was so bad.

Like, you couldn't hear Zach's guitar that well. So, specifically with Exodus, like, I just felt like the singer was just shouting everything all the time, which is metal, so it's a weird thing, right?

@14:28 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, and I think that's how he sings anyway.

@14:30 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@14:30 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Because have you listened to much Exodus at all? No. No, because I think... all. Because the singer now... It's Rob Dukes.

was in the band in the 2000s, then he left, and now he's back.

@14:39 - Sebastian

I couldn't even tell you one song they sing. No. Just something with Exodus and me, like, I just never really...

@14:43 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No. Like, I know Bono by Blood and, like, Toxic Waltz, and that's...

@14:47 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@14:49 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's that. And I think they played them both.

@14:51 - Sebastian

I mean, went in to, like, listen to a bunch of Exodus albums, and it's just like, it's... You know, you start in the 80s when they first...

became a band and it's just so, the production is just so dated, you know, maybe we've been spoiled recently with like super production value, you know, with like Metallica and Arch Enemy and all, it's so pristine in terms of production value.

And then you listen to that, it sounds like somebody recorded through a tin can in a garage, right? And so I know a lot of people like that in terms of raw and realness because it sounds like a garage band, but I don't know.

I guess the older I get, the more I want perfection in the sound.

@15:33 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Let me ask you this.

@15:34 - Sebastian

Sure.

@15:34 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Did you wear earplugs during the show?

@15:36 - Sebastian

No.

@15:36 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Okay.

@15:37 - Sebastian

I never wear earplugs.

@15:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Okay. So I did. I do.

@15:40 - Sebastian

Every time.

@15:41 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I do now because my ears ring constantly and it's annoying.

@15:45 - Sebastian

does that happen?

@15:46 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Pardon? So I can't hear you over the ringing in ears. Anyways, so I bought a product called Hears and they're like those loop ones where they just, they drop it just enough.

So it's not like a full muffle. It's like, it drops at like 20 decibels. So. There's concerts at like a hundred.

It's going to drop it down to that sort of perfect 80. It's more manageable sound. Absolutely. And I thought Exodus, I thought the whole show sounded really good through my, my plugs and everything, but I just, they were just, it was okay.

@16:16 - Sebastian

It was, it was fine. I mean, they played what, six songs?

@16:19 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Something like that. And I, and it felt like it kind of took a while. Those six songs was like, oh my God, can we just.

@16:26 - Sebastian

Well, they all kind of.

@16:28 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Sounded same.

@16:29 - Sebastian

Sounded the same, right? Like it's the same tone and stuff like that. So, um, I mean, they were fine.

Like I didn't really.

@16:36 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Would go see them again?

@16:38 - Sebastian

Oh, if they're an opening band. Yeah, maybe, but not by themselves.

@16:41 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

What if they came back on a club tour headlining something? No. Okay. So then we get onto Anthrax.

@16:47 - Sebastian

Yes.

@16:48 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Um, which I was excited.

@16:50 - Sebastian

of the four.

@16:51 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Of the big four. I was, you know, cause they're more punky and they got sort of that more FU attitude, more than anybody else even still.

Right. I saw this come out and say I'm a John Bush guy. like the John Bush era, the 90s, Sound of White Noise, Stomp 442, whatever.

I like all that more so than their 80s stuff. I don't like the punky vibe. just don't. And it's, and having Exodus, Anthrax, and Megadeth together is a lot.

It's a lot of the same, same, same.

@17:33 - Sebastian

Well, you know what I mean? Why do they have two opening bands?

@17:37 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Because they're all friends and I think it was just something cool. I think they just, right. Could have just been Anthrax and Megadeth?

Yes, sure. I would have liked that better and then had Megadeth play an extra 30 minutes. Well, they, I don't think they can.

@17:54 - Sebastian

So I think that's why there's two opening bands. I think there's the stamina is just not there. Um, well, it was an.

It's hour and 32 minutes, their set, which...

@18:02 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Which I thought was perfect. I thought it was... I thought it was fine. don't, like, sure...

@18:08 - Sebastian

It's 17 songs, but, like, to be fairer, it's your farewell tour. I felt like it's a bit short.

@18:16 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

And it was kind of limited on what albums they played songs from. Like, it was just always their same, same set list, for the most part.

Like, obviously, add in the three new songs. Well, 10 of the songs that they played are from three albums.

Right.

@18:31 - Sebastian

So they played four from Rest in Peace, three from Countdown, and three from the new album.

@18:35 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah.

@18:36 - Sebastian

Right. And so that's a lot. That's, like, over half of your content is from three albums. So what do they have, like?

@18:42 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

played two from Peace Sells.

@18:43 - Sebastian

17 albums?

@18:44 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah. One from Cryptic Writings, one from The World Needs a Hero.

@18:48 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@18:49 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

One from Dystopia, and one from the first album.

@18:53 - Sebastian

So that's what I would have liked. I would have liked to see...

@18:56 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Let's have a career spanning set list.

@18:58 - Sebastian

Yes. Because that's the whole... That was the whole... The point of this idea is just, it's a farewell tour.

So like highlight a lot of different songs from different albums.

@19:06 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Right. Absolutely.

@19:07 - Sebastian

But you know, on the one side, if they, if they removed Exodus as a start, as the opener and just had Anthrax, they could allow them to play an extra 30 minutes.

So you could have, you could have dove into like maybe four or five more songs and really diversify your set list to highlight all your career, basically.

And maybe not playing. said that, you are right. Maybe they're physically can't do a two hour set.

@19:34 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I don't think Dave's got it in him anymore. And which is fine. I don't, he's 60, he's 64 this year.

@19:39 - Sebastian

Come on. That's. Yeah.

@19:41 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

But an hour and a half is short for a headlining act. And not playing any solos. He just was rhythm for most of the night.

@19:47 - Sebastian

He played a few.

@19:48 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You know.

@19:49 - Sebastian

But yeah, Timo. Timo for me was the highlight of the, of the, of the show.

@19:54 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah.

@19:54 - Sebastian

Honestly. And I know we said this afterwards, but we haven't said it on the podcast. Didn't have a problem.

I Dave singing it at all, either.

@20:01 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, it was fine.

@20:02 - Sebastian

You know, I was very concerned of like, oh, we're going to get the Ride the Lightning voice. You know, that's struggling.

@20:09 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You think they'd ever play Ride the Lightning live? Probably not. Can't.

@20:12 - Sebastian

They can't sing that live.

@20:13 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You can't.

@20:16 - Sebastian

It'd be funny if they did. And it's too high for him.

@20:18 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah.

@20:19 - Sebastian

I mean, it's too high for James now, too. It's too high for James.

@20:23 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It's too high for James. I can't sing it. That's for There you go. I wrote the damn song.

@20:28 - Sebastian

The whole podcast talk like Dave.

@20:30 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, I wrote Lepromus. actually, part of my problem losing my voice was I talked like Dave Mustaine for a whole day.

And actually, it threw my, I was getting sick anyway, but it did not help. My voice dropped like five octaves and I was like Barry White.

I was the white Barry White.

@20:48 - Sebastian

I have a question for you.

@20:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, one song they shouldn't have played is Poison was the Cure. Like, seriously?

@20:54 - Sebastian

Come on. I mean, that's a deep cut. Like, I guarantee you most Megadeth fans don't play.

@21:00 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Five magics or something. Come on, come on.

@21:02 - Sebastian

That's from Rest in Peace, isn't it?

@21:04 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It is. It's like, seriously, I'd rather hear, I'd rather hear five magics. That's just me.

@21:08 - Sebastian

Do you think they just threw a dart on a dartboard and landed on Poison of the Cure?

@21:13 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, because I think they're playing that song. I think they're playing it every night, every time they play now.

@21:17 - Sebastian

I haven't looked at the set list.

@21:19 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I have. It's pretty well the same. They've added, they played it too at Le Mans the other night. And that's a great song.

There's just a couple of, they played hook and mouth off of Peace.

@21:32 - Sebastian

I think that's off of Peace Sells or I'm a really big fan of the Metallica approach to set lists where they have like, let's say they have like 15 songs and I'd say 12 of them are solid and they have rotating slots for certain of the songs.

So you don't really know what you're going to get. You know, they have like a thrash slot where they'll like cycle through three or four different thrash songs.

So, and apparently. Secondly, I read this a couple of weeks ago, is that Metallica has a software program where they input their setlist to every city.

So the next time they're in that city, they put up the database and go, okay, which songs have we played in the city?

@22:16 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Interesting.

@22:17 - Sebastian

Just to be like, okay, well, we play Enter Sandman every single... Well, mean, of course there was a song they're never not going to play, right?

But some of the deeper cuts, they're like, oh, we played this song, we played Leper Messiah in Edmonton.

@22:30 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So we won't play that again the next time we're there. Yeah, we got through the Never Instead of Leper Messiah.

@22:35 - Sebastian

Yeah, and I'm just, you know, pulling stuff out of my head.

@22:40 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Out of your butt.

@22:41 - Sebastian

So my question is, like, how do you feel at this point after being, you know, we've probably gone to over 100 concerts from various bands.

There was no encore. No, I thought that was kind of weird. by design, especially on a farewell tour.

@22:58 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Right? Right? Just like... No. No. We're Meganatha.

@23:00 - Sebastian

Have a nice day. But do you feel that the encore is overplayed now in music?

@23:06 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes. And I thought it was kind of cool to just finish the set and leave. Like, just do it.

@23:12 - Sebastian

It's such a Dave thing to do, isn't it?

@23:14 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Right. It's like a big fingers up.

@23:16 - Sebastian

I'm done. See you later.

@23:17 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Right? Like, I'm playing my 17 and I'm out. I don't need to sit backstage for five minutes, have the crowd roar for me to come back on.

Like, we all know what... It was refreshing not to see the encore. I thought it was kind of cool.

Like, I was like, you know what? Just do your goodbyes and just be done with it.

@23:35 - Sebastian

Also...

@23:35 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

He's going to tour again anyway. It's fine.

@23:38 - Sebastian

Yeah, he's going to do something. I also get annoyed with people leaving early to beat traffic. We're in freaking Kelowna, man.

@23:44 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

There's no traffic. No.

@23:46 - Sebastian

Do know what I mean?

@23:47 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It's just like, okay, they're doing their bows and people are like getting out of the chair. Because how long did it take us to leave the stadium?

Like five minutes. It's not like... Seven minutes to get back to our hotel room after the concert. It's not like we were in like a state...

Like a... Like... a football stadium size place where it's going to take time to get out, where there's 70,000 people.

@24:05 - Sebastian

Oh my goodness.

@24:06 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Like there was like 8,000 people max and it was, everybody was orderly. It was, it was, it was bizarre.

@24:13 - Sebastian

It was a bizarre. Yeah, concert, concert, Metallica concert ended at 11 p.m. We got back to the hotel room at one.

That took forever. Because took forever Well, then we had to walk like 500 blocks to our vehicle and it was just, it was a whole thing.

Yeah, good parking around there too, so.

@24:27 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

But I would have, you know, back to the mega show, would have liked to, like you said, seen like a career spanning set list, like play, if you have 17 records, I know you can't play one song from all of them.

@24:37 - Sebastian

Why not?

@24:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Well, you could, I guess. Getting into the 2000s there, it's, it would get a little dicey, but.

@24:44 - Sebastian

Bring out some Prince of Darkness.

@24:46 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh yeah.

@24:47 - Sebastian

But they didn't play, so it's really fascinating to me is that they didn't, so the, the album before this is a sick, the dying, or whatever.

@24:56 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

The dead, sick, the dead, then sick, the dying, and the dead.

@24:58 - Sebastian

They don't play anything from that album.

@25:00 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, it's too fast.

@25:02 - Sebastian

Is it?

@25:03 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I guess, maybe.

@25:03 - Sebastian

But that's only like two, three years ago.

@25:06 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes, it was 2022, 2023.

@25:09 - Sebastian

Something like that, right?

@25:11 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

But the fact that they don't play anything from that album is a bit odd to anything from Dystopia either.

We didn't get anything from that either.

@25:18 - Sebastian

They didn't play anything from Super Collider either?

@25:20 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No. Or Endgame, or 13.

@25:23 - Sebastian

Yeah, so a lot of their most recent albums they just completely omit and don't play.

@25:28 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

The System Has Failed. We got nothing off of that.

@25:30 - Sebastian

We got obviously nothing off of Risk. Fair enough.

@25:34 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Nothing off of Euthanasia. Nothing off of Euthanasia either, which kind of shocked me. I thought they'd play at least the two LeMond.

@25:40 - Sebastian

Well, they do. I guess that's in rotation for some other ones, right? So the other thing, too, is you got to consider the tour for this album is very quick after the album is released.

@25:52 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes.

@25:52 - Sebastian

So I don't think they had a lot of time to rehearse songs. other go on.

@25:59 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Thanks. They're professionals.

@26:01 - Sebastian

I know, but hear me out. That's why the setlist is the way it is, is because, you know, you don't need to rehearse Hangar 18, you don't need to rehearse Symphony or Peace Cells or a lot of their classics because they play them so much, right?

And so at what point is there a barrier for, you know, because I think the bassist is new too, right?

@26:24 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I believe.

@26:25 - Sebastian

Maybe not this album, but he's not exactly.

@26:27 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Barely. No, he's not exactly like Binner. He's not Dave Ellison who was around.

@26:31 - Sebastian

But Timo's only been with the band for just over a year, right? Yeah. So, so he's got to learn the entire catalog pretty much.

@26:38 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I think a guy like Temu is, he can learn anything really fast.

@26:42 - Sebastian

Yeah, I think so too.

@26:43 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Dude's a freak. He can learn anything. I think he can learn and play anything. Like there's nothing that he can't play.

But if you look back, because what I did was I looked back like a last tour and the tour were four just to compare.

They're, they're pretty well the same. It's the same songs that they- It kind of is, yeah. It's not like they're sprinkling some new ones, and the classics that they play are the classics that they play, for the most part, right?

They're not like, like what I'd like to hear, go to hell. Hell yeah.

@27:13 - Sebastian

That's a good song.

@27:14 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I know I was angry against my favorite song by Megadeth. I'm so happy I heard it. It was amazing.

But, you know.

@27:21 - Sebastian

Dude, I like Paranoid. The version of Paranoid.

@27:27 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

too fast.

@27:27 - Sebastian

It's so good, though.

@27:29 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Nick. Nick.

@27:30 - Sebastian

Nick.

@27:31 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick.

@27:36 - Sebastian

Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick.

@27:51 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Nick. Nick. Nick.

@27:54 - Sebastian

Nick. Nick. Nick.

@27:55 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Nick.

@27:57 - Sebastian

Nick. Nick. It was Angry Again higher up. Pardon me. Angry Again was third, yes. Hanger 18 moved to number four slot.

they just changed something.

@28:07 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's a better spot for Hanger 18 right But they played Dystopia. Oh.

@28:12 - Sebastian

And that's the only other song that they played that is different, I believe. So that's kind of interesting that they just threw that one in.

So I don't know. And then they played a Toot Le Monde one before that as well. Yeah. But it's pretty much the same list.

Are you, do you like it when bands like evolve throughout their tour? Yes. Where they add songs in and they go, okay, this is a live debut.

We've rehearsed this. Because Iron Maiden doesn't do that.

@28:46 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

No, God.

@28:47 - Sebastian

Iron Maiden's set list, when they design the set list, is exactly the same.

@28:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It never changes.

@28:51 - Sebastian

whole tour.

@28:52 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, I find that kind of, I'd get bored. And you can't tell me it's because they're stage production because it's just like a screen.

@28:58 - Sebastian

camera camera. to I'm that Yeah. back. They're perfectionists, though. So when they rehearse something, it's just like, this is the way it's gonna be.

Yeah, that's fair. They're like flawless performers for the most part.

@29:07 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Like, I know the band Clutch, I went and saw them, I don't think you were there, it just me and the wife.

And they debuted two songs off a record that hadn't even come out yet.

@29:14 - Sebastian

I love that.

@29:15 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They were still like, it was like, X-Ray Visions and... I love There was a couple songs that was like a Warfare.

And like Decapitation Blues, I think, and X-Ray Visions. was like, hell yeah.

@29:28 - Sebastian

That's a great name for a song.

@29:29 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, know, right? I like, in Clutches, set lists are generally always different.

@29:34 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@29:35 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They, their songs, I think they have the ability to play any song any given night they want. Because their songs are short, and they're not exactly complex.

@29:43 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@29:44 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They're not that old, so, yeah.

@29:46 - Sebastian

Were you satisfied? I guess we'll just close with, are you satisfied with...

@29:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yes.

@29:51 - Sebastian

With Magnus? I thought, I thought Dave looked great.

@29:53 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

He played great. He has a great band around him. Um... He just needs to leave. Thank The Metallica stuff alone.

Stop already. No one cares anymore that you wrote some songs on Kill Em All and a couple on Ride the Lightning.

@30:08 - Sebastian

They don't even matter at this point.

@30:11 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They stopped mattering 35 years ago. It matters to him, though. Well, it does. But he's had a great career.

Obviously, it pales in comparison to what his former band did, and I'm sure that bothers him. It would probably bother me, too, but I wouldn't say anything.

I'm just going to be like, alright, those guys. That's what It's a business.

@30:32 - Sebastian

Business is ruthless sometimes.

@30:33 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Killing is my business. Business is good.

@30:36 - Sebastian

He did well for himself, though. He's arguably the third or second greatest thrashman to come out of the 80s.

@30:42 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yep.

@30:42 - Sebastian

To the late 80s.

@30:43 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

He's one of the greatest rhythm players, one of the greatest lead players. I'm not going to put singer in that, but he's great at rhythm and he's great at lead.

@30:53 - Sebastian

He's a great songwriter.

@30:54 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

So, but happy anniversary to the coolest metal album.

@31:01 - Sebastian

We just can't get away from Metallica. Every time we talk about Megadeth, there's a Metallica thing that comes in.

to be, I'm playing Orion in the background right now. Yeah, I love it.

@31:08 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Whatever. I just thought I could just close it with it. It is the anniversary. It is 40 freaking years, man.

@31:17 - Sebastian

Yeah. Happy anniversary.

@31:19 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Long time. And how relevant this still is. I know Stranger Things helped, but how relevant this album is and the fact that we got them to see them play Orion.

That's always been the million times we've seen them Orion. It was one of the most elusive songs I wanted.

You got it. And I got it. So, I'll wait for the YouTube video from the Sphere. I play it?

Hopefully. Right?

@31:50 - Sebastian

Yeah.

@31:50 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's the only- I would like to go, but it's just, it's not, it's not can't do it, man. got to spend like, so two tickets.

Okay. So I got to spend, let's say, four I grand U.S.

@32:00 - Sebastian

for myself, and you're like ten grand, and you got to take Junior.

@32:04 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I take Junior, so then I got a four grand for him too, and then plus flights, and no, and no offense America, but I'm not going to America right now, so.

@32:14 - Sebastian

Yeah, that's the other thing too.

@32:15 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah, it's just, it's the unfortunate, the unfortunateness of it, it's just my prerogative.

@32:20 - Sebastian

Yeah, that's fair.

@32:21 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's fair. Right, so YouTube is my friend. So yeah, happy anniversary, Megadeth, Master of Puppets. And yeah, that's it.

@32:34 - Sebastian

We'll see you next week.

@32:35 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

You got anything else?

@32:36 - Sebastian

Nope, I'm good.

@32:37 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Okay. Oh, did you hear a couple Iron Maiden tidbits before we go? After this run of Run For Your Lives, which are not coming anywhere near us, so.

@32:47 - Sebastian

That's, yeah, that's fine.

@32:49 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's fine. Too bad, too bad for us, guess. They're not going to tour again until They're another album. No, I don't think so.

Apparently they're not going to tour again until at least 2028.

@32:58 - Sebastian

So it'll be like-- They're in 70s at that point.

@33:01 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

They're already in their 70s. Yeah, what rumor has it, Dave Murray, is after this run, he's done. Oh, I did read that.

Yeah, that's kind of all over the place.

@33:10 - Sebastian

I'm not happy with certain things.

@33:11 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

doesn't want a tour anymore.

@33:12 - Sebastian

Like, just enjoy your old age.

@33:16 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Yeah.

@33:17 - Sebastian

Yeah, this might be it for Iron Maiden.

@33:18 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

I'm fine with that. Give me some more Bruce Solo stuff, because the Mandatory Music Project is quietly really good.

@33:25 - Sebastian

It's out there.

@33:26 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

It's out there. And that's okay.

@33:28 - Sebastian

Yeah, he definitely goes further in fantasy than Iron Maiden ever wants to go.

@33:34 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

Oh, yeah. His solo records are awesome.

@33:36 - Sebastian

I just thought it was the other way around. But anyways, yeah, that's it for us.

@33:39 - Mandatory Music (mandatorymusicshow@gmail.com)

That's it. That's all. Good night. Goodbye.

@33:41 - Sebastian

See you later. See you next week. Bye.