Megadeth
The Garage
New Haven, Connecticut
December, 1985
Tony Pijar
The garage was an interesting place to see a band. For starters, it literally used to be a large garage that was transformed into a club. Next, because it used to be a garage, about 500 people stood outside in the cold until whatever went wrong on the inside was remedied – when they finally did open the door which was, believe it or not, a garage door that was lifted upward by several members of the security staff! As soon as they opened the door, we all made a mad dash to the front! Talk about chaos! That foolishness aside, we were all Metallica fans and wanted to see if the newly formed, Dave Mustaine-fronted Megadeth could hold up next to the mighty Metallica. They did to a degree because they played a few Metallica songs that Mustaine helped write, for example “Mechanix”, and basically everything off of their debut album, “Killing is My Business.” They opened with “Last Rites – Loved to Deth” and followed with the title track. What I remember most is how Mustaine slagged Metallica to the utter consternation of the pro-Metallica mob! Not a good move, given that both bands attracted the same thrash crowd. In any event, the show still holds as a fond memory. Interestingly, I’ve not seen Megadeth since then – I wonder if they are still as intense?
