The Rock & Roll Killing Spree Resurrection.

Megadeth: Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour

When I heard that the Countdown to Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour was coming here in Las Vegas, I already made arrangements weeks before. But due to laziness and being procrastinate, I bought my tickets just days before the show. Original plan was to get the ticket as early as possible so that I could get balcony seats and save myself from the hostile environment of the moshpit. But it wouldn’t mattered anyways since those seats belong to the VIP’s and it’s a bit pricey of being one.

Kyng from Los Angeles opened the show. I’ve never heard of them before but watching them was a delight. Even though they’re just a 3 piece band, they’re just as solid as you want it to be. They fuse a little bit of rock with some heavy and thrash in it. Pepe Clarke’s drum lines were that just heart trembling that you’ll find yourself headbanging all of a sudden. They did a pretty good job of pumping up the crowd. It was evident as the people behind me were already killing each other.

Before the main show started, there’s this chick who squeezed infront of me knowing that we’re already crowded in where we at. Lights went off which indicates the start of the show. Megadeth started their set with the song “Trust”. As soon as the heavy groovy intro of the song started, so is the mayhem in the moshpit. All of them were jumping and pushing around. But this chick was banging her head so hard that all I can see was her hair all over my face. Well, that’s not enough for her to annoy the shit out of me isn’t it? After the song, she pushed her butt out to make some space for her. It was that hard that it kinda hurt my right leg. Yeah like a boxout from a basketball game. Most guys would be flattered by that. But no. Not me. I came there to watch the show. Not to get some free fancy touches from bitches. So I thought, “Alright, Game on you motherfucker. You’ll get what’s coming.” Halfway through of the second song, the mohspit became hostile again. I thought this is the chance that I’ll get back at her. So I pushed myself in, put my arms forward, and started to push every people at my side, but my main target was her. When the song ended, I looked at my back. And there she was, standing. 3 persons away from me. And I thought, “yeah I won that battle” with a grin on my face.

All is fair in the moshpit. It doesn’t matter if you’re hot, gorgeous, or even pregnant. You should know before hand the consequences of being in that hostile territory. You should know what you just got yourself in to. But what I love about the moshpit is surprisingly, there are rules. No matter how hard you push each other, when one of you goes down to the floor, all of you has to stop to pick that guy up. Then continue again. A bit mental but fun.

What amazes me more is their set design. Gone are the huge stacks of Marshall amps. They replaced it with big LED visual styles. Every song has a different visual attack in it. Like a music video, but live. The production team really did a very great job. But what surprised me is the old people in the show, ranges from 40-60 years old. Some of them wearing a Megadeth shirt. Again, diversity in Heavy Metal.

They played every song in the Countdown To Extinction record chronologically with some of their face smashing hits outside of the said album such as “Peace Sells”, “Public Enemy no.1”, and my personal favorite, “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”. Even though I haven’t heard some of the songs before, it made me look at my Countdown To Extinction album and put them all in my playlist. It was a really good album but I prefer the 1990’s “Rust in Peace” record more.

It was a great show over all. It is not like everyday you get the chance to see a band such as Megadeth come and play in town. And it was just not an ordinary gig. It’s their 20th anniversary of one of their world renowned record. It was money well spent. 

Things I Love Doing That I Miss

This was taken at around June of 2011. It’s been a long while since the last time I went out and shoot some photos. Im in Las Vegas and I’ve probably taken all of the photos that’s worth taking in this city, which is not that much. The strip and the parks, which all look the same because it’s just a big pile of rock.

Going to concerts are fun thing especially when you’ll have no problem dealing with a hostile crowd. The last time I went to a concert that I had a chance of taking proper photos was a couple of months ago when Greyhoundz came to town. They tear the house down but you can still move around because there were only a few people who came to the gig. I went to California last October to see my childhood heroes The Eraserheads play but I didn’t even bothered using my DSLR  to take some photos. I came there with an intention to enjoy the moment without any distractions. Besides, I was far away from the stage and my zoom lens woudn’t even give it justice. It’ll be just a waste of time. But I took some photos using my iPhone of course. I’ll be heading to House of Blues this Thursday to see Megadeth’s Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour and it’s going to be In Flames, Hatebreed, and Lamb of God a week after that. I didn’t had the chance to get the balcony seats on both shows so that means I’ll be in the moshpit and I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to take some photos using my phone.

Music is a big part of my life and being in a band is a thing that I know I’ll be enjoying doing for the rest of my life especially if you’re playing with people who you consider brothers. An extended family. Even though we’re so shit broke, that is just fine as long as we’re all together. Drinking, laughing, and playing the music that we love. That’s all that mattered to us. But as you grow older, real serious life shit catches up and I know Im not the only one who’s going through it. You have to make life changing sacrifices and decisions that’ll not only benefit you but mostly, the people you love. That’s why I am here. No complains though. I know I just need to make the most of the cards that I’ve been dealt with and I shall play with those cards as wisely as possible. 

Thoughts on the iPhone 5

So I finally got the iPhone 5 which I consider a present for myself (birthday is coming up in a couple of days). I got sick of my iPhone 4 and it’s wearing down on me. But I still love to keep it though.

Right from the moment I held the device, the one thing I noticed off the bat is that it’s ridiculously thin and light. It felt like somewhat a toy but it didn’t felt cheap. It’s thin and light but still solid and feels comfortable in my hand. The 4 inch display is also a delight and the colors were just that vibrant compared to the iPhone 4. I liked the extended display so much that i didn’t even bothered to buy a screen protector for it. And after getting used to the 4 inch display of the iPhone 5, I looked at my iPhone 4 and realized how much of an improvement that additional half of an inch was. It’s just a shame that some of the apps that I often use are still not integrated with the new display. I know it’s just a matter of time for it to be updated but I just hope that the developers would do it soon.

The other thing that drawn me on getting it is the LTE connectivity. I can’t describe to you how fast it is but yeah… it’s unbelievably fucking fast! I did a speed test on the speedtest app and with Wi-Fi on, I was getting 3.06 mbps of download, 0.83 of upload, and 66 ms of ping. On the other with just the LTE on, I was getting 15.08 mbps of download, 5.15 mbps of upload, and 81 ms of ping. The phone was obviously performing better without the Wi-Fi. LTE is just killing it. It just gives you a slight perspective of how fast the LTE is.

I like to take photos using my phone since instagram has been quite a hobby of mine lately. What can I say. It takes sharp photos (as seen on the photo above). And the front facing camera is a big improvement as well. 720p worth of quality on the front, then an 8 megapixel at the back. I also like to listen to music using the headphones and it just need a little bit of getting used to since they changed the jack from top to the bottom of the phone. And after a while, I understand where Apple was coming from and I would say it was a good call for them.

I’m not a fan of their new Lightning port as it just made my accessories useless. It’s not faster or anything. And like what others were shouting, it would be nice for Apple to include the 16-pin to Lightning adapter instead of spending $30 for it.

Overall, I am loving the device. Is it worth the upgrade? When you’re coming from the iPhone 4 especially the 3gs, yeah. Totally. Go get it. Can’t speak of the 4s though because I haven’t tried that device yet but as far as I know, it’s just basically the iPhone 4, just slightly faster. The Tumblr app and such are now much more fun to browse thanks to the LTE. You’ll be loving this device and I know I do.