Watch: MEGADETH Kicks Off 2022 Leg Of ‘The Metal Tour Of The Year’ In Las Vegas

MEGADETH kicked off the 2022 leg of “The Metal Tour Of The Year” with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES last night (Saturday, April 9) at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MEGADETH‘s setlist was as follows:

01. Hangar 18

02. Dread And The Fugitive Mind

03. Sweating Bullets

04. She-Wolf

05. Trust

06. Conquer Or Die

07. Dystopia

08. Symphony Of Destruction

09. Peace Sells

10. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

Fan-filmed video can be seen below.

The 2022 leg of “The Metal Tour Of The Year” will hit a further 21 cities before wrapping in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 15.

Last month, MEGADETH bassist James LoMenzo discussed the band’s setlist for the 2022 leg of “The Metal Tour Of The Year” during a bassist roundtable video chat with Knotfest‘s Ryan J. Downey. “You have to take into account that Dave‘s [Mustaine, MEGADETH frontman] been through a lot with his voice, so a lot of the songs that we pick are predicated on [the fact] that he is healing correctly,” the bassist said at the time, referencing Mustaine‘s recent battle with throat cancer. “So that’s part of it as well. But it’s a long road ahead. We’re always swapping in songs. We’ve got a whole pile — they’re all sitting, waiting to be let loose. That’s the great thing about being in this band, is that there’s just an inexhaustible catalog.

“I don’t know how to say this delicately, so I’ll just say it. The truth of the matter is when you go to see a lot of your favorite bands — let’s be the fan guy; okay, let’s go to see our favorite band… I remember when JUDAS PRIEST was doing all of ‘Nostradamus’,” he continued. “It was a good record, but it wasn’t ‘Hell Bent For Leather’. And I’ve gotta say that people wanna hear the songs that they love. Why wouldn’t you play them for ’em?

“So that’s the problem with a band like MEGADETH,” James added. “And there are bands, as we move along — all bands, as you move along, you start just getting this giant catalog. And how do you get enough in there to give the core fans what they really want as opposed to the esoterics? You try and throw a thing here and there, but you’ve gotta keep the hits, man.”

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group’s studio albums, 2007’s “United Abominations” and 2009’s “Endgame”. He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with returning original MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

In addition to MEGADETH, LoMenzo has played with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde and WHITE LION. For the past nine years, LoMenzo has been performing with iconic rocker John Fogerty.

LoMenzo played his first show with MEGADETH in nearly 12 years last August in Austin, Texas. The concert took place three months following Ellefson‘s dismissal from MEGADETH after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving him were posted on Twitter.

Asked in an interview with Melodic.net what it has been like for him to play with MEGADETH on “The Metal Tour Of The Year” last summer after such a long absence from the band, James said: “Well, I’m really having the best time. Dave‘s [Mustaine] been really welcoming and supportive, and the band as a whole is just fantastic. It’s a real powerhouse. Dirk is a dream drummer for this type of music, and Kiko‘s just so musically deep. Dave‘s playing as good or better than ever and now that he’s on those Gibson guitars, his sound is so much more gut punching then I remember it.”

Regarding how he ended up returning to MEGADETH, James said: “Dave‘s management reached out at first to see if I’d even be available, which I really wasn’t, but after a call with Dave, I realized how important for MEGADETH and even for myself this would be. Time was ticking, so I knew it would be a crunch, but having been here once before the re-learning curve was a tad less steep. I made some arrangements with the Fogerty camp, and they were gracious enough to allow me a leave to do this.”

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the group’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

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