The order of appearance was probably decided by relevance, which means that Anthrax is the first band to kick off. The beginning is quite messy, but the recover quickly and build a nice foundation for a party that will last throughout the entire evening. Although Joey Belladonna's timing isn't always great and some times his vocals are a bit out of tone he does a descent job . Combined with the podium activity of the other members of Anthrax this results in a great show. Closing down the set with 'Metal Thrashing Mad' and the almighty 'I Am The Law' we can conclude they did a great job warming up the audience. The only question is of course how long will Joey be a part of Anthrax this time .

 

Dave Mustaine's Megadeth is up next. You know, the guy who was kicked out of Metallica just weeks before they recorded Kill 'Em All. The guy who made himself look like an utter fool in the Some Kind Of Monster DVD. And also the guy who singlehandedly took his revenge with Megadeth is up for the second spot on the stage. It looks like the devil is playing with the recently born again Christian, since it starts to rain during the first couple of seconds of 'Holy Wars... Punishment Due'. During the song Dave looks up to the sky with a sour face and thereafter pulls off a furious solo. I guess that's his way of saying "fuck you!" Well this is probably one of the spare moments of interaction of Dave whatsoever during his set. Much more than a thank you at the end is all the audience got. Pretty obvious he let the music do the talking. This of course means that a lot of good old classics are played and with the giant Rest In Peace backdrop in the back it's a good trip down memory lane

 

After Megadeth it's up to Slayer to fill the final support slot before Metallica will take over the stage. Starting their set in the dying sunlight and a stage that is filled with smoke and red light immediately gives it a great atmosphere. When Tom Araya kicks in with 'World Painted Blood' there are moshpits all over the place. Most of those pits died after this first song though. Probably because of the age of a lot of those visitors, but maybe also due to the static podium performance. Of course Tom Araya has his back problems, but both Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman are quite static onstage. I even have the idea that they are doing it for the money and not to be part of the entire circus of the Big Four. Luckily there's Dave Lombardo in the back who's playing the drums like only an outrageous animal would do. Okay, I admit it's always great to hear their classics, but to be honest I have seen them way better in the past. I even question myself how long Slayer will continue after seeing this performance.

 

After three of the Big Four thrash bands it's time for Metallica. After the intro tape they storm the crowd with 'Creeping Death'. They make quite a fit impression in comparison with Slayer. This is even amplified by the fact that they are siked to be there. From the beginning of the set there's a smile on the face of James that is even impossible to remove with a sledgehammer. With quite an impressive setlist, with only 'Fuel' from the Load/Reload period, they are up for two hours of pure entertainment. Even if you're not into them you got to admit that their albums meant a lot to the metal community and the band brings it with passion. So it's pretty obvious that the entire show is quite a party in front of the stage and on stage. Especially when the other bands are joining them onstage to play 'Am I Evil'. Sadly enough Dave Lombardo is the only bandmember of slayer that answers that call. Quite a pity, if you'd ask me. The only question that remains is quite simple. Is this a must have DVD or not. Well everybody that has set his footsteps along metal with these bands should be interested in this DVD. As for the rest of you well it is metal history...