Megadeth’s Tuska stop on its farewell tour became a striking homecoming for Finnish guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, who shared the stage with founding member Dave Mustaine in front of an energized festival crowd.
“Teemu! Teemu! Teemu!”
The crowd was calling for their Finnish guitar god: Teemu Mäntysaari, 39, the lead shredder of the iconic thrash legend Megadeth.
Hailing from Los Angeles and currently on the Finnish leg of their marketed farewell tour, Friday’s headliner entered the main stage at Tuska sharp on time at 21:25 on Friday evening.
Megadeth is now 43 years old and has been infused with new blood over the years; Mäntysaari himself joined the ranks three years ago.
Mustaine, 64, is the only founding member still around, and his spirit was remarkably high at Tuska, even if the breaks between songs stretched a bit longer than usual.
“Tipping Point”—from their recent self-titled album—was the first song unleashed upon the thousands moshing and cheering, with a notably high number of fans in their twenties jumping and throwing up the devil’s horns.
The song is one of the nine co-written by Mäntysaari on the latest album.
Next, “Take No Prisoners” from Megadeth’s fourth album Rust In Peace (1990) got Mustaine’s fingers flying across fast-paced riffs. The biting lyrics urged the crowd to roar back, “take no prisoners, take no shit,” which serves as the lifelong motto of Mustaine himself.
Mustaine’s Metallica roots were revealed early on. “Hangar 18” with a similar chord structure with “The Call Of Ktulu” from Ride The Lightning (1984), was originally written by the guitarist in the early 1980s. This composition took shape shortly before his forced departure from the group, which ultimately drove him to form the juggernaut known as Megadeth.
Soon dark rain clouds began gathering across the sky. The looming downpour and a slight breeze did no justice to the band’s sound, muddying the highs and mids.
Some of the set was simply gone with the wind.
Restless souls in the crowd became louder, with pockets of fans drifting away to grab drinks.
Then, the heavens broke.
“Ride The Lightning” took off, serving as another explosive song co-written by Mustaine for Metallica.
The heavy rain proved that metalheads are not made of sugar! The crowd stood tall and sang along, while Mäntysaari nailed the solo like he was eating Rice Crispies.
The rain got heavier and heavier, but the sound got better and better.
“Symphony Of Destruction” from Megadeth’s fifth album, Countdown To Extinction (1992)—one of Megadeth’s best and most famous songs—became a wet memory of a lifetime.
Even an hour and a half later, an echo of chants could still be heard in the back of the crowd:
Teemu . . . Teemu . . . Teemu . . . .
