Gigantour was a sporadically organised traveling heavy metal

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

organized by

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America (see also Gigantour 2005), and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also traveled to Australia. The bands appearing at the festival were chosen by Mustaine. The tour is set as an alternative to tours such as

Ozzfest Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...

. The name "Gigantour" was inspired by the classic 1960s

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Gigantor is a 1963 anime adaptation of ''Tetsujin 28-go'', a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on US television in January 1966. As with ''Speed Racer'', the characters' original names were altered and the original series' viol ...

'', of which Mustaine is a fan. The most recent Gigantour took place in 2013.

The Festival

The lineup of the inaugural Gigantour was composed of bands that Dave Mustaine particularly enjoyed touring with in the past. Mustaine invited

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

Nevermore Nevermore was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had n ...

and Overkill. The subsequent editions of Gigantour also featured Mustaine's personal choices, such as

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time sign ...

, and

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Festival album

A live album culled from Gigantour festival shows in Montreal (September 2, 2005) and Vancouver (September 9, 2005) was released on CD on August 22, 2006, and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on September 5, 2006. The album has performances by Megadeth, Dream Theater, Anthrax, Fear Factory,

Life of Agony Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo (then known as Keith Caputo), bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most ...

, Nevermore, Dry Kill Logic,

Symphony X Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lep ...

and Bobaflex.

Gigantour 2: North America (2006)

Line-up

Main stage

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...

Second stage

Overkill, Into Eternity,

Sanctity Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

The SmashUp The Smashup are a post-hardcore / punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They formed in 2001. They are currently signed to Warcon Records. They released their self-titled debut EP in 2004 and their first studio album "Being and Becoming" in 200 ...

Tour dates

Notable events

Guest singers

At the September 23 show in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

Angela Gossow Angela Nathalie Gossow (born 5 November 1974) is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead singer for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her other previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress. Early life Angela Gossow was b ...

joined Megadeth onstage during the second half of "

Peace Sells "Peace Sells" is a song by American thrash metal band Megadeth from their 1986 album '' Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?'', written by Dave Mustaine. The song was released as the band's second ever single in November 1986. "Peace Sells" was the ...

". Earlier in the show, during Overkill's final song, two members of Lamb of God joined them onstage.. At the September 25 show in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Angela Gossow,

Randy Blythe Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...

, and

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth Robert Ellsworth (born May 3, 1959), best known as Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of New Jersey thrash metal band Overkill. He has been the vocalist of Overkill since its inception in 1980, and he and b ...

joined Megadeth on stage and sang the final part of "Peace Sells" with him.

Lack of a second stage on some tour stops

At the September 9 show in San Diego, September 13 show in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, September 24 in

Clarkston, Michigan Clarkston is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Detroit, located about northwest of downtown Detroit, Clarkston is surrounded by Independence Township, but administered independently since its incorporation ...

, and September 29 show in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

there was no second stage. The bands that performed were, in order of appearance, Overkill, Arch Enemy, Opeth, Lamb of God, and Megadeth.

Mike Portnoy jams with Overkill

=September 30, 2006 – Holmdel

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departur ...

from

joined Overkill on stage for their song "Elimination".

Molson Amphitheater

While playing in the September 25 show in

, Canada towards the beginning of Megadeth's set, Dave Mustaine had some technical problems relating to his guitar, resulting in him throwing it across the stage and walking off. The band then finished the song without Mustaine, and then followed him offstage. After fifteen minutes of chanting from the crowd, Megadeth finally returned to the stage, and with a brief apology from Dave, continued playing through their set.

=Salt Lake City/Ecenter

, and Lacuna Coil would be included in the next Gigantour that was set for early 2012.

Tour dates

Megadeth announced, on November 2, 2011, Gigantour 2012 tour dates .

Gigantour 5 (2013)

Line-up

Megadeth,

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three vid ...

, Device,

Hellyeah Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, was an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. The band's last lineup consisted of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drumme ...

Newsted Newsted (stylized as NEWSTƎD) was an American heavy metal band formed in October 2012. The lineup consisted of former Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam and Voivod member Jason Newsted on lead vocals and bass, drummer Jesus Mendez, Jr., guitari ...

, and Death Division

Tour dates

Notable incidents

Due to frontman

Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician who was the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to su ...

being diagnosed with

walking pneumonia Atypical pneumonia, also known as walking pneumonia, is any type of pneumonia not caused by one of the pathogens most commonly associated with the disease. Its clinical presentation contrasts to that of "typical" pneumonia. A variety of microorgan ...

, Newsted dropped off the bill from July 22–29. On the last show of the tour, Newsted joined Megadeth to sing vocals on Metallica's "Phantom Lord" (A song originally written by Dave).

Gigantour history summary

Discography

CD releases

* ''Gigantour'' (2006) * ''Gigantour, Vol. 2'' (2008)

DVD releases

* ''Gigantour'' (2006) * ''Gigantour 2'' (2008)

References

External links

Gigantour official websiteGigantour 2006 at
MySpace
Megadeth official website
{{Symphony X Heavy metal festivals in the United States Megadeth concert tours Heavy metal festivals in North America