Gigantour was a sporadically organized traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. 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 was an alternative to tours such as Ozzfest. The name "Gigantour" was inspired by the classic 1960s anime Gigantor, of which Mustaine is a fan. The last 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, Nevermore and Overkill. The subsequent editions of Gigantour also featured Mustaine's personal choices, such as Anthrax, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fear Factory.
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 on September 5, 2006. The album has performances by Megadeth, Dream Theater, Anthrax, Fear Factory, Life of Agony, Nevermore, Dry Kill Logic, Symphony X and Bobaflex.
Gigantour 2: North America (2006)
Line-up
Main stage Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy
Second stage Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, The SmashUp
Tour dates Date City Country VenueSeptember 6, 2006Nampa, IdahoUnited StatesIdaho CenterSeptember 8, 2006Oakland, CaliforniaRingCentral ColiseumSeptember 9, 2006San Diego, CaliforniaCox ArenaSeptember 10, 2006San Bernardino, CaliforniaHyundai PavilionSeptember 12, 2006Las Vegas, NevadaHouse of BluesSeptember 13, 2006Phoenix, ArizonaDodge TheatreSeptember 15, 2006West Valley City, UtahE CenterSeptember 16, 2006Greenwood Village, ColoradoCoors AmphitheatreSeptember 17, 2006Albuquerque, New MexicoJournal PavilionSeptember 19, 2006Oklahoma City, OklahomaZoo AmphitheatreSeptember 21, 2006Milwaukee, WisconsinEagles BallroomSeptember 22, 2006Chicago, IllinoisCongress TheaterSeptember 23, 2006Columbus, OhioNationwide ArenaSeptember 24, 2006Clarkston, MichiganDTE Energy Music TheatreSeptember 25, 2006Toronto, OntarioCanadaMolson AmphitheatreSeptember 27, 2006Montreal, QuebecBell CentreSeptember 28, 2006Uniondale, New YorkUnited StatesNassau ColiseumSeptember 29, 2006Boston, MassachusettsBank of America PavilionSeptember 30, 2006Holmdel Township, New JerseyPNC Bank Arts CenterOctober 1, 2006Atlantic City, New JerseyHouse of BluesOctober 3, 2006Portsmouth, VirginiaNTelos Wireless PavilionOctober 4, 2006Charleston, South CarolinaThe PlexOctober 6, 2006Tampa, FloridaSt. Pete Times ForumOctober 7, 2006Sunrise, FloridaBankAtlantic CenterOctober 8, 2006Orlando, FloridaHard Rock Live
Notable events
Guest singers At the September 23 show in Columbus, Ohio, Angela Gossow joined Megadeth onstage during the second half of "Peace Sells". 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, Angela Gossow, Randy Blythe, and Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth 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, September 24 in Clarkston, Michigan, and September 29 show in Boston 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 from Dream Theater joined Overkill on stage for their song "Elimination".
Molson Amphitheater While playing in the September 25 show in Toronto, 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 While Lamb of God was on stage performing, someone spilled beer all over the mixing desk, which did not interfere with the band's set. However, Megadeth received some technical problems during their second set. Dave Mustaine got angry and threatened to "beat the hell out of whoever did it" and asked the crowd to bring the culprit to him. Dave then walked off stage for roughly 20 minutes until the problem was fixed. This can be seen in the special features of the Gigantour 2 DVD.
Gigantour 2: Australia (2006)
Line-up Megadeth, Soulfly, Arch Enemy, Caliban
Tour dates Date City Country VenueOctober 21, 2006BrisbaneAustraliaRiverstageOctober 22, 2006SydneyHordern PavilionOctober 24, 2006MelbourneFestival Hall
Gigantour 3: Australia (2007)
Line-up Megadeth, Static-X, Lacuna Coil, DevilDriver, Bring Me the Horizon
Tour dates Date City Country VenueNovember 10, 2007PerthAustraliaMetro CityNovember 12, 2007AdelaideThebarton TheatreNovember 13, 2007MelbourneFestival HallNovember 15, 2007SydneyLuna Park Big TopNovember 16, 2007November 18, 2007BrisbaneRiverstage
Gigantour 3: UK (2008)
Line-up Megadeth, Job for a Cowboy, Evile
Tour dates Date City Country VenueFebruary 17, 2008NorwichEnglandUEANovember 18, 2008NottinghamNottingham Rock CityNovember 19, 2008GlasgowScotlandCarling Academy GlasgowNovember 20, 2008NewcastleEnglandCarling Academy NewcastleNovember 22, 2008BirminghamCarling Academy BirminghamNovember 23, 2008ManchesterManchester AcademyNovember 24, 2008LondonBrixton Academy
Gigantour 3: North America (2008)
Line-up Megadeth, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy, High on Fire.
Dave Mustaine wanted a shorter lineup so each band had a chance to put on a show.
Tour dates Date City Country VenueApril 12, 2008DenverUnited StatesThe FillmoreApril 13, 2008AlbuquerqueJournal PavilionApril 15, 2008Grand PrairieNokia Theatre at Grand PrairieApril 16, 2008Corpus ChristiConcrete Street PavilionApril 17, 2008HoustonVerizon Wireless TheaterApril 19, 2008LouisvilleLouisville GardensApril 20, 2008AtlantaMasquerade Music ParkApril 22, 2008New York CityHammerstein BallroomApril 23, 2008April 25, 2008WorcesterWorcester PalladiumApril 26, 2008ColumbiaMerriweather Post PavilionApril 28, 2008Quebec CityCanadaPavilion De La JeunesseApril 29, 2008MontrealBell CentreApril 30, 2008TorontoArrow HallMay 1, 2008LondonJohn Labatt CentreMay 3, 2008ClarkstonUnited StatesDTE Energy Music TheatreMay 4, 2008ClevelandTime Warner Cable AmphitheaterMay 6, 2008ChicagoAragon BallroomMay 7, 2008MilwaukeeEagles BallroomMay 9, 2008MinneapolisMythMay 10, 2008WinnipegCanadaWinnipeg Convention CentreMay 11, 2008SaskatoonPrairieland Exhibition HallMay 12, 2008EdmontonShaw Conference CentreMay 14, 2008CalgaryThe CorralMay 16, 2008VancouverPacific ColiseumMay 17, 2008SalemUnited StatesSalem ArmoryMay 19, 2008San JoseEvent Center @ San Jose StateMay 20, 2008San DiegoCox ArenaMay 21, 2008Long BeachLong Beach ArenaMay 22, 2008MesaMesa Amphitheatre
Gigantour 4 (2012)
Line-up Megadeth confirmed, on September 27, 2011, that Motörhead, Volbeat, 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 .
Date City Country VenueJanuary 26, 2012CamdenUnited StatesSusquehanna Bank CenterJanuary 27, 2012UncasvilleMohegan Sun ArenaJanuary 28, 2012New York CityTheater at Madison Square GardenJanuary 29, 2012LowellTsongas ArenaFebruary 1, 2012Glens FallsGlens Falls Civic CenterFebruary 2, 2012Quebec CityCanadaColisée PepsiFebruary 3, 2012MontrealBell CentreFebruary 5, 2012KingstonK-Rock CentreFebruary 7, 2012OshawaGeneral Motors CentreFebruary 8, 2012HamiltonCopps ColiseumFebruary 9, 2012Auburn HillsUnited StatesThe Palace of Auburn HillsFebruary 10, 2012ChicagoAragon BallroomFebruary 12, 2012MilwaukeeEagles BallroomFebruary 14, 2012Saint PaulMythFebruary 16, 2012SaskatoonCanadaPrairieland ParkFebruary 17, 2012EdmontonShaw Conference CentreFebruary 18, 2012CalgaryBig 4 BuildingFebruary 20, 2012AbbotsfordAbbotsford Entertainment & Sports CentreFebruary 21, 2012KentUnited StatesShoWare CenterFebruary 23, 2012San JoseEvent CenterFebruary 24, 2012Los AngelesGibson AmphitheatreFebruary 25, 2012PhoenixComerica TheatreFebruary 26, 2012AlbuquerqueTingley ColiseumFebruary 28, 2012DenverFillmore AuditoriumMarch 1, 2012DallasThe PalladiumMarch 2, 2012HoustonVerizon Wireless TheaterMarch 3, 2012AustinACL Live at The Moody Theater
Gigantour 5 (2013)
Line-up Megadeth, Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah, Newsted, and Death Division
Tour dates Date City Country VenueJuly 3, 2013GilfordUnited StatesMeadowbrook U.S. Cellular PavilionJuly 5, 2013UncasvilleMohegan Sun ArenaJuly 6, 2013CanandaiguaMarvin Sands PACJuly 8, 2013ClarkstonDTE Energy Music TheatreJuly 9, 2013RosemontAllstate ArenaJuly 10, 2013YoungstownCovelli Center July 12, 2013DallasGexa Energy PavilionJuly 13, 2013LubbockLonestar AmphitheatreJuly 14, 2013Corpus ChristiConcrete Street AmphitheatreJuly 16, 2013Oklahoma CityZoo AmphitheatreJuly 18, 2013BloomingtonU.S. Cellular ColiseumJuly 19, 2013MilwaukeeEagles BallroomJuly 20, 2013CadottChippewa Valley Music FestivalJuly 22, 2013WinnipegCanadaMTS CentreJuly 23, 2013CalgaryStampede CorralJuly 26, 2013EdmontonRexall PlaceJuly 27, 2013Dawson CreekEnCana Events CentreJuly 29, 2013AbbotsfordAbbotsford Entertainment CenterJuly 30, 2013EverettUnited StatesComcast ArenaAugust 1, 2013West Valley CityMaverik CenterAugust 2, 2013Denver1st Bank CenterAugust 4, 2013FargoScheels Arena (canceled)August 7, 2013New York CityHammerstein BallroomAugust 9, 2013CamdenSusquehanna Bank CenterAugust 10, 2013MontrealCanadaHeavy MONTRÉALAugust 11, 2013TorontoMolson Canadian Amphitheatre
Notable incidents Due to frontman Jason Newsted being diagnosed with walking pneumonia, 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 Mustaine).
Gigantour history summary Dates Concerts Region toured BandsJuly–September 200539United States, CanadaMain stage: Megadeth, Dream Theater (34 dates), Anthrax (5 dates), Fear Factory, The Dillinger Escape Plan (31 dates), Nevermore Second stage: Life of Agony, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic, BobaflexSeptember–October 200625United States, CanadaMain stage: Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy Second stage: Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, The SmashUpOctober 20063AustraliaMegadeth, Soulfly, Arch Enemy, CalibanNovember 20076AustraliaMegadeth, Static-X, Lacuna Coil, DevilDriver, Bring Me the Horizon (3 dates)February 20087United KingdomMegadeth, Job for a Cowboy, EvileApril–May 200830United States, CanadaMegadeth, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy, High on FireJanuary–March 201227United States, CanadaMegadeth, Motörhead, Volbeat, Lacuna CoilJuly–August 201326United States, CanadaMegadeth, Black Label Society, Hellyeah, Device, Newsted, Death Division
Discography
CD releases Gigantour (2006) Gigantour, Vol. 2 (2008)
DVD releases Gigantour (2006) Gigantour 2 (2008)
References
External links Gigantour official website Gigantour 2006 at MySpace Megadeth official website Interview with Dave Mustaine, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006