Megadeth and Dream Theater headline a nine-band spectacle that unleashes nearly seven hours of aggression-packed, eardrum-piercing heavy metal Saturday at the Sovereign Center.

By Jon Fassnacht

What kind of noises does a Gigantour make?

Well, they vary, but they’re all very loud, and the Sovereign Center got to experience it for about a third of Saturday.

Starting at 4 p.m., the package tour featured nine bands – headlined by Megadeth and Dream Theater – unleashing nearly seven hours of treble-laced, aggression-packed, eardrum-piercing music.

It was Woodstock on steroids with a splitting hangover. Double bass drums anchored machine-gun rhythms, while guitars shredded like Arthur Andersen and Enron in 2001.

The overriding theme of the show was metal, but the more than 70 songs performed during the event featured a wide range of takes on the genre, from sub-two-minute bursts of no-holds-barred thrash (Dry Kill Logic) to 10-minute-plus suites filled with intricate arrangements (Dream Theater, Symphony X.)

Whoever organized the setup of Gigantour is a gi-genius.

Two stages adorned the Sovereign Center floor – a main stage for the bigger names and a smaller model for the up-and-comers. The move eliminated dead time in between sets for all but the final two bands.

When one set ended, the crowd simply walked across the floor to the other stage, where the next band immediately ripped into its opening number. So, yes, that meant 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted music until the 15-minute break before Dream Theater’s set.

The majority of the audience, which may have totaled 4,000, came to see the two headliners, but each band had a number of devotees, and the fans mostly were receptive to all of the acts.

However, in one instance, a few audience members didn’t play nice with a band it considered thrash without the first h.

“How many of you out there hate this? I heard someone say ‘You (stink)’,” said The Dillinger Escape Plan’s lead vocalist Greg Puciato, after the proficient quintet’s odd-metered, angular style was deemed by the moshers as too complex for slam dancing.

But Puciato quickly fired back: “You’re old! I bet you have a collection of swords and hatchets and armor in your mom’s basement.”

Zing!

The top billers each were allotted 90 minutes on stage, but the set length was about the only thing similar about the bands.

Despite being behind Megadeth on the bill, Dream Theater seemed to have the biggest following at the show, with an unofficial count of T-shirts going in their favor. It even drew the only crowd chant of the evening.

Dream Theater, plain and simple, is unabashedly 100 percent progressive rock. Many of the quintet’s selections featured extended instrumental workouts and multiple movements. Drummer Mike Portnoy even had a gong on his drum set (and a curious penchant for unleashing globs of spit every two minutes or so).

With a sound that incorporated heaps of keyboards, singer Kevin LaBrie’s high-pitched wail and some seriously meaty riffs, the band sounded like Yes’ evil twin.

Meanwhile, Megadeth simply rocked out as hard and as loud as it could. As if that wasn’t enough, the band included a few carefully timed explosions and pyrotechnics. The quartet left little time between songs, often none at all, as it tried to squeeze as many numbers as possible – including hits ‘Hangar 18’, ‘Symphony of Destruction’ and ‘Sweating Bullets’ – into its set.

“We don’t have a lot of time to play tonight, so I’m not going to waste your time by talking a lot,” said Dave Mustaine, Megadeth leader and tour organizer.

Admirable, but after six hours spent standing on the shoulders of Gigantour – which also included Bobaflex, Life Of Agony, Fear Factory and Nevermore – a few more breaks would have been nice.