Metal Allegiance All-Star Lineup Jams In Rochester

Friday night was the ultimate jam night at the Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY. The all-star lineup known as Metal Allegiance stopped in town on April 1st to give metal fans a night to remember. The band is made up of the best of the best when it comes to metal musicians. Metal Allegiance features current and past members of bands such as Testament, Dream Theater, Death Angel, Guns N’ Roses and more.

Taking over vocal duties for the evening were Chuck Billy of Testament and Mark Osegueda of Death Angel. Together these guys ripped through a setlist that consisted of both metal classics and original songs. The guitars for the evening were provided by Chuck Billy’s bandmate in Testament Alex Skolnick and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who was, until recently, a member of Guns N’ Roses. On drums for the evening was Mike Portnoy, who has been a member of Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold. Finishing off the lineup on bass was Mark Menghi, the founder of Metal Allegiance.

Even though attendance at the Montage Music Hall was low, the band didn’t seem to care. Mark Osegueda made it clear throughout the night that these guys were out on the road to celebrate heavy metal music and have fun. The celebration of metal started with a cover of “Electric Eye” by Judas Priest featuring Osegueda on vocals. Next up were two Iron Maiden covers that the crowd instantly got into. Chuck Billy took the vocals for “Wrathchild” and it was incredible to hear him do more Iron Maiden. The cover of “Powerslave” featured on Testament’s last studio album was a personal favorite.

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The night wasn’t all covers for Metal Allegiance. In 2015, Metal Allegiance penned a deal with Nuclear Blast to release a full-length album of original material. The self-titled album featured a who’s-who from the metal scene, including David Ellefson of Megadeth, Gary Holt of Exodus and Slayer, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and many others. The deluxe edition of the album included one cover of the Dio song “We Rock” that included Chris Jericho, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Alissa White-Gluz, Phil Demmel, Mike Portnoy, Alex Skolnick, Mark Osegueda and more. With the core of Metal Allegiance in Rochester on Saturday, the group ripped through originals “Can’t Kill The Devil”, “Dying Song” and “Pledge of Allegiance”. These three songs mixed right in with the covers and definitely showed these all-stars are capable of anything.

Wrapping up the second half of the night were covers of Black Sabbath, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Motörhead and Metallica. While Skolnick took out his inner Eddie Van Halen, Bumblefoot took a break to watch him make Eddie’s work seem easy. Skolnick also rocked a Gibson SG similar to Tony Iommi’s for the Black Sabbath tunes.

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It’s unfortunate that Rochester couldn’t draw more fans for an awesome Friday night show. This Metal Allegiance all-star lineup probably won’t be back in the area anytime soon because of the difficulties in working around everyone’s schedules. For those who did make the show, they witnessed some of the absolute best cover the absolute best along with some awesome original tunes.

To keep up to date with tour dates and new releases, check out the Metal Allegiance Facebook Page and Official Website.

Setlist:

Electric Eye (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Ides of March

Wrathchild (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Can’t Kill The Devil (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Fast As A Shark (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Balls To The Wall (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Heaven & Hell (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Creeping Death (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Territory (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Dying Song (Vocals: Mark Osegueda and Chuck Billy)

Pledge Of Allegiance (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Lord Of This World (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Into The Void (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

God Of Thunder (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Running With The Devil (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Eruption

Whole Lotta Rosie (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

Iron Fist (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

Seek And Destroy (Vocals: Mark Osegueda and Chuck Billy)

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