Megadeth at Sonic Temple May 17 2026

  I wasn't originally going to go to Sonic Temple this year. Then my friend Mike asked me if I would go with him, because he really wanted to see Tool, who were headlining Sunday night. I've never been a big  Tool fan so I wasn't sure. So I checked the rest of the lineup out. Megadeth, Black Label Society, Anthrax, and Public Enemy! Who could resist a possible jam between Public Enemy and Anthrax?! Not I! Megadeth had just announced that they were going to retire soon too, so I need to see them as much as possible! I had never seen Black Label Society, So Yes, I'm in!! We got the tickets, and then Anthrax dropped out. This really bummed me out, but they were replaced with Suicidal Tendencies who I had just seen for the first time at the last Sonic Temple, and would love to see again. So not a bad trade.

 A few weeks before the show, Mike has to have emergency eye surgery so he was questionable on whether he could even go. Turns out, he couldn't. He ended up just giving me his (fairly expensive) ticket to take whomever I wanted. So I have a very short list of people I would want to spend that much time with. First up was my Son-in-law Kaden. Nope! He couldn't get the next day off so he didn't want to go. I didn't want to deal with selling the tickets, and I wanted to go. I really only asked one other person. My Country Music loving wife Maria! This would be like nothing she had ever experienced before! Hesitantly yet graciously she agreed. This would also give us the opportunity to do a little exploring the next day. She joked about wearing her Reba McEntire shirt thinking she would get strange looks! She had no idea what she was about to see. 

 Now this weekend was also the same weekend Maria and I were celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary. We live in central Indiana and had just got back from a small trip where we took the SS Badger across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. Then drove to Columbus Ohio for this show. A lot of driving! But I am gluten for adventure!

  

 So we get there early Sunday afternoon and I don't really know any of the bands that are playing that early, so we just hang out and people watch until In Flames comes on. Maria quickly realized her Reba shirt was not as outlandish as she thought it would have been!

 Now I had never listened to In Flames before, but I did know that Chris Broderick (formerly of Megadeth) is now in the band, so I knew it had to be good! Guess what, I was right! In Flames kills!! I definitely found a "new" band to listen to. Here's The setlist.

 1. Cloud Connected

 2. Deliver Us

 3. In The Dark

 4. Meet Your Maker

 5. The Mirror's Truth

 6. I Am Above

 7. Take This Life

 

  Suicidal Tendencies were up next. And just like last year, they were kicking major ass! BUT! I had to cut out early so I could get to see Black Label Society, so I didn't stick around long. That's one of the worst things about festivals. To many bands on at the same time! But, What ya gonna do! Here is there entire setlist, even though I think we cut out during "I Saw Your Mommy"

 1. You Can't Bring Me Down

 2. Send Me Your Money

 3. Subliminal

 4. I Saw Your Mommy

 5. Cyco Vision

 6. Pledge Your Allegiance

  

                                                     Tye Trujillo is amazing!

Time to go Berzerkus!! Now I never saw Zakk with Ozzy, but I did get to see him with Pantera so this is special for me. Zakk is another one I've been listening to since the 80s! Not seeing him with Ozzy is one of my biggest musical regrets! And now, Ozzy is gone. I did have tickets to a 2019 show, but it wasn't meant to be. I'm here now!, but Maria isn't. After I found a place to stand, she ducked out to go to the restroom. I think she just needed a break also. This was their second set of the festival, performing a Zakk Sabbath set on Friday. And if they ever come back around with another Sabbath set, Nothing will keep me from going! Anyway, here's the setlist.

 1. Funeral Bell

 2. Name In Blood

 3. A Love Unreal

 

 Now at this point, Zakk gave me a little closure. Starting with the guitar solo, they belted out the last half of No More Tears. Which I can assure you, was not the case. Yes I had a little tear in my eyes when I heard this. Goodbye Ozzy! Rest easy!

 4. No More Tears

 5. Fire It Up

 6. Suicide Messiah

 7.Stillborn

 

  Now to find Maria, and check Out Public Enemy! So now if I haven't mentioned it by this point, let me tell you something. It Was HOT this day! And I think this was the largest crowd I had ever seen! We started out listening to Public Enemy, but decided we needed water instead! So we took off to find some H2O and shade! We missed almost the entire set. I thought about going into the stadium and watching Lamb Of God from a shady spot, but they were all full! So we found a tree and set down near the shade.  It finally came over to us! We did some more people watching and cooled off. We did get back in time to hear Bring the Noise and Fight The Power. Which are really the only songs I knew anyway. I will say, Chuck D has one of the most powerful voices I've ever heard! Here's some pics I grabbed.

                                            No shady spots found!!

    After Public Enemy finished, Megadeth was up next! We decided to just get a good spot for that and sit some more during the hour long change over. Unfortunately, sitting for too long on the ground, my legs fell asleep! I tried to get up and just about took out this (much smaller than me) couple sitting behind me! Thankfully, I regained my legs avoiding a massacre! I stood the rest of the time. 

 Anyway, Megadeth!!! Dave is calling it quits here soon. He hasn't put a final date on it yet, but we need to see as much as we can while we can! And as always, they did not disappoint! 

 1. Tipping Point

 2. Wake Up Dead

 3. In My Darkest Hour

 4. Hanger 18

 5. Angry Again

 6. Let There Be Shred

 7. Sweating Bullets

 8. Tornado Of Souls

 9. Peace Sells

 10. Symphony Of Destruction

 11. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

 I hope I'm able to catch at least one more FULL Megadeth show before they hang em' up. Festival sets are too short. 

                                           Little kid crowd surfing!

                                            VIC RATTLEHEAD!!

  At this point, my dogs were barking!!! And since Mike didn't go, we didn't stick around for Tool. Maria survived! An anniversary weekend she soon won't forget! Here's a few pics from the exploring we did for the whole weekend.

                           Big Sable Point Lighthouse Ludington MI

                                            Lake Michigan Sunset

                                            SS Badger

 

                                             Missed the middle!

                                           Manitowoc WI

 

                                           Sputnik IV crash site

                                           Bacon wrapped Cheese Curds!!

                                   Warren G. Harding Memorial Marion OH

                                                                        

                                               

Night Ranger July 4 2025

  Another free show at my hometown Fourth of July celebration "The Haynes Apperson Festival". This is another band I've never really followed. I knew some of their songs, I just didn't know they were theirs. Except "Sister Christian". Everyone that listened to popular music in the early to mid 1980's knew that was Night Ranger. I'm sure it was their biggest hit, but not my favorite song. As a matter of fact, it was the song that kept me from looking further into their music. I'm sorry that happened now. I missed out on a lot of good Rock n Roll music. The main reason I wanted to go was to see Brad Gillis, the guitar player. Before Night Ranger hit the mainstream, Brad was given the task of filling the shoes of Randy Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne's band. Most people know the story, but if not here's a quick recap. 

 Randy Rhoads was a gifted guitar player that helped Ozzy start his solo career by recording two of the most influential albums in Heavy Metal history (The Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of A Madman). While on tour, Randy and a few others died in a crazy airplane crash. Leaving Ozzy without a guitar player to finish the tour. After a very short time off the Diary of A Madman tour resumed with on Bernie Torme from Ian Gillan's band for about 9 shows if memory serves me right. And then in steps Brad Gillis. I listened to many bootleg recordings over the years of shows that Brad did, and he may not be Randy Rhoads, but he is definitely a Hell of a guitar player in his own right! And he also recorded the live album "Speak of The Devil" with Ozzy covering a bunch of Black Sabbath songs. Oddly enough, across the pond in Jolly Olde England, The stage was being set for Ozzy's farewell performance. My personal opinion is that Brad should have been there along with his other former bandmates to jam with The Boss (as Zakk Wylde would say), but alas Brad was in Kokomo Indiana getting ready to play with his own band, and I was going to be there to watch. 

 Originally, I was going to go to the show by myself or possibly with my wife, get some pictures, and cut out early. But after talking to my friend Mike on the way home from the Weird Al show the night before, I found out Mike was a big fan and wanted to go to the show too. So we stayed for the whole show. And I'm glad I did. Here's the set list and some of my favorite pictures.

(You Can Still) Rock In America

The Star Spangled Banner (with Brad Gillis Guitar Solo)

Four In The Morning

Sing Me Away

Coming Of Age

Sentimental Street

School's Out

Crazy Train

Night Ranger

High Enough

When You Close Your Eyes

Don't Tell Me You Love Me

Sister Christian

 I really liked a lot of what I heard. I'm still not crazy about Sister Christian. But I'm definitely a fan of the rest.   

Weird Al Yankovic July 3 2025

  This was not a show that was on my radar. Not that I'm not a fan, I just never actually considered going to see Weird Al live. Mike bought the tickets for this one because he mainly wanted to see the opening act, Puddle's Pity Party. So I went along. Mike has came to shows with me for bands that he wouldn't normally go see, and I like Weird Al, so no problem there. Plus, there was a stop along the way I wanted to make. I am a photography nut (not that yo could tell from the shitty pics from my phone I post of the shows I've been to) and a history nerd. So I wanted to make a stop at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis before we went to the show. A cemetery with A U.S. President and Public Enemy #1. And one of the coolest mausoleums I have ever seen!

                                                                  Benjamin Harrison

                                                                     John Dillinger

                                                      Yes That castle is a mausoleum!

 After that, we hit up the Guggman Haus Brewing Company for some tasty Beer and a Coney Dog.

 Then, on to the show. Like I said earlier, The opener was Puddle's Pity Party. Now don't get me wrong, the guy can sing! He's got a great voice and he did have an entertaining show. But. I think he needs an actual band. I wouldn't pay to much to see a clown do Karaoke. Mike enjoyed it, and since he bought the tickets, that's all that matters. I guess I enjoyed it to. I'm not sure if this is the right setlist or not. Here's the setlist from his next show and it looks like the same set. And a pic.

 I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

Come Cry With Me

Crazy Train

Afraid Of Nothing

Estoy Sentado Aqui

Come On Up To The House

In The End

Stairway To Gilligan's Island

My Heart Will Go On/Enter Sandman/One

 We were sitting in the lawn and the guy next to us was getting sloppy drunk. He made the couple behind him miss most of the show. Why would you spend that much money on a ticket just to get shit faced drunk and start arguing with your adult kids that came with you. I doubt he saw any of the show. Oh well, he was annoying but didn't ruin my show. He annoyed Mike a little more and that sucks, but it didn't get to far out of hand thankfully. 

 I have been a fan of Al's since I was about 10 years old. Whenever the "Eat It" video hit MTV. It never crossed my mind that he actually did concerts. I don't know why. Any who, thanks to Mike I was about to enjoy a slice of my childhood. Here's the setlist.

Tacky

Roadie Solo

Mission Statement

Polkamania!

Drum Solo

Everything You Know Is Wrong

One More Minute

Smells Like Nirvana

Dare To Be Stupid

Medley : Party In The CIA/It's All About The Pentiums/Bedrock Anthem/My Bologna/Ricky/ Ode To A   Superhero/ I Love Rocky Road/Eat It/Like A Surgeon/Word Crimes/Canadian Idiot

Fat

Captain Underpants Theme

Now You Know

What Is Life

It's My World (And We're All Living In It)

Skipper Dan

Drum Solo (because they were 38 seconds ahead of schedule)

Ebay

Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me

White And Nerdy

Amish Paradise

We All Have Cell Phones

The Saga Begins

Yoda

 The pictures are crappy, but the show was awesome. The band was amazing. There were costume changes and movie clips and a lot of songs I've never heard. I'm going to have to look into them a little bit closer. They finished the show with some sort of choreographed chant that was quite impressive. The only thing I was upset about was that "Eat It" was not played in it's entirety. And I would have liked to hear "The Ballad Of Jed Clampett" but hey, he can't play them all. Anyway, I had a blast! Thanks Mike!