Gigantour

As with so many of these festival tour DVDs, you could watch Gigantour with the sound down and still tell when the quality bands are onstage. This Montreal stop on the 2005 Gigantour, organized by Dave Mustaine and his headlining band Megadeth, is largely unremarkable during the early bands, but as the night goes on—and you see the Bell Centre arena fill up—the show grows markedly better. Unfortunately, only the final two acts, the durable Megadeth and the musically solid Dream Theater, offer much of interest. What comes before them is for devoted metalheads only, a parade of derivative headbangers, hair-whippers, and would-be grunge heroes. The eloquent Mustaine—who also provides some between-bands commentary—and his veteran band perform “She Wolf,” “A Tout le Monde,” and “Kick the Chair,” and are a cut above Dream Theater (“The Glass Prison,” “Panic Attack”), who are several cuts above anybody else in the eight-band lineup. Megadeth's ability to mix melody with their metal—including multi-part vocal harmonies and a twin guitar attack—sets them apart, but never diminishes the potency of their full-on metal assault. In rating the other bands, only the Iron Maiden wannabe Symphony X (“Inferno,” “Of Sins and Shadows”) shows promise, with solid keyboards, impressive speed guitar, and a singer who's got a little Ronnie James of Dio thing going on. Presented in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo, DVD extras include a bonus second disc with backstage antics, additional performances, and featurettes. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (M. Moore)