When you pair two of the biggest bands of the genre with a couple of other metal heavyweights, you have no choice other than to call it the Metal Tour of the Year.

That tour, featuring co-headliners Megadeth and Lamb of God along with Trivium and In Flames, stops at Memorial Coliseum on April 21.

After the first leg of the tour was such a success last year, Megadeth and Lamb of God decided to continue the momentum by hitting additional markets, including a stop in the Summit City.

The second leg got started Saturday, April 9, in Las Vegas, and will visit Grand Rapids on Tuesday, April 19, before arriving at the Coliseum.

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is even looking to improve upon the tour with a different set list, additional stage visuals, and a renewed energy.

“Anyone who came to a show last year knows what I mean,” Mustaine said in a press release for the tour. “Only this one’s going to be even better. Do not miss out.”

Mixing Old, New

Megadeth are gearing up to release their highly anticipated 16th studio album, The Sick, the Dying … and the Dead, due to hit shelves July 8.

While this tour was supposed to be the first to feature music from the album, the release date had to be pushed back, not because it wasn’t finished, but, as has become an issue with many releases of late, distribution issues and the fact that vinyl printing is so far behind at manufacturing plants.

“We’re not reliant on vinyl so much, but the whole process has been delayed, so it’s just gotten moved back again,” Mustaine said in a recent interview with Guitar World.

There’s definitely a chance a song or two from that album will be played at the Coliseum to build on the anticipation, but you can be sure that Megadeth’s set list will focus on the songs that have built a storied career, making it one of the giants of the genre.

Founded more than 30 years after Mustaine was ejected from Metallica, Megadeth has sold more than 38 million records with hits like “Peace Sells,” “Hangar 18,” and “Holy Wars,” as well as “Seating Bullets” and “Symphony of Destruction.”

The band has also received 12 Grammy nominations and won the 2017 Grammy for Best Metal Performance for “Dystopia.”

Bassist James LoMenzo, in a roundtable discussion about the tour, said, “You have to take into account that Dave’s been through a lot with his voice, so a lot of the songs that we pick are predicated on the fact that he is healing correctly,” referencing Mustaine’s recent battle with throat cancer.

“So that’s part of it as well. But I’ve gotta say that people wanna hear the songs that they love. Why wouldn’t we play them? You try and throw a thing here and there, but you’ve gotta keep the hits, man.”

Music is Lifestyle

Over the course of two decades, Lamb of God have been pushing metal forward and are still supporting their 2020 self-titled release, their eighth studio album.

Due to the pandemic, the band hasn’t yet had a proper touring cycle behind the album, so this will be a chance to show some of those songs off to fans in the area.

Like Megadeth, Lamb of God know fans will be coming out to hear the songs they love from classic albums like As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake, but frontman Randy Blythe knows that regardless of what is played, the fans will be behind them.

Blythe told Forbes during a financial study of the tour that he is not sure what is popular in music today, because he doesn’t listen to top 40.

He just knows what his fans like because he and Lamb of God are part of the same community.

“Metal fans and hardcore-punk fans are different, because it’s not just the music they listen to, it’s a lifestyle,” he said. “It’s part of their life, it shapes the way they think, the clothes they wear, who they hang out with, the relationships they have. The music is ingrained in the lifestyle.”

Metal-friendly Community

When the opportunity came up for the chance to book this show, Melanie Henkes, executive vice president and general manager of Memorial Coliseum, said in a recent interview with Whatzup that the tour checked all the boxes of what they typically need and want from a tour.

Henkes and her staff take many factors into account when deciding who to host, and, not surprisingly, she said, “The rock genre has historically done well in the Fort Wayne market.”

Megadeth and Lamb of God have played in the Summit City several times with overwhelmingly positive reception, and “the tour was well received in other markets last year.”

Like they did last year, Trivium will provide direct support to the two co-headlining metal juggernauts.

No strangers to Fort Wayne, Trivium are supporting their 10th studio album, the critically acclaimed In the Court of the Dragon, released last year.

Credited with helping create Sweden’s Gothenburg Sound, In Flames will open the show, taking the place of Hatebreed who occupied the spot on last year’s run of dates, but were forced to step aside due to travel restrictions.

If you call your tour The Metal Tour of the Year, you better deliver. With a strong lineup featuring four bands with nearly 120 cumulative years in music, there is little chance that the night will disappoint.

So, if you’re a metal fan, or simply a music fan that wants to see history in the making, take the brief, but on point, advice Blythe offered in that Forbes interview: “Let’s do this.”