I have never been the biggest fan of the whole speed/thrash metal genre, but Megadeth have always managed to infuse just the right amount of hooks and melody into their own particular brand to make it supremely listenable. Megadeth's Countdown To Extinction album is what first got me into the band, and I have been a fan ever since. This album was a major turning point for the band, exposing them to a much wider audience via a more radio-friendly mix of songs. I usually find myself turning to that mid-period commercial stuff, like Countdown and Cryptic Writings, more often than I do their earliest thrash classics.
I was eager to pick up this new DVD after being impressed by Megadeth's performance on last year's mighty Gigantour DVD, which only provided an entirely too brief three songs from their skull-crushing headlining set from that 2005 tour. Although that DVD was just a teaser, That One Night gives you a full 17 songs from their explosive performance in front of 25,000 rabidly enthusiastic Argentineans, who jumped and sang, in unison, to every single lyric and guitar riff that poured out of Dave Mustaine. What is it with these crazed South American concert fans? I thought the Rush In Rio crowd was insane, but this crowd essentially provided Megadeth with their very own 25,000-strong choir. What an entirely different atmosphere from the Montreal, Canada crowd that witnessed the Gigantour DVD show - not that they were slouches or anything.
That One Night was filmed at Obras Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 9th, 2005 during Megadeth's short "Blackmail The Universe Tour" of South America and Puerto Rico, which came on the heals of their longer "Gigantour" North American tour. The DVD kicks off with some brief behind-the-scenes footage of Mustaine entertaining a group of lucky fans outside his hotel, with acoustic renditions of some of his beloved classics. This merges into the concert footage, which was already a few seconds into the show's opening number, "Blackmail The Universe". This was a disappointing way to start the video, since I always like getting a few minutes of the pre-show buildup, just before the lights go down, the crowd goes nuts, and the band first takes the stage.
Along with the title track, the band eventually play two more songs from their latest album, at the time, 2004's The System Has Failed, which signaled a triumphant return to form for a band that many had left for dead after Mustaine was forced to disband the group in 2002 after being diagnosed with severe nerve damage to his left arm. This would be the first Megadeth album to not feature founding bassist Dave Ellefson. Long-time guitarist Marty Friedman was also unable to reach a contractual agreement with Mustaine, so he simply soldiered on without them, enlisting three new band members.
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