Pop Reviews : Megadeth Warms Up

In the egalitarian world of speed metal, where personality is always less important than the groove, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine is as close as it gets to the romantic ideal of a rock star. He puts down other bands in the press, disbands his group at the drop of a guitar pick, lets the camera love his pout and his blond hair in a way that sometimes seems less like Metallica than like Pretty Boy Floyd.

But at Megadeth’s secret Cathouse show on Tuesday--a small-club warm-up for the upcoming “Clash of the Titans” arena tour--Megadeth seemed for once more like a band than like a Mustaine solo vehicle, and the hourlong set was tight as Toto, actual louds and softs, crisp accelerandos and all. Of course, Mustaine’s erratic behavior is as much a part of the Megadeth mystique as, say, Axl’s is of Guns N’ Roses, and the busily thrashing band, which looked as if it could barely summon the energy for a hair-flip, was a little dull.