Metal Steel rocks the Pavilion

That wasn't thunder you heard late on Saturday night, but rather the booming bass guitar and double bass drum that shook the bleachers at the Milk River Pavilion when Metal Steel took the stage and rocked into the wee hours of the morning.

Putting an exclamation point on a busy Saturday in Malta, Metal Steel – which boasts being the 'Ultimate Metal Tribute Band' – took the stage around 9:30 and played for the next three hours. If there is a Heavy Metal song you liked in the 80's, chances are that Metal Steel covered it on the night including Ozzy Osborne's Bark at the Moon and Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle... Steel's lead vocalist Steve Keller mimicking Ozzy-ism to a tee and belting out Axl Rose's' nasally lyrics like Axl did way back when.

"Welcome to the Jungle was the highlight of the night for me," explained a Havre gentleman going by the moniker of "Keefe" after the show. "The whole concert was great, but that GNR song sums up the whole decade of decadence and they did a really nice job recreating it."

Metal Steel's set started shortly after opening act Mable's Rage graced the stage for the third time in the last two years, with mixture of catchy cover-tunes and a number of original songs.

Prior to Metal Steel's set, Remote Entertainment proprietor and Malta resident Greg Smith took the stage to share his feelings about the night.

"I have seen more people with sunburns in the last hour than I have in a long time," Smith said. "This has been one of the busiest days I've seen in Malta, well, ever. I grew up here, but this is the busiest day I can remember. Thank you to everyone who came out tonight."

Malta's Shane Carnahan, who had a busy day of wrangling freestyle motocross jumpers during the car show and beyond, came to life on the Pavilion's dirt dance floor when Metal Steel broke into Motley Crue's Live Wire, banging his head with the best of them.

"That was great," Carnahan said after the set. "That song took me back and they were rocking it."