Photo Credit: Dhruv Kumar
Today, the GRAMMY® Award winning, Thrash Metal icons MEGADETH – Dave Mustaine, Kiko Loureiro, James LoMenzo, Dirk Verbeuren – announced band alumni guitarist, Marty Friedman as the special guest for their one-off global livestream from the legendary Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on February 27. Friedman will join Dave and MEGADETH on stage, marking the first time in more than 23 years performing with them. Marty was the guitarist with MEGADETH from 1990 to 2000, touring and playing on five studio albums including the GRAMMY® nominated, multi-platinum selling album Countdown to Extinction, and platinum selling releases, Rust In Peace and Youthanasia.
Dave Mustaine tells us;
“Marty and I have remained friends over 23 years, since we last played together. However, I hear his music every night, and he still is among the top guitar players I’ve ever heard. This is an amazing treat for the fans, as well as myself. I am going to enjoy this as much as the fans are, and I’m sure many of you will catch me sneaking a peek during Marty’s appearance. Domo arigato, Marty-San!”
Marty Friedman adds:
“It has been a long time. 23 years to be exact since I’ve been on the same stage with Dave Mustaine making music. We`ve both taken drastically different paths since then. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m extremely proud of the part that I played in Megadeth`s history and legacy. I’m also very, very proud of the band’s many great achievements and continued success in my absence. For right now, I just feel immense joy and some serious adrenaline. I am looking forward to playing with Megadeth at this very cool place, The Budokan.”
This will be MEGADETH’s first ever performance at Budokan – for those unable to be in Japan for this historic moment in rock history, a global livestream of the fully-live performance will be streamed worldwide at 6:00 pm Tokyo-time (JST) / 9:00 am London (GMT) / 4:00 am (ET) / 1:00 am (PT) produced by Wowow and Driift. The show will then be re-broadcast so fans around the world can watch at a more convenient time. Following that, the show will be available to watch on-demand for 2 days.
The airings will include an exclusive preshow that allows virtual VIP access to the band as they arrive in Japan, meet their fans, and promote their new album, all leading into the band’s live performance at the world famous venue. The band will be performing classic tracks such as ‘Sweating Bullets’ from 1992’s double platinum release Countdown To Extinction, ‘Hangar 18’ from the GRAMMY® nominated, platinum album Rust In Peace, as well as tracks from their current album, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!, including the GRAMMY® nominated single ‘We’ll Be Back.’
Stream at the following times:
Live Show: 9am GMT / 6pm JST
Re-Broadcast #1: 7pm GMT / 8pm CET
Re-Broadcast #2: 8pm EST
Re-Broadcast #3: 8pm PST
Tickets grant access to the livestream, all re-broadcasts, and the 2-day on-demand viewing period. Livestream tickets are on sale now at https://driift.link/Megadeth.
In September, MEGADETH released their highly anticipated 16th studio album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! to both fan and critical acclaim. The album debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Album, Top Rock Albums, and Top Hard Rock Albums. The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! is the highest charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, also notching No.1 in Finland, No. 2 in Australia, Poland, Switzerland and Scotland, No.3 in the UK, and more. MEGADETH also received their 13th GRAMMY® nomination for Best Metal Performance for the song We’ll Be Back from The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! at this year’s 65th Annual Grammy® Awards.
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