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Megadeath
November this year is undoubtedly a remarkable month for thrash and nu-metal fans alike, with the impending Gigantour approaching our shores featuring Megadeth, Static X, Lacuna Coil and Devil Driver. The brains behind the tour is none other than Megadeth founder, frontman, singer and lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine.
"Well when my arm got hurt I didn't know what to do with myself, so I thought I'd start a metal festival to get bands that can still play guitar out there; the ones that tune it down, beat on it and add in guitar solos," says Mustaine, referring to the freak accident which rendered his left arm unmovable. "There's a real crisis going on, there's a whole new generation of guitar players out there that suck, but that the kids think are great, and they won't do guitar solos or play anything higher than the first four strings".
The 2007 line-up contains a mix of undeniably diverse styles. "It's a festival, so of course it has to be a little bit different, I mean, nobody wants to listen to the same type of band all day long.
"Megadeth won't necessarily be headlining every Gigantour; I don't want to be the usual ball and chain. It has become a thing in itself; it's not just Megadeth constantly. I'm one of the old dogs now, I know how it felt like back in the beginning, and I want to do something for the new generation of good bands. When you get up on stage and the lights go out, that's when the real test begins - I remember how that feels. You can be up on stage with your pants down around your arse, but when it comes to the crunch, if you can't play; you can't play."
The Gigantour comes to Australia for the second time since 2006, expanding its boundaries to this time include Perth and Adelaide on the schedule. It's safe to say that our country at the bottom of the world has touched a soft spot in Mustaine's heart.
"The thing I've noticed about the Australian crowd is an overwhelming appetite for heavy metal and a huge passion for the bands. As far as I'm concerned, one of the most enjoyable times you can spend is with an Australian person that loves you. They'll take you out and show you a good time, and chances are that you wont understand a fucking word their saying, it all comes out sounding like "fruit-bat-wang-dingo-chutney", or something like that anyway, but as far as I'm concerned, I'd buy a second house and move down there because I absolutely love it there.
"I'll always have a place in my heart for Australia, because when my wife and I were going through a tough divorce we reconciled down there, so I'm eternally in debt to you guys. I love playing in those little shithole venues you guys have - you can hear every single person that is cheering and you're smelling the overwhelming stench of Australian bitter beer radiating from their bodies; it's fantastic."
Megadeth return to Australia with yet another album under their belt, the first full-length album since 2001 to include a full line-up of members. 'United Abominations' debuted at #8 on the US charts and sold 54,000 copies in the first week.
"After I released 'The System Has Failed', the publisher called me up and said "Hey Dave, you still owe us another Megadeth record. You can do you your little solo record, but we own you for the rest of your life", and I just went 'Oh... fuck me'.
"So I thought, okay, and I put together the tour line-up, got in the Drovers [on guitars and drums] and decided I might as well give it one more shot. In three years I think we have had one fight between us, and I think that's pretty commendable. We have fun on stage, and I think that's a really big part of playing live, but it's kind of like that old saying: you show me a beautiful woman and I'll show you someone who's tired of fucking her."
The tour itself has undeniably been hugely successful, and is becoming a phenomenon in itself, the current tour being the third of its kind.
"The coolest thing on the Gigantour is when you see little kids at the show. Like last night, there was this little kid at the show wearing a little bandana and shirt with a skeleton on it and he called out to me 'Yo Dave, can I take your picture?', so the picture has me smiling with this little kid looking up at me doing the devil horns."
Throughout his career, Mustaine has persevered through line-up changes, conflicts with other bands, lawsuits, surgery, and backlash from the media about his religious beliefs, yet despite what would seem to be a shaky road, a predominant characteristic of the man reflects a pristine devotion to his fans.
"We like being available, I actually gave out my cell phone number to the fans for them to tell us what they thought of our show or to request a song. It's really cool, although in the beginning I was like 'I don't want anyone calling me in the middle of the night', but there are so many people that love us, so many people that want lessons, and then there's the occasional girl that I know probably weighs about 100 stone telling me how cute I am, but for the most part, I love being able to keep in touch with everybody."
Brad Holland
'Gigantour' comes to town Mon 12 Nov at Thebarton Theatre. 'United Abominations' out now on Roadrunner.
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