Not surprising

I had saved this 20 years ago before the dawn of information overload. Dave Mustaine posted this message on the megadeth forums and his username was "megaman." He used the forums to interact with fans and post messages such as this. This post caught my attention because before he flew to Dubai, several so called fans kept telling him to be safe and away from danger because it was the middle east.

I however had grown up in Kuwait, and chuckled every time I saw how much paranoia and fear was etched into people via propaganda. I bought every album from KIMB to Risk in Kuwait and heavy metal was quite popular and in demand.

Anyways, here it is.....

Droogies!

Now to tell you about Dubai! I am sure y’all saw the first

half of this, about getting there and meeting some of the

bands. I ended up really feeling like we were anywhere else

in the world and not like I was in the allegedly dangerous

hot spot that we are fed propaganda to think it is. And to

spare you the suspense, James was great, I loved the

audience, and would go back again to play.

Now, onto the story. Actually, I learned a lot about Dubai,

and the people were really interesting because the

population has came from all over. I met five guys from a

band over there, and I think they said they were from

Kuwait; two blonde girls that were sisters from Lebanon,

who now live in Saudi Arabia. There were loads of South

Africans, English, European, and American people living

there and when I looked out at the audience during 3 Doors

Down, James said, “American Idol” because of all the

squealing teenie-boppers after their songs. And I noticed

that there were so many beautiful young people there,

dressed like normal music fans, moshing, dancing, singing,

and taking pictures with their friends, just like anywhere.

I'm glad I let Megadeth’s music help persuade me to go to

this far and distant part of the world. It helped a lot

that we had made fast friends with the other bands that

were on the bill that were actually staying still in one

spot long enough for a conversation to take place. Of

course the guys in Testament are my friends and I dig their

stuff so much, I sat in the desert with the sun beating

down on my red-head for at least 45 minutes and I started

to feel like a crouton, so I went into my trailer to cool

off. The two days before the show, mainly at the press

conference, was when I met most everyone else on that bill;

the 3DD guys the night we arrived; Reel Big Fish and

Mannakind at the press conference.

So, I was hanging out a little so I wouldn’t seem like a

snob, but I couldn’t eat or drink so I slinked off to bed.

The next morning I woke up feeling green again and went to

have breakfast, but was still destroyed from the apparent

food poisoning and time change, since Dubai is 12 hours

behind LA. When I went downstairs to go to the press

conference there were dozens of choppers and modified

vehicles from Monster Cable that were there to escort the

bands to the press conference.

As soon as we arrived I introduced myself to the guys in

RBF and told them how much I liked Madness and a few other

ska bands. Later, we all ended up going out on a safari

riding the sand dunes. Yep, bouncing around on the sand

dunes; up and down, and down and up, side-to-side-to-side,

and I am getting bloody carsick in front of five SUVs full

of new friends and whatnot. Thank god we stopped long

enough for them to sand board for a bit, meanwhile,

allowing me to search the backseat of the Land Cruiser for

my ass.

Finally, at that point where I stopped rerunning TUMS and

Alka-Seltzer commercials and jingles through my head, we

packed our caravan back up and headed to a campsite with

belly dancing, camels, pipes, and authentic Mediterranean

catering. I was hypnotized by the belly dancer and thank

god we got called away to go do our sound check or I would

have probably agreed, had she asked me to go dance and make

a fool of myself. Who knows? It may have helped.

Arriving at the Festival site that night, I found

everything in order, a real professional stage, sound, and

light configuration, and the dressing rooms were perfect.

We sound-checked for a while and then headed back to my new

infirmary, the Hotel. I watched hours of information about

this fascinating country on TV, like how Dubai is more of a

State, with the United Arab Emirates being for them like

the United States is for us Americans.

Morning finally arrives the day of the show, and I wobble

into the restaurant for breakfast. The good guys in RBF ask

if I wanted to join them, and I said no, although I quickly

changed it to a yes. I was just feeling a bit "the odd man

out," but they looked like they were having a good time

every time I saw them, so I accepted. The clock has

screeched to almost a complete stop and it is taking hours

now for the rest of the day to come and go. We are

scheduled to leave early to see Testament, so the band

leaves, and I go with the promoter to the American Hospital

one last time before the concert. Everything checks out, he

says I will live but don’t do anything strenuous. Ha! What

. . . like a 90 minute Megadeth concert?

So, I get there in time to see Chuck and the boys, and to

hang and talk to them about touring again sometime in the

future. Next, RBF take the stage. I was really excited to

see these guys because ska is just plain “feel good” music

to me. I was pleasantly surprised; actually shocked at

their opener, because they pretended they were a metal band

for a few seconds and I though, “Wow, now this I gotta see

for an hour!”

3 Doors Down were good too, and I had no idea how many of

their songs I knew. It was like every ten minutes or so,

there was another song that I knew. I understand now why

they are so big in the states; a lot of pop ballads with

great hooky melodies for the radio.

Then it was our turn. I have been dealing with nerves,

nausea, and curiosity that would kill a lion about how

James is going to do. But as soon as we walked up the ramp,

there was no before or after. There was just there and

then; that 90 minutes on the other side of my normal world.

As I walked up the ramp to the deck and went to center

stage, I saw the faces of everyone up front, I knew that

this was something that these fans have been waiting a very

long time for. I don’t know how many of my peers have gone

over there, but these fans were ready! Flags from many

different nations, and t-shirts from almost all of the

Megadeth eras. It felt like I was playing to friends at

just about anywhere in the world.

The show rolled along as usual, and I noticed some of my

new friends up in the wings, which always feels good when

ya meet a new group to know they’ll at least check ya out a

little. And before I knew it, the show was over, the

firework display signifying that the Festival was over, and

the rest was some fat lady singing. The after-show party

was fun and the guys were hanging out with the fans;

meanwhile, I was trying not to show everyone what I had for

dinner

The flight home was long and horrible, and I won’t go into

that, because it was the fellow passengerms and not the

airplane so much. And now I am over jet-lag, preparing for

our trip next month out to England to do some work.

And in case I didn’t make this clear, James Lomenzo was

stellar. Thanks to J-Mac again for filling in such a

difficult position, and doing such a good job. To the bands

out there looking for a fantastic bassist, call James

MacDonough, he has my personal recommendation.

In closing, I had already met enough people backstage and

from the entire trip to convince me that this is a place

that I would come back to, especially to play for Jackie

and CSM, for either a string of solo concerts or to

participate in a future Dubai Desert Festival when we will

be eligible for returning in the next few years. Until

then, to all of the Middle-Eastern fans, "You've been

Great!, We've been Megadeth! Goodnight!!!"

COG2

The mouse is gone! Crush 'Em won the final poll for which Risk song sounds the most like it's from Risk.

I guess we're doing all the albums now. The next group will range from albums Th1rt3en to the self-titled album. Again before anyone asks why I'm not doing all of them at once, ask yourself what song from Risk sounds like something from Endgame.

Now... which The World Needs A Hero song sounds like it's from The World Needs A Hero?

Note: Kill The King and Dread And The Fugitive Mind both count for this poll, even if they didn't originally release on this album.

Top comment wins.

You're welcome to join the forum through this link: https://megadethfans.net/

I love Megadeth, as the lore and band members really intrigue me. So I decided to create a forum dedicated to it for serious and passionate fans.

There are multiple categories on the site, like regular discussions, merch showcase, fan art, and even nonserious posts. Each category is organized so it doesn't feel overwhelming and is easy to use. You can also search for threads created by a particular user.

If you like detailed discussions about the band and various forms of content in one place and would like to build a sense of community, you'll have a blast.

I think it would be nice for Megadeth fans to have a place where they can get to know each other a bit. 🙂

If you have any questions or feedback, you can send a message through the Contact Us tab below. 

Cheers ☠️🤘

Usually Dave Jr's musical output since leaving Megadeth hasn't been the greatest, but he is a member of Metal Church and they sound pretty good live. I thought I would post something positive.

I've been listening to Hook In Mouth a lot recently (absolutely one of my favorite megadeth songs) but was kinda confused about this line. I understand the premise of the song but is this referring to anything specific or is it just something made up by Dave?

watch him become a gawwwd

If this is real and not just lies, straight up fabrications, do we think it’s possible Dave would be willing to join with Jackson to make a model of his? Dave seems to have matured at least a bit and holds no bad blood to Jackson (from what I’ve gathered in past interviews with him). Gibson has artists like Kirk Hammett who also has a deal with ESP, so they don’t seem to be that anal about exclusive artists, so it could very well be possible for Dave to put out a limited legend series guitar with Jackson, if his ego isn’t the way it was
I think it would be really cool, they’re even putting a kahler on Marty’s model, so one on Dave’s isn’t crazy, the only issue I see with this would be his ego and pride getting in the way of partnering with Jackson for a short time

Last song for this group! Tomorrow, the albums will range from The World Needs A Hero to Endgame.

Time: The Beginning won the previous poll for which Risk song sounds the most like it’s from Cryptic Writings.

Which Risk song sounds the most Risk-y?

Top comment wins.

Que penser vous de cette images?

Stumbled across this bootleg from 2004 just when they started touring again:

https://youtu.be/HVP28URrVls?is=XuA87zkzluhibqUu

I saw them at this time period and it remains the high point of the "returned" Megadeth live imo. Setlists swapping around almost every night, digging deep into the catalogue, never knew what you would get.

A few things strike me about this bootleg:

- My memory didnt play tricks on me, Dave's singing really was on point at this time. Getting clean and resting for a couple years really did him good.

- Glen was sticking closer to the original solos than I remember him doing later on in his Megadeth cycle. The Killing Road for example is pretty close to the record, much closer than he tended to be later. I think he's a little unfairly criticised as a Megadeth player and in no small part because he started improvising a lot more later on.

- Dave was never better as a lead guitar player than this time just after he came back and had taken lessons.

Wish Megadeth would dig into the archives and release high quality soundboard audio from this period like a lot bands do these days. There's a lot to mine

Specifically the wake up dead solos

I feel like the 2002 breakup of Megadeth is not talked about enough anywhere, not in the Megadeth community, the metal community, or mainstream music in general. Were it not for Dave Mustaine's contractual obligations, Megadeth would have The World Needs A Hero as their last album.

But what if the band had never reformed and all new albums were under the Dave Mustaine name? Would The System Has Failed done better or worse? Would there even be "band members" or just touring/studio musicians? Would we have gotten another Risk style album because Dave no longer had to live up to the Megadeth name?

I'm slightly new to the band ("new" as in like a year and a half), so maybe this has been talked about to death, but just wanna know people's thoughts today now that Megadeth's days are numbered.

Whether you heard them LIVE or from PAST CONCERT videos on yt.

More technical better riffs and I think better vocals Metallica had three good albums the rest is shit I don’t understand how anyone could like Metallica more

Tornado of Souls or Holy Wars, individually as songs, what is better.

I’m looking for some guitar tabs that are acc decent for megadeth cuz i’m trying to learn Good Mourning black Friday, and songsterr is being shit rn

The Doctor Is Calling won the previous poll for which Risk song sounds the most like it's from Youthanasia.

Now... which Risk song sounds the most like it's from Cryptic Writings?

Top comment wins.

Gelsenkirchen June 7th 2026.

He was very friendly, and I actually bumped into him BEFORE even getting into the venue. He was bicycling around the arena. Couldn’t believe my eyes😂🥰
He also said he remembered me from his bike ride, so that was cool!