Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson Reveals Why the Band is Opening for Five Finger Death Punch

The recent announcement that Megadeth would be touring Europe with Five Finger Death Punch this coming winner was initially greeted with enthusiasm, but that reaction quickly morphed into confusion: “Hooray! Dave Mustaine’s recovery from throat cancer is going well enough for him to tour! But wait… Megadeth are opening for Five Finger Death Punch? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

‘Deth bassist Dave Ellefson has now addressed the issue in a new interview with U.K. radio personality Danny Stoakes, and while Ellefson doesn’t flat-out say “Yeah, they’re just bigger than us now, we want to play in front of some new people!” it’s certainly implied. Here’s the quote:

“The Five Finger guys have been good friends of ours. We’ve seen ‘em come up the ranks behind us. But they’re doing great. They’re very successful. They worked very hard. Their success is every bit deserved for them. And I think it’s kind of cool.

“Normally, we come over [to Europe] and we do the festivals. We’ve been looking at ways to headline or do some kind of a package tour that gets us much more penetrated across Europe instead of only doing the festival circuit. And I think it’s a good way to do it.”

As much shit as Mustaine gets for his ego — deservedly — I have to hand it to him here for biting the bullet and accepting a lower position opening for a band that, at least right now, is bigger than Megadeth. Ellefson is right to think that doing so could be beneficial for the band, and any full tour of Europe is likely to be quite lucrative for them regardless of positioning.

There’s also this: an opening 40-minute set won’t be as physically demanding for Mustaine, who will still be recovering a few months from now.

All tour dates are posted below (Bad Wolves are also on the run). Get your tickets here.

Jan. 20 – Helsinki, Finland @ Hartwell Arena
Jan. 22 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Hovet
Jan. 23 – Oslo, Nrway @ Spektrum
Jan. 24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
Jan. 26 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
Jan. 28 – Paris, France @ Zenith
Jan. 30 – Cardiff, U.K. @ Cardiff Arena
Jan. 31 – London, U.K. @ Wembley Arena
Feb. 03 – Berlin, Germany @ Max-Schmeling Halle
Feb. 04 – Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle
Feb. 06 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Festhalle
Feb. 08 – Oberhausen, Germany @ Koenig-Pilsener Arena
Feb. 09 – Stuttgart, Germany @ Schleyerhalle
Feb. 10 – Munich, Germany @ Olympiahalle
Feb. 12 – Warsaw, Poland @ Torwar
Feb. 14 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Tipsport Arena
Feb. 16 – Milan, Italy @ Alcatrazz
Feb. 17 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
Feb. 19 – Vienna, Austria @ Stadthalle
Feb. 20 – Budapest, Hungary @ Budapest Sportarena

[via Kerrang!]