Watch Kiko Loureiro’s 2015 Audition Video for Megadeth

Here’s a neat little piece of Megadeth history: part of then-Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro’s 2015 audition video for the band.

As Loureiro explains in a preface to the audition video, he was contacted by Megamastermind Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson (or, more likely, their management) about auditioning for the band, and was due to be flown to the Nashville for just that purpose the following Monday. Presumably in an effort to make sure he wasn’t wasting everyone’s time, Loureiro spent the weekend learning four ‘Deth tunes — “Hangar 18,” “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due,” “Symphony of Destruction,” and “Trust” — and filmed himself playing those songs. Despite the performances being, by Loureiro’s own admission, less-than-perfect, they were good enough that Mustaine and Ellefson still wanted him to fly to Nashville and continue the audition process. Spoiler alert: Loureiro got the job.

Only “Hangar 18” is included in the video Loureiro has released, but it’s still sure to be of interest for Rattleheads… especially because, statistically speaking, Loureiro won’t be Megadeth’s guitarist forever, and some other musicians will have to repeat this same process. Who knows… it could be YOU!

You can watch the entire video, with Loureiro recounting the story of his audition and all that, below, or just skip to the 3:52 mark if you only wanna see the actual audition clip from 2015.

[via]