Dave Mustaine’s “Big Surprise” for Argentina Show Won’t Involve Marty Friedman: “That’s Not Going to Happen”
If you’ve been hoping beyond all hopes that Megadeth would be teaming up with former guitarist Marty Friedman at least one more time invenos Aires, Argentina this April, it’s best you just let yourself down easy now. Frontman Dave Mustaine was recently asked whether Friedman was the surprise during an interview with Argentina’s largest newspaper Clarin and he shot that rumor down pretty quickly.
“No, that’s not going to happen. He’s not going to play with us. I can promise you it won’t happen. Although, mind you, I love Marty and we had a great time playing together. I want to make it clear that there is nothing wrong; it just won’t happen.”
Well, schucks. It’s been real cool to see Friedman, who said he’d never join a band full-time ever again, rejoin his former band to play some tunes live. It’s happened twice over the last six months, so when Mustaine said a “big surprise” was coming, know I had
Back when Mustaine hinted at something big happening during one of their three nights playing Buenos Aires during an upcoming Latin American tour, it seemed like things were almost a certainty that we’d get Friedman at least on stage once. Hell, some of us even wondered if Marty would come back full-time given the band’s situation with Kiko Loureiro walking away and Wintersun guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari only filling in temporarily.
So with Friedman now apparently out of the running for whatever this surprise may be, now I’m left wondering what the hell it could be. Is Dave going to announce his collaboration with James Hetfield? Will he welcome Lars behind the kit for a set? Or maybe David Ellefson will come back to fill in the empty guitar slot even though he was kicked out of the band? Only time will tell.
Crush The World Tour 2024
Sat April 6 Lima, Peru Arena 1
Tu April 9 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
Thu April 11 Montevideo, Uruguay Arena Antel
Sat April 13 Buenos Aires, Argentina Movistar Arena
Tue April 16 Asuncion, Paraguay Jockey Club
Thu April 18 São Paulo, Brazil Espaco Unimed
Sun April 21 Bogota, Colombia Movistar Arena
Tue April 23 San Salvador, El Salvador Complejo Cuscatlan
Thu April 25 Ciudad de México, México Arena Ciudad de México
Sat April 27 Monterrey, México Arena Monterrey