DAVE MUSTAINE Promises 'A Really Big Surprise' For MEGADETH's Concert In Buenos Aires

Fresh off the heels of a wildly successful 2023 international tour across Europe, Canada and the United States, iconic thrash metal pioneer MEGADETH has announced new dates on the "Crush The World" tour set for 2024. The band will make their triumphant return to Latin America for 10 shows, with the first stop in Lima, Peru on Saturday, April 6. In addition to Peru, upcoming stops include Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and México. Tickets for select dates will be available for fan-club members beginning Saturday, November 11 at 10 a.m. local time at www.megadeth.com/tour. Public on-sale for select dates will be at 10 a.m. local venue time on November 13.

MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine said: "April of 2024 MEGADETH returns to South America to support our latest record, 'The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!', and I always get excited because there is something truly different about South America. I don't know what it is... but whatever IT is, they come by it naturally. We are also planning a really big surprise for where 'Aguante Megadeth' all started in Buenos Aires, too! So... if you can, DO NOT MISS THAT SHOW!"

"Crush The World" Latin American tour 2024 dates:

April 06 - Lima, Peru @ Arena 1
April 09 - Santiago, Chile  @ Movistar Arena
April 11 - Montevideo, Uruguay @ Arena Antel
April 13 - Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Movistar Arena
April 16 - Asuncion, Paraguay @ Jockey Club
April 18 - São Paulo, Brazil @ Espaco Unimed
April 21 - Bogota, Colombia @ Movistar Arena
April 23 - San Salvador, El Salvador @ Complejo Cuscatlan
April 25 - Ciudad de México, México @ Arena Ciudad de México
April 27 - Monterrey, México @ Arena Monterrey

Last month, Mustaine talked to Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar about the addition of new touring guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari (WINTERSUN, SMACKBOUND). Teemu has been filling in for the band's longtime axeman Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

Speaking about Kiko's absence from MEGADETH's recent tour, Dave said: "I love [Kiko] and I want him to get whatever he's going through worked out. And fortunately, he had mentioned the name of a guy, Teemu Mäntysaari. Teemu came out, and he was prepared.

"I don't know when Kiko is coming back," Mustaine continued. "He won't be back for this run [of tour dates]. He's at home, and he's soldiering on — for lack of a better term — and working through whatever it is he needs to get through. Out of respect for him, I didn't pry and ask what exactly it was — because it's really none of my business unless he tells me. But I think for any of the fans that are going to say, 'How's it going to sound? What's it going to be like?' Don't worry. I've picked good guitar players in the past, and I train them well. Teemu is very capable of playing these songs. In fact, we're adding new songs to the set. That is really exciting, too."

Dave added: "I wish Kiko the very best. I love him, and I hope to get some good news from him soon."

Last month, Mustaine told Shaggy of the 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho about Teemu's addition to MEGADETH: "People are losing their minds over how things are going right now 'cause we have a really good chemistry together.'

According to Mustaine, MEGADETH has been able to change up its setlist a bit as a result of the guitarist switch. "We've got a bunch of songs from our catalog that we're playing, a bunch of new songs too," he said. "We've been able to add a bunch of songs to the set because Teemu was a metal fan. Kiko did not grow up baptized in metal… Like the show we did a couple of nights ago, we opened with 'Hangar [18]' and then we followed it up with 'Mechanix'. We've never done that before, so it's a pretty heavy beginning. And we've added a second track off of the new album with 'Soldier On!', and we're getting ready to add a third."

He continued: "But [this] tour is going to be ending in a couple days, and the next thing, obviously, is preparing for next year. We have another really good run in the States [coming up]."

In September, Mustaine was equally full of praise for Mäntysaari, telling Wes Styles in a separate interview: "He's really great. And I'm super excited with what Teemu has brought. And it's uncanny because he plays a lot like [former MEGADETH guitarist] Marty [Friedman]. And it's really exciting. At certain times I just close my eyes during the set and I just hear these songs played, whether like Kiko in the past or Teemu now, it just sounds really magic because these guys have learned these songs and they're not just going out there and just banging their guitar around; they actually learned the solos from some of the virtuosos that I've played with over my career."

MEGADETH played its first concert with Mäntysaari on September 6 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 36-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

In addition to Mustaine andLoureiro, MEGADETH's current lineup includes former SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.