MEGADETH Confirm EARSHOT As Opening Act On Upcoming Tour

Los Angeles-based quintet EARSHOT have been confirmed as the opening act for MEGADETH's upcoming U.S. tour, which is expected to launch in late October. Speaking to Quebec's Project Loud webzine during a promotional visit to Montreal on Tuesday (Sept. 7),MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine said of his choice for the opening act, "I've always tried to take out different bands for MEGADETH, because… I like the European approach to festivals where you have different type of bands on there. I believe if you have three of the same kind of bands on there, it's just a five-hour ear assault, and it's no fun for anybody. I mean, there's no climax. I believe if you add a different style to the show and you have maybe a rock band, maybe a heavy metal band, and then go to MEGADETH, it climaxes. That's kind of like, a while ago I had a tour called the 'Reckoning Day Tour', which was FEAR FACTORY, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, KORN and then MEGADETH. Now, every band I've ever taken out has gone on to super success. FEAR FACTORY has been successful, KORN is successful, ALICE IN CHAINS we took out, PANTERA, WHITE ZOMBIE, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS… Anybody that I've ever taken out has gone on to great things, because the audience that I have, and the people that watch what I do, it means something, 'cause I pick good bands."

During the same interview, Mustaine spoke about the addition of guitarist Glen Drover (EIDOLON, ex-KING DIAMOND) to the group's ranks. "That was not supposed to come out in the press yet," he said. "I talked with a friend of mine in California… I thought it was just a [print] magazine interview. I figured, 'You know what?! It's gonna be a little while before the magazine comes out, I'll tell him,' because I'm gonna make a press statement within the next two weeks about the tour dates, and it's gonna announce the guitar player and the bass player. And I didn't know it was fuckin' online interview, too. Not that there's anything wrong with that — I just didn't know. And then the next thing you know, everybody knows. 'Well, Dave says… It's right here.' I'm like, 'Ahhh…'

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted to say, 'Here's the guitar player, here's the bass player, here's the tour dates. Guess what? We're coming to kick your ass.' But… he kind of let the cat out of the bag. But the good thing is that I think Glen's gonna be the right guy for thiis tour. This is gonna be the last MEGADETH tour. And there's no telling how long it will last — it may be like one of those KISS farewell tours that goes on for years."

Dave Mustaine's 23-minute interview with Project Loud can be downloaded as a Real Media audio file at this location (5.7 MB).