MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE: 'If I Really Was Our President…'

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:

"We are in the middle of the first leg of the 'Tour of Duty' for 'United Abominations' and are preparing songs everyday, all day long. We go over the songs at soundcheck, we go over notes from the night before, we go over the songs with our new soundman every night, and we are taking apart all of our rigs and guitars to make them play and sound better than ever before. That is not including the taping of the shows every night and the video taping every night too.

"We want to be 'on fire' for the broadcast from Columbus, and besides the weirdness of our lighting director having to go to his brother's wedding (which we supported),everything will be the same as usual. We unfortunately are not going to be able to have any guests backstage at all for the Columbus show. So, if you are a friend of the band, unfortunately, this is one of the shows where you are going to have to bite the bullet. Please don't take offense to me saying 'no' when you ask me to go backstage.

"Ah, I am so out-of-my-mind excited to head to the Pac Rim and do Gigantour again, especially with the exciting bands that make up this year's lineup. We also are going to start laying roots for Gigantour in other territories overseas and will have a huge announcement soon about something brewing on both sides of the world next month, or even sooner!!!

"We are playing and getting along better than ever and although we had a setback with some roadies leaving and us replacing them with techs, we are in full-stride right now. And excluding the release of 'Warchest', we are busy little metal bees (not like STRYPER!) and hard at work going over every single inch of everything we do and are doing going forward to make this the best year ever!!!

"The holidays are coming and I wished I could have you all over for a cup of my private homemade coffee (it won't kill ya) and tell Halloween stories, or a piece of Thanksgiving pie, or even some very nogged eggnog for Christmas and Hanukkah, but alas, that ain't gonna happen because I will be playing for you and hopefully have our families out here with us!!!

"I want to thank all of you for your thoughtful gifts and I love the funny cards. I also am proud of my Raiders jacket — now if we could just buy some 'wins' for Christmas…

"We are all enjoying talking to you with our SayNow accounts too (we all have numbers now),and we are comparing notes about how we want to have a real great personal experience with you guys, while not being inappropriate, because we are aware that a lot of the fans are young and thrilled to be able to talk to us, so we keep it real, and focused on what matters — MEGADETH!!!

"I got a great gift from our American soldiers over in Iraq of some video footage and patches and even Iraqi money. I am really thankful for the gifts, and I pray for your safe return, guys. There are a lot of misinformed musicians that jump on popularity polls against the war, and while I am not one of them, I know how it must feel to see your hero say he or she is against the cause — right or wrong — that you are willing to lay down your life for what you believe in and to protect us here at home. People ask me about running for President and I appreciate the sentiment, and the irony is that I probably could do the job.

"And while I would have handled things differently if I really was our President, we are there now and the soldiers need our support until they come home and we can fix our problems here at home. Until then we will just jam and let it loose every night for you, and lemme tell you how much we feel your approval and we are grateful for that. Man, to just switch places with you for a minute would be such a rush for you."

MEGADETH's concert at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio tonight (September 22) will be streamed live via YeboTV.com. You will need to register at this location to catch this live event.

MEGADETH kicked off its U.S. headlining tour on September 4 in Anchorage, Alaska. The trek will take the band through 24 U.S. cites ending up in Norfolk Virginia on October 6. Support on the dates comes from IN THIS MOMENT and THE CONFESSION.