MEGADETH's DIRK VERBEUREN Says Playing With MARTY FRIEDMAN At Tokyo's Budokan Was 'Very Unique And Very Crazy'

Earlier today (Wednesday, March 1),MEGADETH drummer Dirk Verbeuren spoke to Stefan Nilsson of Roppongi Rocks about the band's reunion two days earlier with ex-MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman during the Dave Mustaine-fronted outfit's first-ever gig at Tokyo, Japan's famed Budokan. Friedman came up on stage for three songs toward the end of the main set on Monday, February 27: "Countdown To Extinction", "Tornado Of Souls" and "Symphony Of Destruction".

Asked what the experience of playing with Marty was like, Dirk said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, very unique and very crazy. Marty was such a sweetheart, and it seems like he just hasn't changed at all in the years that have ensued after he left MEGADETH. It was super natural for him to come back and play with us. He still has the Marty sound, and it was just wonderful to witness and to be a part of that. And then the excitement of the fans. You could feel the roar before the 'Tornado Of Souls' guitar lead, for example, and that was just cool to see. It was a really nice vibe. And Dave and Marty exchanging memories, that was just wonderful. So, yeah, it was fun and a night I won't forget anytime soon."

Earlier this week, Marty told Consequence that sharing the stage with Mustaine again "was just like a perfect exclamation point on everything that we had done together up until this point. You couldn't have written a better way for the whole thing to play out. It was just perfect timing, just a very natural and organic way to do it."

On the topic of his current relationship with Mustaine, Friedman said: "Oh, it's great. It's always been great. I think if anything, if there was ever any kind of weirdness, it was probably in the minds of the people who are fans or just people who are reading media things. We chat every once in a while and it's always very nice. We have no … maybe at the time when I left the band there might have been some weird feelings between us, but I think at the time, Dave understood why I left. And at the time I understood why I put the band in a possibly rough situation. But that's such a long time ago. And since then, there's really been nothing but friendly, normal contact — and occasionally, we'll talk about a thing that we might need the other to comment on. But absolutely nothing but complete friendliness."

Asked if he would be open to playing with MEGADETH again, either onstage or in the studio, Marty said: "Yeah, man, the door's open. I think the door has always been open. It's really just a matter of doing something that has meaning to it. Meaning for them and meaning for me. So, Budokan is sort of a no-brainer. But if something were to come up that would be a good thing for them and a good thing for me, and add value to it, then I'm all for it. As far as I'm concerned, their band is just kicking so much ass right now, I can't imagine them needing me for anything. [Laughs] But Budokan was wonderful. There's other things in the future. My door's open and we're on great terms, and I love all the guys in the band. It's very casual."

Verbeuren recently teamed up with Roppongi Rocks in Japan to launch a collectable limited-edition drum key for the Japanese market.

The limited-edition drum key features a red radiation sign as well as the MEGADETH logo and Dirk Verbeuren's name. The back of the key features an illustration of Vic Rattlehead, the legendary MEGADETH mascot.

Roppongi Rocks is Japan's international online magazine for rock music. The Roppongi Rocks brand also includes an online rock shop and a showroom in Tokyo.

For more information, visit www.roppongirocks.com.