Watch: DAVID ELLEFSON Performs In Cremona, Italy During Fall 2025 European 'Bass Warrior Tour'

On December 5, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson performed at Music Factory in Cremona, Italy as part of the fall 2025 European leg of his "Bass Warrior Tour". The trek featured Ellefson and his solo band performing select cuts from his well-known catalog of MEGADETH hits, solo material and other hard rock and metal favorites which inspired him during his 40-year music career. Accompanying Ellefson on this tour was Italian guitarist and musical director Andy Martongelli, a longtime friend and collaborator who has been by Ellefson's side during his solo ventures, "Basstory", ELLEFSON-SOTO and ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE tours across Europe.

Fan-filmed video of the Cremona concert can be seen below (courtesy of Loud And Proud Italy).

When the "Bass Warrior Tour" was first announced, Ellefson said in a statement: "I've approached my career as that of a musical warrior, always accompanied by my bass guitar. I eagerly anticipate bringing these songs back to the stage, while sharing introspective and entertaining anecdotes about their creation. It's been a wild ride of low notes and high stakes!"

Ellefson was originally in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.

Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 21 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson's place for the album's touring cycle.

Ellefson sued Mustaine in 2004 for $18.5 million, alleging that the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.

In his first book, Ellefson admitted that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH 15 years ago. He told Metal-Rules.com in an interview: "Going from being a co-founding owner to just a sideman musician was initially why I didn't come back in 2004. I was not happy with the participations that were presented to me. In recent times, coming back, I found great joy in doing music with a lot of other people in other settings that helped me fall back in love with playing music. Now I can come back into or go into musical situations and be able to be there for a purpose and level of pay. Being a sideman absolves you from being involved in all the other stuff. At this point in my life, I would rather leave that stuff on the sidelines. Like American Express says, 'membership has its privileges,' being a sideman has its benefits. In my case, it helps retain a friendship too. In order to have a friendship, I had to give up some ownership."

During a February 2021 appearance on Mitch Joel's "Groove - The No Treble Podcast", Ellefson reflected on his legal battle with Mustaine, saying: "I firmly believe Dave and I ended up in that situation because he and I were not directly communicating. There was a new manager, a new lawyer, a new team of people, and they were all trying to impress the client, so they were just, 'Well, we're just doing whatever the boss tells us to do.' And it's, like, wait a minute — your job is to manage and counsel and direct your client, and — in my opinion — avoid litigation, avoid these things. Those people are no longer here — they've all been let go, thank God — and once most of them were let go was when Dave and I had an opportunity to come back and reconcile. And as soon as Dave and I get in a room, it's, like, 'What the hell are we fighting over? Get your guitar. Let's play. Let's jam.' And then it becomes about the music, and there it is. So when we keep it on that level, it goes well. When the business people and the lawyers and the people come in and they try to sort of put logic around it, that's when the trouble [begins].

"I've always said MEGADETH is completely illogical — there's no logic to it at all," he continued. "And there's not really supposed to be, because it's something of the heart — it's not of the head; it's of the heart. I always say the longest journey is the 15 inches from the head to the heart. To memorize it is one thing, but to know it by heart is another thing. And that's what we do as musicians — we don't just memorize it; we have to really [know] it by heart. And that's what a group is — a musical setting is about that. And, of course, there has to be some sort of business dynamic around it to kind of make it work, I guess — at least for the accountants."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH more than four years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.