Watch: MEGADETH Performs 'Puppet Parade' Live For First Time

MEGADETH played the song "Puppet Parade" live for the first time during the band's concert Tuesday night (June 24) at Küçükçiftlik Park in Istanbul, Turkey. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

"Puppet Parade" was the fourth single from MEGADETH's latest, self-titled album, which came out in January. The follow-up to "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" was released via MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint on Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

"Puppet Parade" was previously described as "a cynical look at the loss of individual agency within the machinery of fame and society. It depicts life as a choreographed performance where strings are pulled by unseen hands, and the 'performer' is forced to hide their pain behind a hollow, scripted smile."

Mustaine stated about "Puppet Parade": "'Puppet Parade' was written in a couple different stages. The chorus was very difficult to write — not lyrically; musically. Because we'd been working on these songs for so long, and they all had a number before they had a name… The song we're talking about right now was number eight. And at one point, it was even farther in the back of the songwriting process because we were unable to get that chorus section written. And not for lack of trying, because everybody in the band tried to write a chorus for it. And I had written something for it that I thought was perfect, and my partner Chris [Rakestraw] had said that we should keep searching, see if we could find something else. And nobody could come up with anything, and I ended up coming up with a good chorus for the song. And after that, it was pretty easy getting the lyrics to come into play. The character in the song, it's kind of like another... You referenced earlier 'Falling Down'. That song, 'Another Bad Day', these are all songs that kind of reflect on somebody who is constantly pushing a pencil uphill with his nose. That's how life has become for so many people right now. And I felt that it was better to talk about that so that people that may think, 'Oh, it's, it's gotta be great to be a musician, and have money, and have cars, and all that stuff.' And it doesn't always work like that. I can tell you from experience, it doesn't always work like that."

MEGADETH's setlist for the Istanbul show was as follows:

01. Tipping Point
02. Take No Prisoners
03. Dread And The Fugitive Mind
04. Hangar 18
05. Skin O' My Teeth
06. She-Wolf
07. Sweating Bullets
08. Puppet Parade (live debut)
09. Angry Again
10. Let There Be Shred
11. This Was My Life
12. Tornado Of Souls
13. Mechanix
14. Ride The Lightning (METALLICA song)
15. Symphony Of Destruction
16. Peace Sells
17. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

MEGADETH's final studio album, "Megadeth", debuted at the top of the U.S. album chart after earning 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate. The bulk of that sum was driven by pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital copies of the album),totaling 69,000.

MEGADETH also claimed the top spot in Australia (highest previous position No. 2) and Austria (highest previous position No. 8). Other top five spots included No. 2 in Finland (and No. 1 physical),Sweden (plus No. 1 physical; highest previous position No. 9),and Belgium (highest previous position: No. 6); No. 3 in both the U.K. and Germany (highest previous position No. 6); No. 4 in the Netherlands (highest previous position No. 7); and No. 5 in both Italy (highest previous position No. 15) and New Zealand (highest chart position ever).

"The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown To Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

For its final album, MEGADETH once again worked with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's last two LPs, the aforementioned "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and "Dystopia".

Last August, MEGADETH announced its plans to retire with a farewell album and tour.

"There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Mustaine explained in a social media post. "Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now."

Mustaine has since clarified that MEGADETH's farewell run of shows could last "for another three to five years".

MEGADETH was founded in 1983 after Mustaine was kicked out of METALLICA, a band he was a part of for less than a year.

MEGADETH released its debut album, "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!", in 1985.