Megadeth & Marty Friedman Perform Together For The First Time In Over 20 Years

Yesterday, Megadeth reunited in Japan with former guitarist Marty Friedman for the first time in over 20 years.

Playing at the famous Budokan in Tokyo, the band performed on 27 February, with Friedman accompanying his old band on three tracks: Countdown To Extinction, Tornado Of Souls and Symphony Of Destruction, Blabbermouth reports.

The Budokan concert, which was live-streamed yesterday and will remain on-demand for viewing for a few days, will surely please fans who have been waiting a long time for this reunion.

Friedman performed with Megadeth from 1990 to 2000 and released five albums with the band, including the classics Rust In Peace (1990) and Countdown To Extinction (1992). 

“It has been a long time — 23 years to be exact since I’ve been on the same stage with Dave Mustaine making music,” Friedman revealed in a statement to Rolling Stone a few weeks ago. “We’ve both taken drastically different paths since then. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m extremely proud of the part that I played in Megadeth’s history and legacy. 

"I’m also very, very proud of the band’s many great achievements and continued success in my absence. For right now, I just feel immense joy and some serious adrenaline. I am looking forward to playing with Megadeth at this very cool place, the Budokan.”

Megadeth will be joined by special guests In Flames for two nights in Adelaide and Melbourne as part of the Knotfest Australia sideshows.

Spanning over four decades of existence, Megadeth’s legacy pioneering the thrash metal genre into the global zeitgeist has garnered multiple platinum albums, with over 38 million units sold worldwide, as well as a sea of Grammy Award nominations, including a win in 2017 for Best Metal Performance for their track Dystopia. Their 16th album, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead! was released last year.

Watch video footage of Megadeth with Marty Friedman below.