Megadeth kick off Gigantour

DAVE MUSTAINE AND
MEGADETH

THEATER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
CONCERT SOLD OUT

“The return of Gigantour, a nicely curated package tour of heavy metal bands, is just one
more step in a great run underway by Megadeth…It was a smart and well-paced show,
one that illuminated metal’s various angles.” –Boston Globe (1/31/12)

DAVE MUSTAINE of iconic multi-platinum metal group MEGADETH has launched his critically acclaimed touring festival GIGANTOUR to a roaring and acclaimed start in the northeast U.S.  Sharing the stage every night with the headlining MEGADETH are MOTÖRHEAD, VOLBEAT and LACUNA COIL on the trek which kicked off January 26 in Camden, NJ at the Susquehanna Bank Center and has already been highlighted by a sold out January 28 show at New York City’s Theater at Madison Square Garden.  GIGANTOUR is set to hit Los Angeles’ Gibson Amphitheatre Friday, February 24 and wraps Saturday, March 3 in Austin, TX. See tour dates and press quotes later in this press release.

In other MEGADETH news, they have received their tenth Grammy nomination for their latest effort. The group–singer/guitarist DAVE MUSTAINE, drummer SHAWN DROVER, guitarist CHRIS BRODERICK and bassist DAVID ELLEFSON–earned a “Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance” nomination for their new single “Public Enemy #1” off their latest album Th1rt3en (Roadrunner Records).  The “Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance” category is, eerily, category #13.

Check out the video for “Public Enemy #1” here or their Halloween eve performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” here.  “Public Enemy #1” actually marks the second Grammy nomination for music from Th1rt3en, as the song “Sudden Death” was first unveiled  in the 2010 video game “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” and received a “Best Metal Performance” nod.

The band’s 13^th album, the appropriately titled Th1rt3en, was released November 1 and debuted #11 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock chart. The album also landed on international charts including Top 10 placements in Argentina, Finland, Korea and Japan.

Here’s some initial praise:

“The return of Gigantour, a nicely curated package tour of heavy metal bands, is just one more step in a great run underway by Megadeth…It was a smart and well-paced show, one that illuminated metal’s various angles. Italy’s Lacuna Coil put a Gothic spin on the sound. Denmark’s Volbeat fused heaviness and swing for a metal-billy blowout. England’s Motorhead remains a marvel of speed and volume after 37 years. The US’s own Megadeth displayed the melodic thrash it helped create in the early ’80s; it remains a cornerstone of heavy music.  Gigantour follows Megadeth’s celebratory tour marking the 20th anniversary of its classic Rust in Peace; reunion shows with fellow Big Four metal bands Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax; participation in last year’s touring Mayhem Festival; and release of Th1rt3en, which contains the Grammy-nominated song ‘Public Enemy No. 1.’  Megadeth’s new material nicely fit into the set the band delivered Sunday. ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ and ‘Guns, Drugs, and Money’ showcased band leader Dave Mustaine’s wry side, while ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway’ let him uncork his patented outrage.  The set list covered all eras of Megadeth, with vintage cuts ‘Sweating Bullets’ and ‘Peace Sells’ still resonant and full of turmoil. Throughout the show, Mustaine and fellow guitarist Chris Broderick created a feast of guitar shred.  Gigantour also afforded Mustaine the chance to perform the ballad ‘A Tout Le Monde’ the way he originally envisioned it: as a duet with a female singer–Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia.”

—Boston Globe (1/31/12)

“At one point Mustaine had Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia come out on stage to sing, ‘À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)’ with him. It was a fantastic duet of a classic, and the first time I’ve ever seen Mustaine sing with a female. Besides being one of the best shredders in the business, this dude can harmonize with the best of them. Along with these rare on stage moments, fans got the red meat they wanted with staples such as ‘Hangar 18,’ ‘Wake Up Dead,’ and ‘Symphony of Destruction,’ all of which were played to perfection (1/31/12).”

—Brooklynvegan.com (1/31/12)

Check out the full BROOKLYNVEGAN photo gallery here.

GIGANTOUR 2012 Tour Dates:

**Artist photos available upon request**

For more information on MEGADETH, contact:
Mitch Schneider                      919-380-0400 x235     mschneider@msopr.com
Todd Brodginski                      818-380-0400 x239     toddb@msopr.com
Angela Villanueva                   818-380-0400 x232     avillanueva@msopr.com

www.megadeth.com
www.gigantour.com
http://www.facebook.com/Megadeth
http://twitter.com/Megadeth
www.roadrunnerrecords.com/

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Doug Van Pelt

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