Dave Mustaine mulls Big Three shows without Metallica

Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine (Image credit: Getty)

Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine has once again talked about the possibility of Big Four shows ahead of Slayer calling it a day.

The vocalist and guitarist said last week that he would like Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica to play together again following the news that Slayer were about to embark on their final tour.

And when asked if there’s been any dialogue about the bands hooking up again since his comments, Mustaine tells SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk: “I think if you asked the three of us that, our camps would probably say yes.

“If Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth all want to do it and Metallica doesn’t, then what do we do? The Big Three?

“I’m sure that a lot of people would like to see that, and that’s maybe what it is. It may end up having it be the Big Three plus no.5 if we have Exodus play.”

Mustaine adds: “But it’s not about just doing concerts for the sake of concerts. It was about the movement – it was about what we did together as a group.

“Excluding Anthrax, we’re all neighbours because we all lived so close. It was just a half hour to an hour at the most between each other’s houses.

“So I think it would be great to do more Big Four stuff – do one in Japan, do one in South America. We never did one in South America, we haven’t done one in Asia. Give the people an opportunity to see it before it goes away forever.”

Watch the video interview below.

Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax played shows together in 2010 and 2011. Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo previously backed the idea of playing further concerts, as has Anthrax bassist Frank Bello.

See more

Anthrax's Scott Ian recalls 'Big Four' superjam in cartoon video

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.