Back in February, metal electric guitar legend Marty Friedman reunited with his former Megadeth bandmates for the first time in 23 years at Tokyo's Budokan arena.
In an interview with Guitar World shortly after the reunion, Friedman hinted that another potential reunion with Megadeth would potentially occur at the Wacken Open Air Festival in August.
During the thrash titans’ August 4 set at the German festival, Friedman made good on his hint, joining Megadeth for a quartet of songs from his 1990-2000 tenure in the band: Trust, Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction, and, for the encore, Holy Wars... The Punishment Due.
You can check out some fan-filmed footage of Tornado of Souls above, and a snippet of pro-shot footage – featuring some choice windmill action on Friedman's part – below.
Though Friedman has long been content to follow his own artistic path, he slotted in perfectly next to Megadeth guitarists Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro at Wacken, absolutely nailing the smoking passages of Tornado of Souls, much to the delight of gathered festivalgoers.
Speaking to Guitar World back in March, Friedman discussed revisiting his ‘90s-era lead work, and the challenge of – rather than updating some of the most beloved solos in the thrash metal catalog for 2023 – giving fans what they expect and want to hear.
“If there was any challenge [in regards to reuniting with Megadeth] at all, I guess it would be playing the solos the way the fans remember them, which is something I wanted to do,“ Friedman said. “My playing has evolved so much since those songs came out, and there are so many nuances I would naturally do differently now.
“I had to resist the urge to play it like I would in 2023 and stick to the original way. For example, in a couple of those songs, I entered the solo on the downbeat, with the first note being the root of the chord. I would definitely avoid both of those things now, but apparently, I was fine with it back then!“
Megadeth still have a number of dates – on multiple continents – remaining on their ongoing The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! tour.
For a full list of the band's upcoming shows, visit Megadeth's website.
