On July 10th 2008 Guitar Center in Hollywood, California had its annual Guitar Center Sessions and this time around it stared legendary guitarist Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. Hundredths of fans gathered outside the store most waiting since the early hours of the morning while others had barely just arrived. I walked up the long line of fans and asked a few some questions.
I spoke with Serigo and Victor brothers and bandmates of a band they created called "First Burn Of Death," from TJ who had said "We've been waiting here for 3 hours." Next question was how did they hear about this event? They response "Advertisement from Guitar Center.com." They also replied that they had attended this year's Gigatour and have been Megadeth fans for 2-3 years Serigo adding "We were born with Megadeth already inside of us." The next set of people I spoke too was with a group of young guys, Lenard, Irwin, Carlos, and Paul who responded that they had arrived just 25 minutes ago, and all carpooled with Paul. All of them had said they have been fans of Megadeth for 4 years and also play instruments, ranging from guitar to keyboard, saying that "Dave is the inspiration." Then I spoke with some girl Megadeth fans, Ruby and Mariz and their friend Giel, they were from the Los Angeles/Valley area, and had been waiting since noon. Giel had gone to Gigatour 3 times while Ruby and Miariz had gone once. All in all they said this about Dave Mustaine, "overwhelming."
After the brief fan interviews I headed inside and sat down with Dave Mustaine and asked him a handful of questions, he happily answered and then took a photo with me and signed some items for me. After the interview everyone headed to the room where the stage was set up and took their seats while fans who were being let inside stood behind chanting and singing-a-long to the songs being played in the background. Around 7PM the show kicked off and Full Metal Jackie hosted/DJ of Chaos on Indie 103.1 came up on stage and introduced Dave and he walked on with fans roaring with excitement. Taking their seats, the Guitar Sessions had begun. Lasting an hour and 45 minutes Dave Mustaine had talked about his career and what inspired him when it come to performing and writing music. During his presentation, he pulled out his signature guitar and played some tunes for the audience of fans as they happily cheered and sang right along. Playing a total of four tracks, "Holy Wars, Sympathy of Destruction, Youth of a Nation, and Peace Sells," Dave enjoyed performing as all musicians do.
After the sessions had ended several fans had the chance to ask Dave their own questions he answered nicely and then walked off to get ready for the after signing. Fans were eagerly awaiting to meet the master of metal, as I headed out towards the front and got my spot in line and again met the master legend and had him sign a poster and walked off into the night.
Set List:
1. Holy Wars
2. Symphony of Destruction
3. Youthanasia
4. Peace Sells
Interview: One On One with Dave Mustaine:
1. What's your opinion on heavy metal music today compared to when it first started?
What you're declaring is heavy metal music.
2. What influences inspired you and your band mates to create Megadeth?
He created it, the other bandmates weren't around.
3. How old were you when you started to think about playing music?
13
4. What was your inspiration for the band name?
It came from polite leafit handout, from a guy nanmed Gene Sentor Allen Canstine.5. What is your reaction when performing live? Any weird stories or experiences while playing or on the road?
The breakfast promotion at the Long Beach Arena, was created by my coffee company. I was sick during that event and couldn't go, but all the other bands went and hung out with the fans and had a good time. A lot of promotional press went out there too.
6. Thanks for the interview, any other comments?
I'm grateful to be here, and go have fun.
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