Megadeth Rocks The Grammy MuseumOn a warm Thursday night, right in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles amidst tall buildings, honking horns, and a thin layer of grey smog, Megadeth visited The Grammy Museum’s Ray Charles Terrace for a special Q&A and live performance, which proved to be almost too heavy for the usually quiet museum to handle.

For the sold-out event, excited metal fans lined up on the sidewalk of Figueroa Street, some waiting for hours prior to doors opening at around 6:30 p.m. Slowly, people were let in and made their way up to the fifth floor of the museum, home to an open-air patio with the beautiful cityscape in the background, and about 200 seats lined up in rows in front of a small stage, one that almost seemed too small for this band.

Bright red stage lights faced the audience, who waited until about 7:40 p.m. for the programming to begin. A small merchandise table was set up in the lobby near the venue’s entrance, selling about five Megadeth shirts and two different hats. None were official tour merchandise, but instead generic band items ranging in price from $40 to $100.

Beginning with a Q&A moderated by television host and music journalist Matt Pinfield, the band sat down in four seats on stage and answered questions related to their most recent (and supposedly final) studio album, the 11-track self-titled Megadeth. Frontman Dave Mustaine was a bit quiet for most questions until he was asked about the process behind recording the album and whether there were any extra songs written. He answered that the band has many megabytes of unused music from throughout their career that he’d still be interested in revisiting and potentially releasing, while specifically stating that it would not be for another studio album.

The band was then surprised with official plaques commemorating the album reaching No. 1 in nine countries upon its release - a clear sign that rock and metal are indeed alive and well.

After answering a few more fan-submitted questions, the band took about a 20-minute break while their gear, microphones, and setlists were brought onto the stage. Some audience members began standing up from their seats in anticipation, almost hesitantly wondering if the rest of the crowd was really going to stay seated for a Megadeth concert. That would be almost sacrilegious.

The night grew darker and the city lights began shining brighter as the band finally stepped onto the stage at 8:45 p.m., guitars in hand. They started with three tracks from their recent album: the three No. 1 singles “Tipping Point,” “I Don’t Care,” and crowd favorite that everyone was singing along with, “Let There Be Shred.”

It was an unusual audience for this type of show, with only a few true headbangers near the front and scattered throughout the small terrace. Most people stood completely still to film the performance, almost shocked at how loud the roar of the band’s guitars were. C’mon people, haven’t you ever been to a metal concert before?

Dave Mustaine said a few thank-yous between songs before proceeding to play some of the band’s older material. Another fan favorite, “Sweating Bullets,” came next, followed by “Symphony of Destruction” and “Peace Sells,” during which the band’s mascot, Vic, walked through the audience throwing Megadeth-themed money to everyone before joining the band on stage.

As an audience member, it most certainly felt like a private show and almost too good to be true for a ticket priced at only $65. The band then ended with a bang on “Holy Wars,” during which Mustaine introduced each member: Teemu Mäntysaari on lead guitar, James LoMenzo on bass, and Dirk Verbeuren on drums.

When the final chord rang out, the audience looked around at each other in amazement, feeling lucky to have witnessed this performance on such a small scale.

Overall, it was an amazing night at The Grammy Museum with, no doubt, one of the loudest metal bands to have performed there to date. Hopefully, the night inspired many audience members to stream the band’s new record, purchase some merchandise, and potentially even buy a ticket to see the band live again at one of their shows this coming weekend at BMO Stadium, opening for Iron Maiden.

Keep up with all things Megadeth on the band’s website, here.

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