Megadeth returns to Dubai

Gulf News

Megadeth returns to Dubai. Shawn Drover, Megadeth's drummer, reminisces their first performance in the UAE and says his looking forward to bringing heavy metal music to the region. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00I'm going to interview somebody from Megadeth, probably one of the biggest rock bands in

00:09the world, if not the biggest, touring forever, 20th anniversary of Countdown to Extinction

00:15is out, and we have Sean from The Brand here.

00:17Hi Sean, how you doing?

00:18Good, man, how you doing?

00:19All good, thanks very much.

00:21Now, I think you're the most important cog in the wheel of any rock band.

00:25You're the drummer, the man at the back.

00:27That is a correct assessment, yes.

00:31Is this being pointed out to you?

00:32I am very important.

00:33I let it be known that I am very important.

00:35Do your band mates know this?

00:36Do they realise, you know, the role you play?

00:38Oh, of course they do.

00:39All kidding aside, I drive the machine, so to speak.

00:41To have a drummer who doesn't perform well in any band is going to make the band sound

00:46quite crass.

00:47With your band performing here in Dubai, is this a first for you in the Middle East?

00:50Oh no, we were in Dubai in 2006, I believe.

00:54We played a festival over there, it was great, a fantastic festival.

00:57The fans were great, and the whole area is such a unique area to be over there, you know.

01:01You see all these metropolises and so forth, and this whole beautiful, posh area, and then

01:06all of a sudden there'd be five miles of sand.

01:09Quite a different experience, you know, for somebody who lives over where I live.

01:12It's certainly an interesting area to be in, for sure.

01:15To be honest, I'm really looking forward to going back in about six years, and due time

01:18for us to go back there and play again, so we're excited.

01:20What about the stage show here in Dubai?

01:22Can we expect what we get everywhere else?

01:24Yeah, I believe so.

01:25As I stated earlier, we're doing the 20th anniversary to the Countdown Extinction record.

01:29We're going to be performing it in its entirety, and, you know, without giving very much away

01:32at all, because nowadays everybody knows what they're getting before you even get there

01:37due to YouTube and all this other kind of media stuff, but it's going to be a different

01:40kind of show.

01:41There's more visual stuff going on than ever before, and we're excited to bring it over

01:44there and let you guys see it.

01:45What about yourselves?

01:46Obviously you're a well-established act now, being going since the 80s.

01:49Is there any new acts we should look out for, or is it just the old guard still going?

01:53For heavy metal?

01:54No.

01:55You know what?

01:56There's always new and exciting young bands coming out.

01:57There's so many heavy, really heavy bands that are, certainly over here in America,

02:02North America where I live, there's a lot of young acts that are extremely talented

02:07musicians, great bands, but to be honest, that's all subjective.

02:12What my personal taste or what I think everybody should listen to is not always reality-based,

02:16so I like a lot of young heavy bands that have come out.

02:22But again, it's all a matter of personal taste.

02:25Now whether these young bands stand the test of time, that remains to be seen, but it's

02:28certainly a positive thing when you're seeing so many of these young bands coming out, whereas

02:32maybe in the mid to late 90s, metal was certainly at an all-time low in terms of bands coming

02:41out and commercial success and success across the board.

02:43It's definitely made a huge upswing since that time, so I think the future's looking

02:48bright for a lot of these young bands, as long as they stay true to themselves and true

02:52to heavy metal.

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