Megadeth Ready to Move From Grammys to Big Four

Turns out the ninth time was not the charm for Megadeth. The metal heroes were up for yet another Grammy this year, and -- like the previous eight times -- they lost, this time to Iron Maiden. Still, the band was happy to be there and see some friends. "It's great to be here, and I think we're in a great category with a lot of our contemporaries -- most, or all of which, we've been on tour with before," bassist David Ellefson told Noisecreep.

For band leader Dave Mustaine, it was only the second visit to the awards, with 2010 being his first time finally making the trip. Why did he hold out so long? "Our band started off playing music that was actually directly opposed to the establishment; this kind of glitzy stuff," Mustaine admitted. "So we didn't show up the first several nominations. It wasn't proper for our ilk to be here. Now it's like we come because our kids want to be here."

What did Mustaine think of his first visit to the Grammys in 2010? "It sucked 'cause we lost," he said. Well, so we're not sure of what he thought of the 2011 trip, but probably not loving it. Nevertheless, the band is ready to move on from the glitz to something more in their element -- namely the April 23 Big Four show with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax in Indio, Calif., the home of Coachella.

"I haven't been to Coachella myself, so I don't know anything about it," Mustaine said. "One thing I am excited about is being able to do this in America, 'cause we have done it out of the country several different times, and the fans always get what they want when we do the Big Four shows, because it's all four compass points for the world as far as it concerns heavy metal listeners."

And he expects fans to be ready to rock harder in the US than anywhere else they've done this show in the world. "When you're talking about playing in California, there's no telling what's gonna happen, what's gonna show up. I imagine this is gonna be more over the top than even Europe was, because they've been so starved for this," he said. "It's the first time we've played together I think in 25 years, pretty sure. The last time I think was '84 or '85 in San Francisco we played with Metallica. That's the last time we did that in the States."

Watch Megadeth Perform 'Symphony of Destruction'

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