While my opinion might be biased, I felt I had to add my thoughts on this matter. I have very little respect for Dave Mustaine after personally hearing a few stories from people involved with Megadeth tours and witnessing all of the arrogant bullshit that Mustaine constantly seems to spout online. Seeing the news of Havok being booted from the tour was enough to provoke a reaction and here it is:
As many are aware, Havok was slated to play with Metal Church, Suicidal Tendencies and Amon Amarth on an upcoming tour headlined by Megadeth. Honestly, I’m glad this tour didn’t stop anywhere near me as I would hate to miss Amon Amarth since a show of this size would be scheduled for a shitty venue with expensive tickets. And more importantly, since I basically refuse to support Megadeth. I skipped out on seeing Children of Bodom earlier this year when they opened for Megadeth and Children of Bodom will forever be one of my favourite bands.
Havok has been dropped from the bill, due to contract negotiations that have gone awry. The management company in question is headed by Dave Mustaine’s son. My biggest problem with Megadeth lies in Dave Mustaine himself. Rumors abound that he’s a bit of an asshole. Rumors probably isn’t an appropriate word, and asshole is probably an understatement. His Twitter account over the last day or so regarding this issue reaffirms again that he’s an arrogant prick. It’s basically an inflammatory series of tweets directed at those who’ve offended Mustaine by attempting to report on Havok being dropped from the tour.
Havok put out a fairly guarded, and much more professional, account in the interest of informing fans that they will no longer be on the tour. While someone on the outside can’t know exactly what went on during contract negotiations, the impressions left during the aftermath definitely paint Havok in better light than the father-son Mustaine pair. (And Havok put on a disappointing performance and proved to be somewhat whiney and haughty once at a festival I attended, knocking my impression of them down a few notches).
In a fairly tight-knit community, impressions tend to matter and Dave Mustaine continues to do things and become involved in arguments that do nothing to enhance his reputation. If the son is anything like the father, I don’t blame ANY band for not dealing with him or his management company. Without knowing contract specifics or without knowing anyone involved, most people will base their opinion on impressions and this doesn’t leave a good one for Mustaine Management. It probably would have been a better situation if Dave Mustaine had just kept his mouth shut, like he should have countless times in the past. There are so many more professional individuals in the music industry that he could take some tips from.
Either way, it’s probably better for Havok to cut ties from anyone named Mustaine and find a new contract with a different company, keep touring and keep putting out music for their fans.
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