On a recent episode of “The David Ellefson Show” podcast, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson discussed the 2010 Jägermeister Music Tour, which reunited MEGADETH, SLAYER, and ANTHRAX from the 1991 “Clash Of The Titans” lineup.
“That [2010] tour, technically it was kind of a ‘Clash Of The Titans’ — it was ANTHRAX, SLAYER and MEGADETH,” Ellefson said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “It didn’t have a rotating lineup. It was just that lineup the whole tour. But we couldn’t use the name ‘Clash Of The Titans’. Apparently they had done another [action fantasy] movie [using that title] since 1991, and so we couldn’t get the name. So Jägermeister was the sponsor, so it just became the Jägermeister tour featuring SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX.”
“I remember that was always such a thing. Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] hated playing before SLAYER. We’ve always played before SLAYER, even when we went out and did L’Amour and City Gardens in Trenton back in 1985. And just because SLAYER was a band before we were, they kind of naturally would be given that closing slot. But I tell you what, even though [we] were always co-headliners with SLAYER, I felt like… that middle slot is always the best slot, because, to me, I feel like, look, ANTHRAX fans are gonna stay, especially if they’re SLAYER fans.
“All the MEGADETH fans, of course, are gonna stay. The SLAYER fans have to stay ’cause they’re waiting to see SLAYER. So it’s like, we got everybody. It was the creamy center, because after we played, sometimes the venue — it didn’t clear out ’cause it’s SLAYER playing, but if you’re a MEGADETH [or] ANTHRAX fan and you’re not a SLAYER fan, you might not stay. So, to me, being in that middle slot was always the best position.”
In his autobiography, Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir, Dave Mustaine discussed his band’s position within the “Big Four” hierarchy. The New York Times reported that Mustaine claimed he wasn’t bothered by being ranked below SLAYER. However, he included an inner thought: “O.K., we’ll play ahead of you guys on this trip, and God willing we’ll do it again sometime in the near future and we can flip things around.”
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