It actually happened! On February 27th, Megadeth performed in Japan with their former guitarist Marty Friedman for the first time in 23 years. Earlier this month, the two parties announced that they'd participate in a live reunion at Tokyo's Budokan arena, marking the first time that Friedman has played with the thrash pioneers since he left the band in 2000.
Known for this dazzling lead work on Megadeth classics like Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia, Friedman is widely regarded as one of the finest guitarists in Dave Mustaine's long history of rotating co-shredders, so it was a pretty big fucking deal that he decided to rejoin Megadeth for a few songs during tonight's set.
Friedman joined the band toward the end of their performance for "Countdown to Extinction," "Tornado of Souls" and "Symphony of Destruction," with Mustaine introducing him as his "good friend" while he trotted onstage to roaring applause.
The entire concert was professionally shot and livestreamed to viewers around the world, so you can see a rip of that footage above via YouTube. See additional, fan-shot videos below for a different vantage point.
