They may have just announced their pending demise, but Megadeth were still alive and well in Dublin on Wednesday night (22nd October 2025). Opening up for Disturbed, Dave Mustaine and co pummelled their way through an hour-long set, cramming in as many of their best known songs and dispensing with the pleasantries.
Dave Mustaine onstage at Dublin's 3Arena, October 2025.
Dave Mustaine is in ferocious form. It's been a decade since he last set foot onstage in Dublin - right here in this very same venue, the 3Arena - a city he's been visiting with his band since 1988, and though the years have passed, on tonight's evidence, the thrash metal mastermind has rarely been sharper.
The band members may have come and gone over the years, with not a single person from that 2015 show joining Mustaine on stage tonight, but it scarcely matters, as like David Coverdale and Whitesnake, Dave Mustaine these days is Megadeth.
That's not to say that that those around him don't matter, as anyone familiar with the famed 'Rust in Peace' line-up will attest, and Megadeth 2025 sees the bandleader joined by long time bassist James Lomenzo [2006-2019, 2021 - present], drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and latest addition Teemu Mäntysaari on guitar. The trio are slick musicians, and look great, clearly having all attended Mustaine's fabled 'Rockstar 101' programme.
However it's the catalogue that is the real star, and tonight we are treated to ten of the band's fiercest tracks. The set is bookended by 'Rust in Peace's two singles; opening with a storming 'Hanger 18', and closing with ferocious 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due', and along the way we get a succinct best of Megadeth.
The band members may have come and gone over the years, with not a single person from that 2015 show joining Mustaine on stage tonight, but it scarcely matters, as like David Coverdale and Whitesnake, Dave Mustaine these days is Megadeth.
That's not to say that that those around him don't matter, as anyone familiar with the famed 'Rust in Peace' line-up will attest, and Megadeth 2025 sees the bandleader joined by long time bassist James Lomenzo [2006-2019, 2021 - present], drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and latest addition Teemu Mäntysaari on guitar. The trio are slick musicians, and look great, clearly having all attended Mustaine's fabled 'Rockstar 101' programme.
However it's the catalogue that is the real star, and tonight we are treated to ten of the band's fiercest tracks. The set is bookended by 'Rust in Peace's two singles; opening with a storming 'Hanger 18', and closing with ferocious 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due', and along the way we get a succinct best of Megadeth.
James Lomenzo onstage at Dublin's 3Arena, October 2025.
The ticking clock actually does the band, and packed crowd a huge favour, with onstage banter kept to a minimum, and no needless lengthening of the songs or off-roading.
'Skin O' My Teeth' sees the arena erupt, with mosh pits going crazy to the 'Countdown to Extinction' opener, while later-period standout 'Dystopia' proves its worth in a set filled with the band's best material.
'Sweating Bullets' predictably raises the energy levels and the roof once again, while 'Trust' sees Lomenzo come down the ego ramp in the middle of the arena to belt out its intro.
Dispelling concerns that he might slow down in his advancing years, 'Tipping Point' races along at the highest bpm so far. "How many of you have heard our new single?", Mustaine teases ahead of only its fifth ever outing; "That's good, because we're going to play it right fucking now!"
All the while the frontman and his foil Mäntysaari trade licks and riffs, with the latter proving a worthy choice to follow in the band's long line of shredder guitar players.
From there it's nothing but classics, with a storming 'Tornado of Souls', 'Peace Sells' - complete with an appearance from mascot Vic Rattlehead - and a lyrically ever-relevant 'Symphony of Destruction'.
'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due' closes out the all too brief night, and with the band very much firing on all four cylinders, it seems like they're only just getting started.
"It's very, very much good to me in Ireland", says Mustaine as the night nears its finale. With a new album and a farewell tour slated to beginning in 2026, let's hope it's not another decade before we see him again.
'Skin O' My Teeth' sees the arena erupt, with mosh pits going crazy to the 'Countdown to Extinction' opener, while later-period standout 'Dystopia' proves its worth in a set filled with the band's best material.
'Sweating Bullets' predictably raises the energy levels and the roof once again, while 'Trust' sees Lomenzo come down the ego ramp in the middle of the arena to belt out its intro.
Dispelling concerns that he might slow down in his advancing years, 'Tipping Point' races along at the highest bpm so far. "How many of you have heard our new single?", Mustaine teases ahead of only its fifth ever outing; "That's good, because we're going to play it right fucking now!"
All the while the frontman and his foil Mäntysaari trade licks and riffs, with the latter proving a worthy choice to follow in the band's long line of shredder guitar players.
From there it's nothing but classics, with a storming 'Tornado of Souls', 'Peace Sells' - complete with an appearance from mascot Vic Rattlehead - and a lyrically ever-relevant 'Symphony of Destruction'.
'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due' closes out the all too brief night, and with the band very much firing on all four cylinders, it seems like they're only just getting started.
"It's very, very much good to me in Ireland", says Mustaine as the night nears its finale. With a new album and a farewell tour slated to beginning in 2026, let's hope it's not another decade before we see him again.