Dave Mustaine reflected on some of the songs no longer included in Megadeth’s setlists in a recent chat with ‘Steve-O’s Wild Ride!’ podcast.
After revealing that he didn’t play ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’ anymore due to its anti-Christ lyrics, the singer recalled performing it for the last time at Download Festival 2016 with Nikki Sixx. He noted using the event as an opportunity to make peace with the Mötley Crüe bassist.
“So, Nikki Sixx was there,” Mustaine said, “and I looked at him and for some reason I just felt that I needed to just bury the hatchet with him for something. And I don’t know what it was, but just something made me feel like I needed to just make things cool. Not that I need his approval or anything like that, and not that he cares about me at all, but I just felt like maybe there was something out there that I did.”
He continued, “And I remembered that we had a guy in our band that had a shirt with Nikki’s face on it with a red line and a circle through it. And so I’m glad that I did make that amends with Nikki, although it wasn’t like a ninth step or anything like that, ’cause I’m not in the program. But I’d gone up to him and said, ‘Hey, man, would you be interested in playing ‘Anarchy’ with us tonight?’”
“So, the last time I played it was with Nikki at Download. And it was fun. I don’t think anybody expected to see that. I certainly wouldn’t have expected that. If young Dave would have talked to old Dave, I would have said, ‘You’re out of your f*cking tree, Mustaine.’”
Tension between Sixx and Mustaine went public in 2012 when the bassist called out the Megadeth frontman for suggesting the mass shootings in the U.S. were staged to support anti-gun legislation by then-President Barack Obama.
Historically, the two’s bands also had a rivalry due to their rise in the 1980s rock and metal scene. But Mustaine declared during the Download performance that ‘hell has frozen over’ with their collaboration.