Dave Mustaine Kicks Out Alleged 'Bullying' Security Guards At Megadeth Gig

30 September 2023 | 10:45 am | Mary Varvaris
Originally Appeared In

"What’s on the back of your shirt? ‘Safety?’ It should say, ‘No F*ckin Safety,’ because you guys are punks, and you shouldn’t have f*ckin’ hit that guy."

Megadeth @ Metro City

Megadeth @ Metro City (Credit: Ted Dana)

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Dave Mustaine paused Megadeth’s concert at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, Illinois on Wednesday night (27 September) to deal with some allegedly aggressive and “bullying” security guards.

In video footage captured by a fan and posted to YouTube, the thrash metal icons stopped playing Symphony Of Destruction so Mustaine could directly address security guards allegedly roughing up a fan.

“Dudes, don’t be fucking hitting people,” Mustaine said after pausing one of Megadeth’s most iconic songs. “That is totally uncool. Hey, fuckin’ stop hitting that guy.”

Mustaine then ran over to where the alleged incident was taking place, and it looked like he was telling off the security guards, but we couldn’t decipher what was said without the microphone. Returning to his microphone stand, Mustaine proclaimed that he wasn’t “gonna play anymore until those guys are escorted out of the building”.

He continued, “That was so fuckin’ unnecessary, you guys… What’s on the back of your shirt? ‘Safety?’ It should say, ‘No Fuckin Safety,’ because you guys are punks, and you shouldn’t have fuckin’ hit that guy. Four of you on one guy. What a bunch of pussies… Get ’em out of here, or I’m leaving. I don’t wanna fucking hear that they’re in the back. I want them out of here.”

After Mustaine received assurance that the four security guards had been escorted from the venue, he turned his attention to the cheering audience and said, “These motherfuckers wrecked my song. Sorry, that stuff just makes me so mad. I hate bullies. I fucking hate bullies.”

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You can watch the footage of Mustaine kicking out the security guards and closing the show with Holy Wars… The Punishment Due below.

Earlier this year, Megadeth performed at the inaugural Knotfest Australia and brought the Symphony Of Destruction to Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena. You can read Kill Your Stereo’s review of the headline show here, and check out our Knotfest Sydney and Brisbane reviews.

In February, Megadeth performed with former guitarist Marty Friedman for the first time in over 20 years at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Friedman has since joined them on stage a few more times, including at this year’s Wacken Festival.