Marty Friedman on Kiko Loureiro playing with Megadeth: “It was like watching someone have sex with your ex-girlfriend – and doing a damn good job”
The ex-Megadeth guitarist made a surprise appearance onstage with the band last month.
Kiko Loureiro and Marty Friedman. Credit: Chiaki Nozu / Brigitte Engl / Getty
Marty Friedman has opined on watching Kiko Loureiro playing with Megadeth during his recent reunion with the band at their concert in the Budokan in Tokyo.
In a paid live stream event, the band shared behind-the-scenes footage of their reunion with Friedman prior to performing at the concert itself. The former Megadeth guitarist was seen bringing Japanese sweets as a gift for the band before taking time to discuss the significance of his reunion with the group.
He began the discussion with a “strange analogy” for the experience of watching Kiko Loureiro playing guitar in his place: “It was like watching someone have sex with your ex-girlfriend – and doing a damn good job,” to the amusement of the group.
Praising frontman Dave Mustaine for his leadership of the group, Friedman spoke about his time with Megadeth: “[Dave] has always allowed great people to shine in the band,” adding, “There’s a lot of guys who play better than me, definitely a lot of guys taller than me; but Dave gave me a chance to come in the band and we did some really cool stuff together.”
“That got me on the map and allowed me to go to places I would never have gone as an underground guitar player.”
The ex-Megadeth guitarist made the surprise appearance onstage with the band on 27 February in what was his first time performing with them since 2000. Friedman has since hinted that another reunion may be in the works, cheekily hinting, “We are both playing at Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany this summer, so you never know…” when questioned about the possibility.