Megadeth’s bassist David Ellefson had a conversation with Rock N Roll Underground, where he talked about the future of live music, as the current pandemic put it on hold.
Here’s what the bassist said:
“I remember in the late ’90s, Megadeth, we were touring a lot. We’d put a record out, and we’d do these big 18-month tours. And I remember flying into a city one day and just going, ‘There’s gotta be an easier way to do this. Can’t we just Skype this and have everybody come to us rather than traveling around the world, moving black speaker boxes and lights and trucks and buses.’ So, guess what? Here we are. This is it. It’s 2020. And the truth of it is… Is this better than live music? And I would argue it’s not.
“What we really want is the social interaction with each other,” he continued.
“No man is an island to himself. We’re meant to be together. We’re better when we’re together. The live music experience is something that will always be there, even as it transitions.
“When we did the ‘Big Four’ live concert [with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax] in Sofia, Bulgaria, Metallica had utilized this streaming service that does the boxing events, and that show went live all around the world — thousands of movie theaters — as the show was happening, and then in time delay.
”So we’ve kind of already done one of those. It was a big drive-in show in front of 80,000 fans in Sofia, Bulgaria. And, of course, Metallica, being the leaders they are, they started the drive-in thing this year again.
“So, it’s great. Look, it’s gonna survive no matter what, because humans are survivors. So live music will never go away, and live events will never go away.”