On his 59th birthday, David Ellefson, the former bassist of MEGADETH, marked the occasion by joining the festivities at METALLICA’s “No Repeat Weekend” shows at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
Yesterday (Monday, November 13), David Ellefson shared some photos of him at the two METALLICA concerts, which were held on Friday and Sunday, which included the following message: “A heartfelt thanks to my dear friend Lars Ulrich & the METALLICA camp for giving me the wonderful birthday celebration of All Access passes in Detroit. What a great way to celebrate my birthday with great songs and longtime friends!”
He added: “And a huge thanks to everyone for their kind birthday wishes to me as well. Thanks for celebrating another trip around the sun!”
In a recent interview with the Mike Nelson Show, David Ellefson was asked about his recent social media post which revealed that he went to see METALLICA play at one of the shows on the “M72” tour. Asked how the concert was, David Ellefson said: “I almost wore my METALLICA shirt today. It’s cycled up to the bottom of my — you know the black t-shirt pile we all have? Just cycle down, and you go through the shirts. ‘Oh, there’s a METALLICA shirt. Maybe I should wear this one today.’ I’m not in MEGADETH. I can finally wear my METALLICA shirts again.
“Hey, man, I’m a METALLICA fan,” he continued. “I mean, talk about gold standards. They’re the one for metal. They have gone on to do the impossible. I mean, really, when you think about it in the touring business, there’s Taylor Swift, there’s METALLICA, maybe Beyonce, GUNS N’ ROSES. And thank God, man, they’re at the top. We need them to be at the top, because if they’re at the top, that means all boats rise to that level. So we want METALLICA to be fucking Apple computer; we need ’em to be for our genre.
“Look, I thought their show… I think the tour now, the show now, this is the best they’ve been since the Black Album. I think they sound great, they play great, the song selection is great. So, I’m proud of our boys. I’m happy for ’em, and I think it’s great that they’re out doing it on the level that they’re doing. It’s one thing to get to that level, it’s a whole other thing to maintain that level, which they’ve been able to do, which is just fucking awesome.”
When interviewer Mike Nelson noted that “it must be crazy” because Ellefson probably didn’t think 30 years ago that he would ever go see METALLICA show because of MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine‘s acrimonious departure from the heavy metal giants, David countered with: “No, I’ve always gone to see METALLICA. I remember going with Dave [Mustaine] to see them when they played with — the ‘Kill ‘Em All For One’ [tour] with RAVEN. And they came through and they played the Country Club in L.A. where we lived at the time and seeing them play. I’m going, ‘Fuck. Okay. So this is it.’ ‘Cause my first introduction was [the] ‘No Life ‘Til Leather’ [demo].
“And then I remember when the ‘Kill ‘Em All’ album showed up, and me and [early MEGADETH member] Greg Handevidt and Dave sat in the apartment in sheer silence while the record played and Dave listened to it — studied it and just listened to it. It’s, like, ‘Yeah, I’m just gonna shut up and sit here and listen.’ And I liked it.
“It was interesting how they slowed things down. In fact, I remember when Doc McGhee managed us for a short period at the in 1988. In one of our early meetings with Doc, he said he had an observation, he said, ‘You know, METALLICA aren’t really that fast. They just give the illusion that they’re fast.’ I thought, ‘That’s a good way to put it.’
“They slowed the tempos down so that it would work in the big arenas, which we eventually did in the ’90s as we got up in the big arenas and played that — our tempos slowed down our songwriting style adjusted a bit as well. And the other thing he said, he goes, ‘The name METALLICA is actually bigger than the band.’ It’s kind of like the name transcends. And we see it now — we see actresses wearing RAMONES t shirts and even MEGADETH t-shirts. They probably don’t even have a fucking clue who we are, but they wear a t-shirt anyway, because the t-shirt and the logo is iconic.
“So, look, [METALLICA] broke down the barriers, they led the way,” Ellefson explained. “I remember when we were recording ‘Countdown To Extinction’, I went down to go see METALLICA, I think it was, like, five nights at the Forum in L.A. And I went down to go see ’em. And I remember coming back [to the studio] the next day and [producer] Max Norman was, like, [adopts British accent] ‘So how was it, mate?’ And I said, ‘You know what? I’m not gonna lie. It was fucking awesome.’
“What I couldn’t figure out is I looked around this arena… MEGADETH could fill this arena, and then we would then, on ‘Countdown’, we’d put that many people in a venue. And I’m going, ‘How is it that METALLICA have five times as many of these people as we do? What’s the connection?’ ‘Cause it’s the same [audience] — it’s you and me, right? With our black t-shirts; we’re rockers and we’re metalheads, right? ‘So where are all these fucking fans that go see METALLICA? How come they don’t come and see us?’
“And I remember I was kind of shy about letting Dave know that I went down to go see METALLICA. And I remember Max was, like, ‘You should tell him the truth, mate. You should tell them they’re fucking amazing. Like, let’s fucking go. Let’s be as great as METALLICA,’ you know? And I was, like, ‘Well, you don’t have to be in a band every day. You’re just making a record with us.'”
Dave Mustaine was the original lead guitarist of METALLICA and was fired from the group in 1983 after a physical altercation with frontman James Hetfield. He was replaced by EXODUS shredder Kirk Hammett and went on to form MEGADETH.
Back in 2019, Ellefson revealed that he had received Dave Mustaine‘s “blessing” to try out for the bassist position in METALLICA, following Jason Newsted‘s departure from the band over two decades ago. Ellefson shared that he diligently learned to play some of METALLICA‘s songs in anticipation of an audition with the group. However, despite his preparations, the opportunity never came to fruition.