Ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman is currently on his first U.S. solo tour since 2019 while opening for Queensrÿche, and he’ll play a pair of headlining shows in Las Vegas and Los Angeles Friday, March 17, and Saturday, March 18, respectively.
The LA show will be extra special for Friedman, who’s long lived in Japan, as it’s being filmed by the Japanese broadcasting company NHK.
“It’s just gonna be very cool to show people in Japan the way an audience in Los Angeles reacts, which is very much more violent and rabid than what you might see in Japan,” Friedman laughs.
Friedman tells ABC Audio that the concert will air as part of a TV program for the international NHK World.
“It’s gonna be broadcast worldwide,” Friedman shares. “So LA’s gonna have to represent themselves in the way they like to over at that show.”
The solo shows come after Friedman’s much-hyped reunion with Megadeth during the band’s show at Japan’s famed Budokan venue in February, during which they played the songs “Symphony of Destruction,” “Countdown to Extinction” and “Tornado of Souls.” Friedman has also been including “Tornado of Souls” in his solo sets as a way to show his appreciation for his fans.
“It’s really kinda just a thank you to the fans for that,” Friedman shares. “I don’t play the whole song, I just play the guitar solo.”
“A lot of my fans have supported me for so long, and they wanna see it,” he continues. “For whatever reason, that guitar solo has [resonated] with a lot of people, really more than anything from my Megadeth era.”
Friedman’s tour with Queensrÿche continues through mid-April. His latest solo album, Tokyo Jukebox 3, is out now.
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