MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has issued the following update:

"For just one second I wished you could feel what I felt whilst standing on the stage of the Hollywood Palladium this past Wednesday, March 31st, which was the end of our Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour in North America.

I was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions, ranging from complete euphoria to outrage to shyness to inebriating pride! You see, David Ellefson called this one correctly when he said, 'LA was going to be our homecoming.'

Man, I saw friends from the very beginning, our former managers, agents, lawyers, business managers, publicists, and the security pit was absolutely insane when we went out. I was told that there was 34 photographers in there and they were all top notch photogs so we couldn't scratch any of them.

Probably the most rewarding thing was seeing our old manager Ron Laffitte and our old agent Andy Somers. They seemed genuinely happy for us, and they couldn't believe what a hunk Justis, the little boy they knew as an infant, turned out to be. Remember Justis was just born when Ron and Andy handled us and now he is 18 years old, as tall as me, way better looking (but that ain't hard). I also got the pleasure of bragging about how my new manager Mark Adelman and my new agent Scott Sokol have done such a great job getting us back on top - this was not a dig - it was just a very happy kid telling his friends that he is finally happy again.

You have no idea what I have felt like all these years knowing that these friendships were damaged by me and my behaviour, and I was so blessed to see all of our old friends, and former staffers . . . and see them smiling!

In closing, there is no closing Megadeth! Shawn, Chris, and David are in a world all of their own when they get together, and I have never seen Shawn get so excited about playing with a bassist or Chris have someone else to talk all of that music theory to (Martian talk to me), and I have to tell you, David Ellefson is playing better, singing better, performing better, and I have never felt better about our relationship than I do this exact moment.

Again, God came to the scene of the crash, pulled me out, set me in the presence of the three best friends a guy could ever want, and said, 'Just do something good with these gifts I have given you.' You will be getting to see and hear the 'gifts' yourselves too, and very soon! We will be releasing a video for 'The Right To Go Insane' in the near future as well as commencing on our Central and South American tour this month and next month. There are still three more dates to be announced, if memory serves me correctly for our trip down South.

Well, creatures are stirring in my head and I better get to the gym and over to the studio to get the day started off right.

I just want to thank you today for everything that you mean to me. I will give you an update about the video and the RIP DVD asap!"

(All photos courtesy of Alexandra Kimbrough)