Former MEGADETH guitarist KIKO LOUREIRO surprises fans with “Killing Time” at the “Best Of Blues And Rock” festival

Former MEGADETH guitarist Kiko Loureiro surprised the fans with the band’s song “Killing time” – with Kiko himself took over the lead vocals — during his set on Friday, June 21 at The best of blues and rock Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Below is a fan-filmed video of the performance.

In November, Kiko announced his decision to “extend” his absence MEGADETHHe explained that he “didn’t want to interfere with any of the band’s plans or the hard work of all the incredible people involved in the tour.”

Kiko announced in September that he would be entering the next round of MEGADETH‘S “Destroy the world” Tour to be able to stay at home with his children in Finland.

One day later KikoAnnouncement that he will extend his absence from MEGADETHTouring activities, bandleader Dave Mustaine released a statement saying he loved Loureiro and fully respects and supports Kiko‘s decision. He described Kiko as “a first-class professional, a maestro” and thanked the guitarist “for his dedication and hard work over the last nine years, which have helped us to create a grammy At “Dystopia” and the additional awards we received for this latest album “The sick… the dying… and the dead”.” Mustaine added: “I couldn’t have done this without Kiko Loureiro.”

MEGADETH played his first concert with Kiko‘s replacement, Teemu Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 37-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and started playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004 he joined the band WINTER SUNHe is also a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris BroderickLeaving the group.

In a video he posted on his Youtube Channel, Kiko was asked if he had learned anything by playing with Mustaine for more than eight years, Kiko said, “Oh yeah, man. Oh yeah. I don’t know if you’re asking about guitar stuff, but I think my answer would be more like… I learned from watching him strive to be unstoppable, to be strong, to strive for excellence, to demand excellence from everybody, and everybody delivers excellence, does their best. Leadership… What else? I don’t know… Fight for your cause. Fight for your music. Fight for your band. Fight for your fans. Being an artist, being creative (and) combining all those things — being professional and being creative at the same time and having fun at the same time. Yeah, also a lot of experience in the music business — the music business in general, showbiz.

“And also guitar-wise, the essence of thrash metal,” he continued. “All the rhythms – mainly the rhythms and then the attitude and the power, the mood, the drive, the intensity. So all those things while you’re playing. Mixing the technical things with a lot of energy – like metal with punk with attitude. I think I’m a much better rhythm player because I just hang out and play with Dave all these years – since 2015. Also composing – he composes in a completely different way than I do. And I think it’s also good to watch him and learn from his style.”