Dave Mustaine Shares His Wildest Rockstar Story—”They Stole a Keg From Bikers”
via A Metalhead's Journey / YouTube
A Concert in the Woods Goes Sideways
Dave Mustaine shared one of the wildest memories from his early days playing in a band, before Metallica and Megadeth. He recalled a strange night when his group performed for bikers in the woods near Fallbrook, California.
“We did a concert out in the woods for these bikers one time,” Dave said. “We played our set and were done, but then these guys come up and go, ‘You’re not done. You’re going to play again.’ I told them, ‘No, we already played our set.’ But they weren’t having it. They said, ‘You ain’t leaving until you play another set.’” Dave said the group was drunk, angry, and not interested in excuses.
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The Keg Incident
As if the pressure to perform again wasn’t enough, two of the guys with them made a huge mistake. “They decided it was a novel idea to go try and steal a keg from the bikers,” Dave said. “They rolled it up a hill, but lost grip on it, and it rolled down and into the water—bung, bung, squish.”
The crash alerted the bikers, who weren’t pleased. “All of a sudden these guys are wanted men,” Dave remembered. One of them even climbed a tree, trying to hide and call out to the others.
Mushrooms and Beer Bags
Trying to calm things down, the bikers made a surprising offer. “They said, ‘You can play again, we’ll pay you, and we’ll give you this big giant bag of magic mushrooms,’” Dave said. The band took the deal. “Everybody ate them,” he added.
Then things got even weirder. “I remember the singer walking around with a trash bag full of beer, a hole punched in the bottom, drinking it like a giant boa bag.” By morning, everything was a mess.
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Breaking Down in the Middle of Nowhere
Just when they thought it couldn’t get worse, their car broke down. “The clutch burned out,” Dave said. “So now we have to hitchhike from the woods back up to the freeway and try to get home to Huntington Beach.” He said it was one of the worst days of his life playing music.
Band Tensions and Loss
When asked if the band was close, Dave said, “Pat, the singer, was older than us. He had a house, a wife, and a kid. We were just guys doing drugs and living in apartments. It felt like he looked down on us sometimes.”
Later, Dave reflected on losing former bandmates. “Mike’s death was hard. He was our drummer. Tom hadn’t passed away yet, and I barely knew Joe. But Mike… he was a good guy. A left-handed drummer too. Very rare.”
Watch the interview below:
