FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEGADETH'S PROBLEMS IN ASIA CONTINUE;
SOUTH KOREA-TO-TAIWAN FLIGHT DELAYED;
TAIWAN CONCERT COMPLETED JUST BEFORE TYPHOON HITS
Less than a week after pioneering heavy metal band Megadeth was banned from performing in Malaysia by the government there -- due to imagery "unfit" for the country's youth -- the quartet's troubles in Asia continued this past weekend.
Vocalist/lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, lead guitarist Al Pitrelli, bass guitarist David Ellefson and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso were scheduled to take a flight from Seoul, South Korea, to Taipei, Taiwan, after their concert in South Korea on Saturday, July 28, 2001. However, mechanical problems with the airplane delayed Megadeth's flight by 12 hours.
Megadeth was on the verge of having to cancel a sold-out concert Sunday, July 29 in Taipei, Taiwan. However, after conversations with the promoter, the concert promoter said he would hold the crowd if Mustaine still wanted the band to play.
The famous show-biz motto "The show must go on" is relevant here. Megadeth did not want to disappoint its fans and they arrived and hit the stage at 3:30 a.m. local time and played a complete concert. What makes this miraculous is that a typhoon was forecast to hit the island nation at the time. Fortunately, the band finished its concert before the weather turned bad.
No weather-related injuries were reported in relation to the concert. However, Typhoon Toraji ended up killing 35 Taiwanese. By early Monday, the typhoon caused deadly flooding and mudslides, and many international flights were canceled. Taipei's usually crowded streets were empty Monday morning because government offices, banks, and other businesses were closed. Shopping malls and hotels had even boarded up their windows as protection against the winds.