I left San Diego at 2:00 PM hoping to make it to Cheyenne Studios by 6:00PM for the start of the fan club event. Miraculously, I made through L.A. without much traffic by 4:45PM. Got a few bites to eat and headed over to the studio. At the studio, I was greeted by the friendly parking lot troll and was told to park 20 feet away in the shade. At 6:00PM sharp we were instructed and escorted by a great guy from Megadeth management. He was super friendly. He walked us over to the studio entrance and explained to us to be quiet and stay in the yellow zone.
Once inside the dark studio, we saw the band in front of a green screen with their instruments, in what looked like a desert destruction scene. The set had sand on the ground, several rusty oil barrels stacked and toppled, and a destroyed wall with rebar exposed from the bricks. In addition, to the fifteen to twenty of us fans, there were around twenty crew members in the studio. The director??s chair was right behind the video monitor and the camera was on tracks at an angle in front of the band. The guys had been shooting since 9:00AM that morning. The make up personnel were applying touch up to Dave and Glen to minimize the glare from the lighting. Dave and James flipped their hair back and were ready to kick ass. The video director instructed us that he was ready for another full song, full band take. On the director??s count, Never Walk Alone cranked in the studio and Megadeth was on fire. All of the fans, of course, including myself, were in awe. We were watching Megadeth shoot their next video. YEAH! Shawn beat the drums with ferocity and didn't miss a beat to the playing song. James was banging his head to the song and would stylishly flip his hair out of his face, as the next section of the song would commence. Glen was hitting each rhythm and solo note as if it were a live show. Dave was also without a mistake as he played. He sang to the playing song with perfection and gave several classic Dave snarls and pissed off glares. The performance was flawless. During the next short break, the director was giving tons of instructions to the crew, most of which I could not understand, as he spoke in codes and numbers. The cameras were reset and the director stepped to the back of the studio to check on Shawn and Glen. As the break was just about finished the band were all practicing on their instruments in anticipation. The director then instructed the cameraman and the band that the next take from the "slow solo" was going to be used for slow motion shots and he wanted the band to be full of action and intensity. The camera was to be moved back and forth on the tracks as it filmed. As the camera moved to the left we were able to get a full shot of Dave and his new custom Dean guitar with angel wings laminated into the finish. Killer. This part of the shoot was intense. There was no singing, just pure headbanging metal, all four of them just kept their head down, concentrated, and looked metal as ever. As the camera moved from side to side, James was able to glance over to our area and give us a smile or two. The performance was again perfect and the director declared, "that's a wrap".
We were then escorted outside where the band would come out as they were done packing. James Lomenzo met us outside to talk to us all and take some pictures. As the set was torn down, we proceed to the dressing area where Glenn Drover met us. He was gracious to talk to all the fans and take pictures with them as well. Dave Mustaine came out after changing, and talked and joked with us all as he made the rounds signing autographs and taking snapshots. He was very thankful for the fan club members to have made the trip and said he needed to get home to his family. He joked with the San Diego members about making a "Mustaine" convoy back to San Diego. Shawn Drover talked with the few of us that were left as he waited for his ride back to the hotel.
What a great, once in a lifetime opportunity to see the making of a Megadeth music video.
