Megadeth have shared an official live video of “Puppet Parade”, captured during the band’s first-ever live performance of the track. The thrash legends played the song for the first time at their June 24 concert at Küçükçiftlik Park in Istanbul, Turkey. The clip, put together by Cameron Nunez, pairs footage from the show with the studio recording of the track from the band’s latest self-titled album.
“Puppet Parade” was the fourth single from Megadeth, released in January as the follow-up to 2022’s The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!. The album came out through frontman Dave Mustaine‘s Tradecraft imprint via Frontiers Label Group‘s new BLKIIBLK label.
The track has been described as a cynical take on the loss of personal freedom inside the machinery of fame and society — a portrait of life as a scripted performance, with strings pulled by unseen hands while the performer hides their pain behind a hollow smile.
Mustaine explained that the song was a tough one to finish, mostly for musical reasons.
“‘Puppet Parade‘ was written in a couple different stages. The chorus was very difficult to write — not lyrically; musically. Because we’d been working on these songs for so long, and they all had a number before they had a name… The song we’re talking about right now was number eight. And at one point, it was even farther in the back of the songwriting process because we were unable to get that chorus section written. And not for lack of trying, because everybody in the band tried to write a chorus for it. And I had written something for it that I thought was perfect, and my partner Chris [Rakestraw] had said that we should keep searching, see if we could find something else. And nobody could come up with anything, and I ended up coming up with a good chorus for the song. And after that, it was pretty easy getting the lyrics to come into play. The character in the song, it’s kind of like another… You referenced earlier ‘Falling Down‘. That song, ‘Another Bad Day‘, these are all songs that kind of reflect on somebody who is constantly pushing a pencil uphill with his nose. That’s how life has become for so many people right now. And I felt that it was better to talk about that so that people that may think, ‘Oh, it’s, it’s gotta be great to be a musician, and have money, and have cars, and all that stuff.’ And it doesn’t always work like that. I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t always work like that.”
Istanbul Setlist:
- “Tipping Point”
- “Take No Prisoners”
- “Dread And The Fugitive Mind”
- “Hangar 18”
- “Skin O’ My Teeth”
- “She-Wolf”
- “Sweating Bullets”
- “Puppet Parade” (live debut)
- “Angry Again”
- “Let There Be Shred”
- “This Was My Life”
- “Tornado Of Souls”
- “Mechanix”
- “Ride The Lightning” (Metallica song)
- “Symphony Of Destruction”
- “Peace Sells”
- “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”
A Chart-Topping Farewell
Megadeth gave the band their first-ever U.S. No. 1, debuting atop the chart with 73,000 equivalent album units in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate. Of that total, 69,000 came from pure album sales. The record also hit No. 1 in Australia and Austria, with top-five placings in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and New Zealand.
For the album, the band’s last, Megadeth again teamed with producer, mixer and engineer Chris Rakestraw, who also worked on The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! and 2016’s Dystopia.
The band announced its retirement last August, confirming a farewell album and tour. Mustaine framed the decision as a chance to bow out on his own terms.
“There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional. Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now,” he said in a social media post.
He has since suggested the farewell run won’t be a quick goodbye, telling fans the shows could continue “for another three to five years.”
Megadeth was formed in 1983 after Mustaine was fired from Metallica, where he had spent less than a year. The band’s 1985 debut, Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!, launched a career that has made them one of thrash metal’s defining acts.
