During an appearance on the 100th episode of the Vinyl Bang podcast, hosted by Nick Martin and Jeff Grindstopher, Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren took a deep dive into his record collection – and into the unlikely path that led him from being a teenage fan to a member of one of thrash metal’s most iconic bands.
According to host Nick Martin, Verbeuren‘s collection includes plenty of original pressings and albums “people would not expect him to listen to.” The full podcast episode is now available to watch.
Reflecting on his first exposure to Megadeth via 1986’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, Verbeuren described stumbling across the album as a teenager living near Paris: “I remember going to a little flea market in the town outside of Paris where we lived. I just looked at the cover and these pictures of the four bandmembers… they looked so badass to me. I was like, ‘I don’t know this band, but I gotta get this. This looks killer.'”
He estimated the purchase took place around 1987 or 1988, noting how different music discovery was before the internet: “At the time, it was more like whatever you could stumble across, whatever you were lucky to find or get on a tape became a big deal.”
Verbeuren said Megadeth immediately stood apart from the other music he was listening to at the time: “So, anyway, Megadeth immediately stood out to me from other things I was listening to at the time. The vocals, the lyrics, just the approach was its very own kind of thrash metal, I guess, which I don’t even know if at the time I really knew what that style was called. I just knew I loved it. And so that became one of my important albums growing up, which, obviously, given what happened many years later in my life, it’s kind of crazy.”
Verbeuren also recalled seeing Megadeth live for the first time on the 1990 Clash Of The Titans tour, when he was just 15 years old: “It was one of the first shows I went to as a young teenager. So this was in Paris at Le Zénith. And I have since now three times played with the band at that very venue. So every time I go there, it blows my mind because I’m, like, ‘I can’t believe I was here as a teenager seeing the band I’m now a part of.’ And all these years later, to be on that stage is just, like [laughs], ‘What happened?'”
According to Verbeuren, joining Megadeth was something he never even allowed himself to imagine: “People will say, like, ‘Oh, was that your craziest dream?’ And I’m, like, ‘No,’ ’cause I would’ve never even dared to imagine that that would happen. I was just happy to be making music.
“I was in Soilwork for 12 years before I went to Megadeth, and I was stoked to be in a touring band and in an active, professional band that was making music I liked. So it’s beyond — you can’t even put words on to that, really. [Laughs] So when I look back at this record, and I remember I having a vision of going to this flea market and flipping through albums and being, like, ‘This looks cool.’ … There’s a few other things I bought that day — I think like a Helloween album, and I forget what else — but it blows my mind to think that, wow.
“If you had told me at that time, ‘Yeah, one day you’ll be in that band,’ I think my head would’ve exploded. So, yeah. Pretty cool. Pretty crazy where life can take you.”
Megadeth has a whole bunch of farewell dates lined up for 2026 so far, all of which you can find below. And if you miss these, I’m sure it’s not an issue considering Dave Mustaine said this tour is gonna be going on for “three to five years.” Get the full list of dates below and get your tickets here.
1/17 La Vergne, TN Let There Be Shred: Immersive Listening Event
2/15 Victoria, BC Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
2/17 Abbotsford, BC Rogers Forum
2/18 Kelowna, BC Prospera Place
2/20 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
2/21 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
2/24 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
2/25 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre
2/28 London, ON Canada Life Place
3/1 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
3/3 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre
3/4 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre
3/6 Québec City, QC Videotron Centre
4/23 Lima, Peru Costa 21
4/26 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/27 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/30 Buenos Aires, Argentina TBD
5/10 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/11 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/13 Guadalajara, Mexico Arena Guadalajara
5/2 São Paulo, Brazil Espaco Unimed
5/4 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/5 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/8 Monterrey, Mexico Arena Monterrey
6/10 Hradec Králové, Czechia Rock For People – Park 360
6/11 Luxembourg, LUX Rockhal
6/14 Ferrara, Italy Ferrara Summer Festival – Piazza Ariostea
6/15 Zurich, SWI Halle 622
6/16 Vienna, AUT Gasometer
6/2 Hanover, Germany Heinz von Heiden Arena
6/23 Istanbul, TUR KüçükÇiftlik Park
6/26 Helsinki, Finland Suvilahti – TUSKA
6/28 Almaty, KAZ Spartak Stadium
6/7 Gelsenkirchen, GER Amphitheater
8/29 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
8/30 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
9/11 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
9/12 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
9/15 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
9/19 Shakopee, MN Mystic Lake Amphitheater
9/22 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
9/25 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/26 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/29 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
9/3 Montréal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
9/5 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/6 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/9 Boston, MA TD Garden
