In un comunicato apparso sul sito ufficiale dei MEGADETH, Dave Mustaine ha espresso il suo punto di vista riguardo alle critiche sulla decisione della band di suonare in posti più “intimi” e contenuti:

“I have noticed a lot of excitement [on the band’s official message board] regarding the upcoming shows, and as usual some grumbling, too. Let me start with the fact that we are very happy to see how many people are responding to our new approach to our set-lists. I need to clear up something right now before we go on. After listening to the first four records, MEGADETH has been blessed with many unbelievably talented musicians.
From the sometimes imitated but never emulated dynamic duo of drum god Gar Samuelson (RIP) and guitar genius Chris Poland, through the ranks of sledge hammer drummer Chuck Behler and GIT technician Jeff Young, and most remarkably the technical precision of Nick Menza and the wizardry of Marty Friedman, we are now at what we feel is our most happiest of times with my favorite drummer of all Jimmy DeGrasso and our new wunderkind Al Pitrelli. So, having said that, please in no way interprets our enthusiasm as being a negative reflection on any of our previous honorable members.
We have decided, as I previously posted, to play in smaller venues so that we can not only rebuild our loyal fan base with intimate shows, but also to rebuild our standings with our promoters in the USA after last summers Maximum Rock disappointment. There are going to sadly be a few places that are not ‘all-ages’ shows, but we have tried our very best in every market to find venues that are. The criteria that our manager has set for the concerts is as follows:

1. All Ages (where possible)
2. 1,500 capacity approximately (excluding radio shows and festivals)
3. No seating (excluding radio shows and festivals)
4. Alcohol served with ID

We have been able to meet three to four of these stipulations in almost every market; the only one not being met is the all-ages condition. And while you may have heard that we have specified on-sale dates for tickets to shows you may be interested in, please be advised that tickets can sometimes be reserved in advance over the internet. So check in your area for changes in on-sale dates or early releases of tickets for sale. There have already been many incidents where either hard tickets, or reserved tickets have been released. And once they are gone, they are gone. We will not be upgrading venues on this first leg because we want to stay in small places like we did in Europe during our headlining tour. We are also excited to tell you about the interactivity and your involvement with our shows. That will be coming up soon so stay tuned. Lastly, the opening band ENDO is our choice for this leg and even though we have not heard them, we have heard that they are a good young band and should be able to entertain you. I will get back to you after getting the last few days exhaustion and plane food out of my system. I am tired and there is a really big bed right next to me sneaking up to swallow me. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
Dave Mustaine