ANTHRAX Guitarist Talks About Significance Of 'Big Four' Tour (Video)

January 26, 2011

Artisan News Service spoke with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian last October 21 prior to the band's performance at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California as part of the Jägermeister Music Tour with SLAYER and MEGADETH. In the three-minute video report below, Ian talks about the significance of the "Big Four" tour, which unites Eighties thrash metal legends METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX on stage for the first time.

Said Ian: "Under the umbrella of hard rock and heavy metal, you've had so many different branches come off that tree. We're just another branch, we created something new in the early '80s. We were all influenced by the same thing, we all came from the same school, so to speak, and, you know, we created thrash metal. We started something new. And I think that's the best thing you could say about any band, or any musician or any artist... is if you create something that wasn't there before. It's just an amazing thing to be able to say that all these years later — we started this band in 1981, METALLICA formed in '81 — 29 years later, we're still doing this, because there's so many people on this planet that still love what we do and that are interested in what we do and that wanna be a part of this scene and a part of this music. It's just amazing to me that all these years later... We're on almost a second generation of fans now — 13-year-olds coming to the gigs still just love what we do so much. And that's just such a privilege that we get to go out and do this."

As first reported on Tuesday (January 25),METALLICA has announced the details of the U.S. leg of the "Big Four" tour. Disappointingly, however, there will only be a single North American gig for now, on Saturday, April 23 at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California — the same location where the Coachella festival takes place every year.

Tickets go on sale this Friday (January 28) at 10:00 a.m. PT. METALLICA fan club members are encouraged to check out MetClub.com for pre-sale and VIP package info.

The "Big Four" tour first played selected dates in Eastern Europe last summer to an fantastic response, which led to the scheduling of shows this year in the U.S. and the U.K. There's no word yet on whether more "Big Four" events are in the works.

For more information about the show, including ticket pricing and transportation information, check out TheBig4Festival.com.

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