East Coast 'Big Four' Concert In The Works, Says METALLICA Drummer

METALLICA headlined the first U.S. "Big Four" concert this past Saturday (April 23) at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California. The all-day festival featured the so-called "Big Four" bands of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH — sharing the stage in the U.S. for the first time ever, drawing an estimated 50,000 people.

A wildly successful series of European gigs together last summer paved the way for a U.S. edition.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told RollingStone.com that more U.S. "Big Four" dates are in the works. "We are looking to book something on the East Coast because of the success of this — it should hopefully come together in a week or two," Ulrich said. "Maybe we'll do somewhere in the Midwest and South, too. Still, I don't think it will turn into a 40-date arena tour; that would make it less special. I like the fact that there's an element of chaos to the whole thing. It shouldn't be sterile, streamlined and perfect: it needs an edgy underbelly to remain authentic."

METALLICA will bring the "Big Four" tour to Europe in July, and is also confirmed to perform at the 44th edition of Festival d'été de Québec in Quebec City, Canada on Saturday, July 16.

The group will also headline Brazil's Rock In Rio festival this September.

Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio that the idea for a "Big Four" tour first came up in 2009. "We were sitting around and we were feeling pretty nostalgic at the time because it was right around the old Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Cleveland induction thing there," he said. "So as you sit around and talk about your past and whatever, the idea of playing shows with the other, you know, members of the so-called 'Big Four' just came up, and it finally came together just over a year later."

METALLICA has hinted at entering the studio in May to begin work on a secret recording project, although details have been few.