METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX: 'Big Four' Coming To Yankee Stadium

Following last Saturday's (April 23) first U.S. "Big Four" concert in Indio, California, the so-called "Big Four" bands of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH — have announced that they will perform in the new version of the famed Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York on September 14, 2011.

Commented METALLICA: "We can't wait for a night in the Bronx as our second American show and for those of you who love fun facts, this will also be the second live music event hosted at the new ballpark."

All seats are reserved for this show and tickets go on sale Friday, May 6 at 10:00 a.m. via Ticketmaster.com. MetClub members should log in for more information about a special pre-sale starting on Wednesday, May 4. Yankees season ticket holders will have their own pre-sale, also on May 4, starting at noon.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told RollingStone.com in an interview earlier this week that more U.S. dates are on the way. He revealed, "We are looking to book something on the East Coast because of the success of this . . . 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."

The all-day event last weekend featured the so-called "big four" bands of the Eighties thrash metal scene — SLAYER, ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and headliners METALLICA — performing together on a U.S. stage for the first time ever in their 30-year careers.

Members of all four bands got together at the end of METALLICA's set to play the song "Am I Evil?", originally by the cult British metal band DIAMOND HEAD. Lars Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio why that was a good choice for a show-closing jam. "The great thing about cover songs, you know, certainly in that context with the four bands, was that you're not playing anybody's song. So I think to invite everybody up onstage to play a METALLICA song would just be weird. DIAMOND HEAD, I think, seems like such a common denominator in everybody's inspiration pool that "Am I Evil?" just seemed like the perfect song."

A series of similar shows last summer in Europe was wildly popular, leading to demand for a U.S. version. The "Big Four" package will also head back to Europe this July.

All four bands were presented over the weekend with awards for sales of a hundred thousand copies of a "Big Four" live DVD which was released late last year.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)