METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX: 'Big Four' U.S. Dates To Be Announced Tomorrow

January 24, 2011

The dates for the U.S. leg of the touring rock festival featuring the "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — will be announced on Tuesday, January 25 at 8 a.m. PST.

The two-disc DVD release of "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria", containing footage of the June 22, 2010 Sonisphere cinecast from the Sofia, Bulgaria leg of the "Big Four" tour has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies. (Note: Due to the fact that the set consists of two discs, it was eligible for platinum certification after shipping 50,000 copies; platinum certification for a single-disc release is 100,000 copies.)

"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard "Top Music Videos" sales chart in November with first-week sales of 22,000 copies. The set also debuted at No. 1 in Canada, the U.K. and Austria, while entering at No. 4 in Germany.

The show was part of a two-week European tour featuring the four biggest names from the Eighties thrash metal era. The idea first came up last year and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse of Radio he was glad to finally see it happen. "It's pretty amazing if you think about it, that it's the first time basically in 25 years or 30 or whatever that the four of us have actually played shows together," he said. "So it was a lot of fun, a lot of memories, a lot of fun times — new fun times, and fun times talking about the old fun times. So it sort of was a, it was a winner on every front."

A short audio clip of Ulrich talking about the "Big Four" tour is available at this location (Real Media).

"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" set features full shows from all four bands along with behind-the-scenes and interview footage.

A "Big Four" tour of other parts of Europe is being planned for this summer.

METALLICA finished out its "Death Magnetic" touring cycle in November in New Zealand and Australia, but is already confirmed to headline the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil on September 24, 2011.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)

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