Those holding out hope for a “Big 4” tour of North America will have to keep waiting. Thrash metal titans Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax announced today, January 25, that they will share a stage in the United States for the first time ever — but only for a single day.
The so-called Big 4 Festival goes down April 23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. Public ticket sales for the event begin January 28 at 10 a.m. (PST). Regular ticket prices are set at $99, but VIP passes will also be available for $199, according to Ticketmaster.com.
If the Empire Polo Club sounds familiar, that’s because its fields are the annual setting for the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Festivities for Coachella 2011 will run April 15-17, the weekend right before the Big 4’s big day out.
It is unclear how many tickets are allotted for the Big 4 Festival itself and whether it will have a similar capacity to Coachella, which last year had an estimated daily attendance of about 75,000 people.
An announcement video on YouTube describes the Big 4’s upcoming plans as their “one and only U.S. appearance.” But for those fans who can make the West Coast pilgrimage, the teaser also promises full sets by each band and more than seven hours of entertainment combined.
North American fans who are still let down by the one-off can take solace in the thought that the door has been left open for future Big 4 concerts in the United States. A statement on Metallica’s official Web site noted that the bands were only limiting themselves to a single concert for “this go around.” What that could mean for the possibility of a “next” go around the United States is uncertain.
Though the April date marks the first joint U.S. appearance for the bands, the Big 4 performed together before during the summer of 2010. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax completed a handful of sold-out shows across Europe at that time — their first together anywhere.
Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax also previously toured together (sans Metallica) for the summer 2010 American Carnage Tour, which was a follow-up to Slayer and Megadeth’s 2009 Canadian Carnage Tour.
More information can be found on the official Web site for the Big 4 Festival.
