The Big Four tour, consisting of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, is playing just seven dates in Europe and nothing in North America, but headbangers on this side of the pond won’t have to miss out.
BY Experience will film and beam the package’s June 22 stop at the Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, to more than 450 theaters around the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Showtime will be 7:30 p.m. in each respective time zone, and the film will feature each group’s full sets; 75 minutes for Metallica, 45 minutes for the other groups. There will be also be delayed screenings in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Tickets are on sale in the U.S. and go on sale May 28 in other territories at www.thebigfourlive.com and the box offices of participating theaters. A trailer featuring all four bands is also available at the web site.
In a statement announcing the concert, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich said, “Who would have thought that more than 25 years after its inception, thrash metal’s Big Four would not only still be around, be more popular than ever, playing shows together at stadiums all over Europe, and on top of that, coming to a movie theater near you in High Definition Bring it on!”
Slayer’s Kerry King added, “I can’t believe someone didn’t make this happen 15 years ago! The fans finally get what they want. I think it’s awesome!”
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine noted that “I am thrilled to know that people around the planet will be able to walk into a movie theater and experience the greatest line up of Heavy Metal in the history of the world.”
Anthrax’s Scott Ian, meanwhile, gushed that “as if this Big Four tour wasn’t exciting enough now we get to be on the big screen worldwide. Metal at the movies — two big horns up! It is unbelievably gratifying that this means so much to the metal community around the globe. Get your tix, grab some popcorn and get ready to bang your head!”
The Big Four Sonisphere Festival tour gets under way on June 6 in Warsaw, Poland and wraps June 27 in Istanbul, Turkey. Slayer and Megadeth hit the road together in North America on July 23 in Quebec, while Anthrax has additional European dates and Metallica plays Australia and New Zealand in October