The members of Metallica are the heroes of the day at San Quentin State Prison, one of the most infamous prisons in the United States.
The hard rock quartet, preparing to release its new album “St. Anger” on June 10, is shooting a video for the title track at the prison on Wednesday, and will perform an hourlong concert the following day, the group said on its Web site (http://www.metclub.com).
The video will be directed by the Malloy Brothers, who previously worked with 311 and Foo Fighters. The 150-year-old prison, just north of Metallica’s San Francisco home town, was the location of one of Johnny Cash’s most famous recordings, 1969’s “Live at San Quentin.”
Metallica is then scheduled to play on Saturday at MTV’s annual mtvICON tribute event in Los Angeles, where such acts as Avril Lavigne, Sum 41, Limp Bizkit and Korn will cover the group’s songs. The 90-minute special will screen on May 6. Four days later, Metallica will appear on MTV2’s “Headbanger’s Ball” as hosts of the revived series’ debut episode.
Metallica last week announced it would play four “secret” club shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore theater on May 18, 19, 21 and 22 to prepare for its summer tour of Europe and North America.