We can’t believe this hasn’t happened before, but, like all thrash metal fans, Jackson is psyched to report that the “Big Four” of 1980s thrash metal—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax—played together for the first time ever on the night of Wednesday, June 16, before 81,000 horn-throwing fans at the Sonisphere Festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland.
There’s much shared history among the four bands, and they all occasionally cross paths with each other as they crisscross the worldwide concert circuit, but the June 16 event in Poland was in fact the first time that all four seminal bands have shared a stage.
“It’s kind of a big deal because the four bands have never actually played on the same stage together,” said Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo a few days before the event. “I’ll show up, bass in hand, ready to throw down. It should be cool. Hopefully it will be all peace and love and a lot of loud music.”
Several more Big Four shows are scheduled to take place in Europe; a June 22 concert in Bulgaria will be beamed to U.S. movie theaters (see clip below).
Members from all four bands met on June 15 in Warsaw for a pre-tour dinner and get-together that Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson called “very relaxed and comfortable” and “a class way” to ease into the tour.
More info on the Big Four shows in Europe can be found online at www.thebigfourlive.com.