This past May, thrash metal's "Big Four" -- Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica -- appeared together onstage for the first time in years. For whatever scheduling reasons, the show took place in the semi-unlikely locale of Sofia, Bulgaria. But no matter, the band simulcast the show worldwide, including several theaters around South Florida.
If you missed it, though, you can still, of course, catch three quarters of the Big Four -- everyone except Metallica -- at the Jagermeister Music Tour on Sunday, October 3 at Bayfront Park Amphitheater. It's pretty much the best ever edition of the Jager tour, and a very, very rare evening of serious metal in downtown Miami.
And now, maybe all of the recent mutual love between the bands may prove to be a warm-up for some more ensemble shows. Yesterday, shortly before a scheduled interview with Scott Ian of Anthrax, we noticed he Tweeted this link to a story posted on metal-gossip site Blabbermouth.
Turns out, Metallica's Lars Ulrich told an Australian radio station there were more Big Four shows planned for 2011 and 2012. Funnily enough, this was the first Ian had ever heard of it.
After I asked him about it, he said, "See, this is how I get my information, because actually I did an interview earlier and that guy asked me about it."
So nothing was already in the works?
"I don't know, I just know what I read!" Ian answered. "Of course we're down, so I hope to keep repeating that publicly so that a bunch of people put out positive thought bullets and it finally happens."
Then again, Ian is not a guy to try to predict the future, to put it mildly. For instance, on-and-off Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna is once again fronting the band for this tour. But has he rejoined the band for the longer term?
"I don't know," Ian says. "I think if I've learned anything is that I'm just gonna go with it. Joey's kicking ass, the shows in Europe were great, and that's about as far as I can go with ansewring that question. I don't know what's gonna happen next week."
Well, uh, Belladonna will show up for the tour, right?
"What if the world explodes? I don't know. I'm only half-joking," Ian responds. "I've been thorugh so much crap in my years in this band, you just never know what's going to happen ever, ever! So why make a public statement about something where you really don't know if you're telling the truth or not when you answer the question?"
"I know I will be in Dallas for the first show," he continues, "but I can't really thruthfully say if anyone else will be. I mean, of course they will be, but then again, you never know, right? I can only answer for myself."
There you go, metal fans. Send out those positive thought bullets and hope everything goes as planned -- and show that there's demand by buying a ticket to the Bayfront Park show. They're on sale through livenation.com, of course, and cost $16.25 to $62.50.
We'll post more of the Q&A with Scott Ian, as well as another one with Megadeth's Dave Ellefson, as the show draws closer!
Anthrax, with Slayer and Megadeth. 7 p.m. Sunday, October 3. Bayfront Park Amphitheater, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets cost $16.25 to $62.50; livenation.com
