Metallica and Other Thrash Legends to Play Festival in California

Thrash metal fans, rejoice! (There’s gotta be a few still headbanging around.) After the Big Four of thrash–Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth–rocked Europe last year, concert promoters must have realized that there’s still an audience for that brand of music. Thus the show will be brought to Indio California and will be held the Saturday after Coachella, which also takes place there, according to the L.A. Times.

The people behind this show are the same ones who oraganized Coachella, which comes as something of a surprise. Coachella is all about hip, young stars and indie bands. While thrash bands aren’t exactly the same embarassing dinosaurs that hair bands have become, they still cater to a different audience than the Kanye crowd.

And fans of the genre are lucky to see that not only are these four bands still playing, but they’re willing to play together. After kicking Dave Mustaine out of the band during its early days, the found members of Metallica have never quite been friends of Megadeth. Luckily, the years seem to have given these artists some perspective.

The money probably helped, too, but we don’t want to be cynical.

Thrash bands have managed to keep their followers and gain new ones by not compromising. While other forms of metal from the 80s were really just corporate projects, these groups played aggressive music with a punk-rock intensity. While Metallica’s new music may pale in comparison to what they put out during their glory days, it’s still nice to know they are around.

Would you see this show if it came to your town?