I went to see the Big Four (Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica) show at the theater last night, which was broadcast from the actual concert in Sofia, Bulgaria and thought it was pretty much ass-kickingly awesome! It was around 4 hours of pretty-much nonstop thrash and my neck is a bit stiff this morning!

Things I learned: Joey Belladonna can still sing like a mofo. Megadeth is, on the whole, a technical juggernaut of burning metal. Slayer is a speeding bullet train from hell, no brakes. Metallica is better than I thought they'd be, although coming after Slayer it was a bit like getting behind a slow-moving vehicle in the fast lane (at first).

There was a big all-band jam (except for Slayer - only Lombardo was on stage) on an Am I Evil cover that was pretty cool. Seeing Mustaine next to Hetfield was cool, and seeing him hug Lars was a nice surprise.

I thought it was a good show and will probably get the DVD when it comes out...now if they will only bring the show to the States!

Man I wish this was hitting thr States. Metallica may have lost 95% of my respect over the last 15 years but I'd wait through their set for the maega jam or whatever happened at the end. Otherwise I'd hoof outta there. Anthrax has Joey back on vox right? I don't think it'd be the greatest concert event ever or anything but at least a really fun and memory-road-I'm-old-now type show would be worth it.

Here's the jam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwvRXY9EKhg

I am not as big a Metallica fan as I once was---they are now kind of like the U2 of metal...that said, they did put on a pretty energetic performance, with most of the songs being a bit quicker tempo than recorded versions...

Some people left the show after the Slayer portion and did not come back for Metallica---of course, they may have gone to get beers or weed, as neither was available at the cinema!

i went last night as well. scotty summed it up nicely.
anthrax played a fun and energetic set. the heaven and hell bit during indians was amazing.
megadeth shreds. not my favorite but they werent as bad as i thought theyd be. mustaine's voice is fucking god awful when he isnt snarling.
slayer were fucking slayer. leather, heavy duty shin guards and spiked arm bands. no fucking bows at the end.
metallica came out on fire tearing through creeping death and more old shit before they went into sucksville. but they closed strong with seek and destroy.

the big four jam was kind of hokey especially with only lombardo out for slayer. i wonder if he had ever listened to diamondhead before then.

the highlights were kids moshing in front of the theater for pretty much the entire screening minus metallica, i am the law, the rain during megadeth, slayer just crushing and metallica opening with easily one of their best songs ever, creeping death.

I had a great night watching it and I hope they do a proper tour, and joey b was amazing

I am confused
>which was broadcast from the actual concert in Sofia, Bulgaria

So, this was, like, in a movie theater, with the show projected on the big screen? And the bands were playing live, in real time far away?

kinda yeah

Can you have a "Big four" without Exodus? Didn't they invent bay area thrash?

You sure can, as Exodus will never reach the heights those bands reached.

"Big Four" is probably a little generous on Metallica's part, since they've probably sold more records than the other three bands combined...not that they are better, just bigger...Exodus would have been a good addition to the tour...the other bands on the bill were Rammstein, Manowar, and Alice in Chains (none of which were shown at the theater)...would gladly have substituted Kreator for Rammstein if they just needed some Germans on the bill...they are showing the show again tomorrow: http://www.fathomevents.com/concertsandmusic/series/the_big_four.aspx

Unless they implode from close proximity to one another, I should be seeing Megadeth and Slayer with Testament this summer...probably get about the same set from the two as the Sonisphere show...but looking forward to it just the same!

Can't have too much metal!