Only a week removed from Coachella, Goldenvoice again ran an open-air festival at Indio’s Empire Polo Fields. This time, instead of a few dozen indie and dance bands, only four acts performed. No pun intended, this show was the only slated U.S. performance by The Big Four. The appropriately dubbed “The Big Four of thrash metal,” all were either friends, contemporaries or band mates in the early 80’s when they began. Each had an ebb-and-tide to their career, all recently attaining new-found cohesion. For some of these bands, the road to this cohesion was a rocky one. Breakups, firings, misgivings all abound, and for years there was much bad blood. With years behind them and innumerable lessons learned, the members of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax have all put their differences long in the past in the interest of the exalting the legacy they helped forge so many years ago.

All photos by Marv Watson


Recently reunited with original lead singer Joey Belladonna, Anthrax was the first of the four. The band stormed through just less than an hour of vintage thrash metal. The unmistakable Scott Ian and lead guitarist Rob Caggiano led the charge, blasting out the chords for Anthrax’s own anthem, “Caught in a Mosh.” Early classics “Got the Time” and “Madhouse” followed, the latter of which featured Belladonna proclaiming, “Let’s turn this shit up. Let’s fucking go. It’s a Madhouse!” Belladonna fits back in the Anthrax lineup seamlessly, as if he had never left back in the early 90’s. He dashes to each side of the stage engaging the audience with a joyful look on his face. He also pays serious respect to fallen heavy metal heroes Ronnie James Dio and Dimebag Darrell. By the time they’re playing “Antisocial,” the crowd is chanting along feverishly. The band drops in a solid, new tune “Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t,” before closing on “Metal Thrashing Mad” and “I Am the Law.”

Anthrax Set List:
Caught in a Mosh
Got the Time
Madhouse
Among the Living
Antisocial
Indians
Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t
A.I.R.
Metal Thrashing Mad
I Am the Law

The crowd officially enthused; Megadeth continued the day’s music. Dave Mustaine’s remarkably technical group shredded with stellar precision. Mustaine along co-lead guitarist Chris Broderick slowly entered on the opening notes of hit single “Trust.” From there, Mustaine and his trademark raspy growl take the massive crowd through a lean look at a small portion of Megadeth’s exceptional catalog. So far, So Good, So What? Number “In My Darkest Hour” sets a foreboding tone, while “Hangar 18” is an immaculate exercise in musical complexity. Each progressive melody sets the stage for an even more intricate expansion of that idea. “Sweating Bullets” is a taste of their 90’s accessibility filled with a detailed, fictional account of a schizophrenic’s total collapse. The line, “Hello Me. Meet the real me,” is still impressively catchy and evocative. “A Tout Le Monde” provides the emotional weight for their set, it a trip down one of the darkest parts of Mustaine’s career arc. Breakaway hit “Symphony of Destruction” follows and triumphs. The one-two punch of the singalong fury of “Peace Sells” and the progressive in scope “Holy Wars… The Punishment” ends their set with authority and cathartic release.

Megadeth Set List:
Trust
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
Poison Was the Cure
She Wolf
Sweating Bullets
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

Slayer–down a man following Jeff Hanneman’s temporary leave of absence due to contracting a rare flesh-eating disease believed to have been caused by a spider bite—played with brutal confidence as the sun began to set. Like Anthrax earlier, Slayer dove straight into their hard-hitting songs. Newer material (“World Painted Blood” and “Hate Worldwide”) came first, and from there band largely stuck to established hits. Bassist/singer Tom Araya introduced the next song “War Ensemble” with a blood-curdling yell of its name. Fitting, as “War Ensemble” is one of their most imposing numbers. The classic “Raining Blood” came soon after. The song shifted and snaked into its many interlocking parts in magnificent splendor. It’s curious this wasn’t the end of their set though? Kind of hard to follow “Raining Blood.” Nevertheless, the band took the set deeper into their more menacing material. “Dead Skin Mask” provided a haunting visage of a serial killer gone mad, and “Seasons in the Abyss” powerfully finishes what its nuanced intro begins. The band played one new song entitled “America,” and ended with seminal cuts “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” The latter two are over-flowing with evidence of the immense skill of drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Kerry King. King plays each riff and solo at blinding speed while Lombardo hits with such force and skill it’s almost daunting.

UPDATE: Slayer’s rep has confirmed to us that Jeff Hanneman did perform with the band at the end of their set.

Slayer Set List:
Word Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Postmortem
Raining Blood
Dead Skin Mask
Silent Scream
America
Circle of Beliefs
Seasons in the Abyss
Snuff
South of Heaven
Angel of Death

Finally, Metallica finishes the festival with the longest set of the day. Curiously, Metallica gets two-and-a-half hours to headline, but nobody else on the bill was allowed more than sixty-five minutes. Still, the set is phenomenal, showcasing all of the technical feats, fan engagement and intricately composed songs that made them a household name. True to form, Metallica begins with their epic take on the small snippet of the Ten Commandments, “Creeping Death,” it’s full-throttle conclusion blends into bassist Robert Trujillo’s opening bass distortion for “Whom the Bell Tolls.” Thus far the band sounds a little shaky, however, this quickly changes. Late 90’s hit “Fuel” starts to bring the energy around with its uplifting finale. The title track from Ride the Lightning and fan favorite “Fade of Black” start to build up the energy. “Sad But True” invokes a singalong while “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” is a mountain of musical might. The real surprise of the night was a complete performance of Master of Puppets track “Orion.” An instrumental that rocks as well as comforts, it’s a delight to behold. Lead singer James Hetfield remarks after the song’s close, “Orion. For the one that’s always with us in spirit, Mr. Cliff Burton.” Not surprisingly, this shout-out to the deceased bassist prompts a huge roar from the crowd.

The excitement building, the title track from Master of Puppets is an incredible journey through the classical inspiration that make up Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich’s song writing style. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett takes charge and patiently, beautifully opens a heartfelt rendition of their Black Album hit “Nothing Else Matters.” Following that, “Enter Sandman” takes the show to its encore break. And then, like in Bulgaria during the Sonisphere series of festivals, nearly every single member of the rest of The Big Four joined Metallica on stage for an excellent rendition of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” Hetfield, Belladonna and Mustaine all share vocal duties. It’s a shame only that the rest of The Big Four didn’t stay longer to continue jamming on more great songs. The band finishes with Kill ‘Em All-era tracks “Hit the Lights” and “Seek and Destroy.”

Metallica Set List:
Creeping Death
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fuel
Ride the Lightning
Fade to Black
Cyanide
All Nightmare Long
Sad But True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Orion
One
Master of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Encore:
Am I Evil? w/members of Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth
Hit the Lights
Seek and Destroy

Metal long has not enjoyed its day in the sun here in the United States. Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica each have enjoyed arena-touring success, but somehow the crunch is just a bit too much for many casual fans. These four groups are giants of their time. Being able to put aside their differences to make something like this happen is a glorious way to cement heavy metal’s place in history. It was thirty years in the making this moment. Each group played with all the skill and heart they’re famous for. Each of the four had a few off-key moments vocally (most likely due to the dust swirling in the air in the windy Indio weather), but that’s a small gripe given the caliber of the performances and the songs rendered. Here’s to hoping that now, each of these four bands use their strength and success to help build the next generation of heavy metal champions. Metal’s legacy is a great one, and should endure for another thirty years.

All photos by Marv Watson