Megadeth, Slayer Launch American Carnage Tour
Tomorrow Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax will jump-start the second leg of the American Carnage tour, with 20 dates planned in major markets like Chicago, New York, Phoenix and Seattle. And while Metallica, who recently headlined a one-night-only event in Bulgaria with the three bands, won’t be joining them, Slayer’s Kerry King is confident the American Carnage will draw metalheads, including the new generation. “If you’ve got into this kind of music after ‘92,” King tells Rolling Stone, “you never saw us play together.”
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The bands each plan hour-plus sets heavy on classic material. Megadeth will revisit 1990’s well-loved Rust in Peace, and Slayer will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Seasons in the Abyss by playing that album in its entirety. But King says Slayer will sprinkle in cuts from their new album World Painted Blood, plus some surprise tunes. “That’s where it gets difficult,” he adds, “because with a history like ours, which five do you play?” Megadeth will follow suit, including songs from their latest LP Endgame. Says Dave Mustaine: “We’ll do a few of the classics that we’ve got to do, like ‘Symphony of Destruction,’ ‘Peace Sells,’ and [more with] whatever time we have leftover.”
Meanwhile, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax haven’t ruled out the possibility of a proper Big Four tour with Metallica. “If the opportunity came up again, we would all go for it,” says Mustaine. (The one-time Metallica guitarist finally reconciled his fractious relationships with his former bandmates last year.) “I think it would even be cool if it was just us and Metallica. It was fun for us, great for our career, and great for all the fans because at the end of that night, when I went up and hugged James, and I heard how loud that cheer was versus any other time we were playing — that was the [moment] you dream about when you’re a kid. The big show — the biggest show you’ll ever do.”