Anthrax's Scott Ian recalls 'Big Four' superjam in cartoon video

Anthrax’s Scott Ian has recalled the iconic Big Four Superjam – in which he and members of Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer performed together for the first time – in an animated video.

The guitarist took the stage with others, including Metallica vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, to cover Diamond Head’s Am I Evil? at Warsaw’s Sonisphere Festival in Poland on their ‘Big Four’ tour in 2010.

Ian tells Rolling Stone: “It was really an amazing feeling to be on that stage. I can look back at pictures or watch it back on DVD and you just see that lineup – James, me and Mustaine. I’m kind of able to look at it as an outsider, from a fan’s point of view, like, ‘That’s so cool.’ The crowd went nuts when it happened.

“It was one of those moments, one of those things for me that never goes away. I could easily, at any time of the day, go back and feel that feeling, that energy. It was so powerful and so much fun to be a part of.

“We only played up to the middle section of Am I Evil?, but I wish we had done the whole six minutes. We were only up there for two-and-a-half minutes or something. So it was short in reality, but it seemed even faster because of the excitement.”

He continues: “It was much like a wedding, when four hours go by and you don’t remember a thing. I was really excited to see the photos after the fact and go, wow, that really happened.”

Anthrax recently released a video celebrating their 35th anniversary. They have a number of festival appearances in the coming months, including a set at the UK’s Bloodstock festival next month, before touring North America with Slayer and Death Angel.

Anthrax tour dates 2016

Aug 14: Bloodstock Open Air, UK
Aug 21: Auburn Pain In The Grass, WA
Sep 09: Cleveland Jacob’s Pavilion, OH
Sep 10: Detroit Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, MI
Sep 12: Toronto Sound Academy, ON
Sep 13: Montreal Metropolis, QC
Sep 15: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
Sep 20: Indianapolis Egyptian Room, IN
Sep 22: St Louis The Pageant, MO
Sep 27: Orlando Hard Rock Live, FL
Sep 28: Miami Fillmore, FL
Sep 30: Tunica Horseshoe Casino, MS
Oct 03: Norfolk Norva, VA
Oct 05: Atlanta Tabernacle, GA
Oct 07: Dallas Gas Monkey Live, TX
Oct 08: Austin ACL At The Moody Theatre, TX
Oct 10: Denver Fillmore, CO
Oct 11: Salt Lake City The Complex, UT
Oct 13: Missoula The Wilma Theatre, MT
Oct 17: Lethbridge Enmax Center, AB
Oct 19: Penticton South Okanagan Events Centre, BC
Oct 20: Abbotsford Centre, BC
Oct 23: Reno Events Center, NV
Oct 27: El Paso County Coliseum, TX

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.