Canadian Carnage East Leg Now Confirmed to Begin Late July
Slayer and Megadeth are thrilled to announce the new, confirmed routing for the American Carnage North American
Tour, which will commence with the rescheduled Canadian Carnage East dates in Quebec City on Friday, July 23. Slayer will then head to Europe for a run of festival dates, returning to kick off the American Carnage leg in
Albany, NY on August 11. American Carnage will play 26 dates across the United States and Eastern Canada up to the Labor Day weekend, ending in Portland, OR on September 4. Testament will be Special Guest on all shows. Tickets purchased for the American Carnage shows when they first went on sale late last year will be honored for these rescheduled dates. Complete information regarding ticket sales can be found at www.slayer.net, www.megadeth.com , and www.testamentlegiions.com
Due to venue availability and other conflicts, the shows originally
scheduled in El Paso, Houston, Nashville, Duluth, and Louisville cannot be
rescheduled at this time, and ticket holders may obtain refunds at point of
purchase. However, new cities have been added to the American Carnage
itinerary, with dates now scheduled in Cleveland, Kansas City, San Diego,
and Sacramento. The confirmed, complete itinerary is below.
The American Carnage Tour, originally scheduled to take place in January and
February, had to be put on hold due to Slayer’s vocalist/bassist, Tom
Araya’s ongoing, minimally-invasive treatments for what was diagnosed as a
Cervical Radiculopathy, an occupational hazard for the rocker who is known
for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing. Right
after the first of the year, Araya made the difficult decision to undergo a
surgical procedure, called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion, a
relatively routine practice with an excellent recovery rate. That surgery
took place early last week.
“The doctors said that Tom’s surgery went very smoothly and was a resounding
success,” said Rick Sales, long-time Slayer manager. “He’s home now, doing
really well, and he said the numbness in his fingers had already diminished
considerably.”
Shortly after the surgery, Slayer’s Kerry King received a text from Tom:
“Awake and feeling good, actually whatever he did, it feels better.”
The American Carnage Tour will mark the first time that Slayer, Megadeth and
Testament will have toured the U.S. together since 1991’s epic “Clash of the
Titans” tour, making this truly a “must-see” event.
Slayer recently announced the rescheduling of its headline tour in the UK
and Europe, and Megadeth and Testament are currently on tour together
playing U.S. cities that will not be on the American Carnage itinerary.
Both Megadeth and Slayer will hit the road on July 23 in support of their
most recent albums: Megadeth’s 2009 album, ENDGAME, and Slayer’s World
Painted Blood, the band’s 10th studio venture, which hit stores November 3,
2009. Testament’s The Formation of Damnation: Special Tour Edition, will
be released on February 23, 2010 with special unreleased bonus tracks.
Slayer and Megadeth have already massacred territories together outside of
the U.S., first with four explosive dates in June 2009 across Western Canada
– “Canadian Carnage” – the first time the bands had toured together anywhere
in 18 years – and then six co-headlining “Carnage” dates in Australia
followed last October.
According to various Canadian press outlets last summer: “It was a night of
thrash impossible to trash…” “Tales about war, death, destruction, Satan,
aliens and serial killers have never been so much fun…” “The two heavy
metal heavyweights…went head-to-head on a level playing field. Both bands
brought their ‘A’ game. And the results were anything but pretty – unless
you include pretty freakin’ loud and pretty freakin’ awesome.”
Slayer.
The Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot wrote that Slayer is “one of the
great American rock bands of the last 30 years, forget about genre.”
Indeed, few bands come close to matching the intensity that Slayer –
guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, and
drummer Dave Lombardo – bring to its live shows, having been named “Best
Live Band” by numerous media outlets including Revolver, SPIN, and Metal
Hammer. World Painted Blood offers a Slayer-ized point of view of our world
– God’s terrifying global genocide, the chaos of our broken political
system, the way-too-close proximity of world horrors that technology has
brought us, and a chilling hypothesis of how the rest of the world might
view America. The album was recorded in Los Angeles over two time periods,
during October 2008 and then between late January and March 2009. World
Painted Blood was produced by Greg Fidelman who has spent time in the studio
with Metallica, the Gossip, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, Slipknot
and others, and executive produced by long-time Slayer colleague Rick Rubin,
who suggested Fidelman for the project. One reviewer called the album “the
heaviest, bloodiest and best album in almost two decades.” World Painted
Blood landed on boatloads of U.S. and International “Best of” lists for
2009, and N.A.R.A.S. saw fit to bestow its fourth Grammy nomination on
Slayer – Best Metal Performance for the WPB track, “Hate Worldwide.” For
“American Carnage,” Slayer’s Tom Araya promises, “no ballads, no acoustic
numbers, no slow tempos.”
Megadeth.
2009 saw the release of ENDGAME, which has been heralded as
Megadeth’s best album in years. It’s the record where it all comes full
circle in a career that has not only set standards in hard rock and metal,
but defined them. Megadeth’s signature shredding and rousing lyrics are the
hallmarks of ENDGAME, with vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine once again
musing and making declarations about the world we live in, having named the
album after a government document that should strike fear in the hearts of
Americans! But that’s Mustaine and Megadeth, using the vehicle of music to
shake things up, to make a point and to rattle your brain, literally,
figuratively and sonically. Revolver magazine said of ENDGAME, “One of
their best albums.” VH1’s ‘That Metal Show’ deemed it “One of the metal
albums of the year,” and Popmatters said, “the record positively scorches
with an intensity not heard since Rust in Peace.” The band was also awarded
the eighth Grammy nomination of its career for “Head Crusher,” which serves
as more proof that ENDGAME is quickly earning “essential” status in the
Megadeth catalog. Megadeth will appear on the season premiere of VH1
Classic’s “That Metal Show,” which airs Saturday, February 6, at 11 PM EST.
Testament
Legendary thrash metal titans Testament, whose latest award-winning release
(2008 Album of the Year, Metal Hammer’s Golden God Award) The Formation of
Damnation, displays them as the quintessential modern heavy metal band,
whose experience and accumulated skill allows them to attack with reserves
of anger, energy and finesse that make them more powerful than ever. Lead
singer Chuck Billy says, “Uniting these bands is the heavy metal event of
generations. We are so proud to be a part of it.”
The complete, confirmed itinerary for the American Carnage North American
Tour is as follows:
JULY
23 Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC CANADA
24 Heavy MTL, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC CANADA
26 Metro Centre, Halifax, NS CANADA
27 Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB CANADA
29 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ONT CANADA
30 John Labatt Centre Center, London, ONT CANADA
(Slayer European festivals)
AUGUST
11 Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY
12 Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
14 Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA
15 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
16 Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford, CT
18 Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH
19 Joe Louis Arena, Detroit,MI
20 UIC Pavillon, Chicago, IL
21 Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
23 Cap Fed Park @Sandstone, Kansas City, KS
25 Magness Arena, Denver, CO
26 Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM
27 Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
29 Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA
30 Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
31 Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
SEPTEMBER
1 Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
3 Wamu Theatre, Seattle, WA
4 Washington County Fairgrounds, Portland, OR