Gears of War is all about the metal

Are you ready to rock ... hard? The Megadeth-leading GIGANTOUR tour will be sponsored this year by none other than the next-gen Savior of Microsoft, Gears of War. In fact, Craig Davison, director of global games marketing for Xbox, is quick to count his chickens as he already proclaims GoW to be the "forthcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster."

Woah, slow down there Craig. By all indications, GoW should be a hit, but to call it a blockbuster already? Pfft. Now, we're not sure exactly what role GoW will have at the testosterone-filled GIGANTOUR, but could it be possible there will be playable demo booths for all the anger-driven kids?

Check out the full press release and schedule after the break.

[Thanks, Probot]

GIGANTOUR IS BACK:

'THE MOTHER OF ALL SHRED FESTS'
TO KICK OFF SECOND YEAR IN SEPTEMBER;

MEGADETH RETURNS AS MAIN STAGE HEADLINER
WITH LAMB OF GOD CONFIRMED

GIGANTOUR is back.

The fast and furious traveling festival that was hailed last year by Revolver magazine as "the mother of all shred fests" will kick off its second year in early September.

Look for the tour -- the brainchild of MEGADETH frontman DAVE MUSTAINE -- to launch in the Northeast and to work its way through 25 major markets before wrapping in mid-October, with Xbox's "Gears of War" sponsoring the trek. MEGADETH will return as the festival headliner on a bill that includes fellow heavy-hitters Lamb of God, plus Opeth, Arch Enemy, Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity and The Smashup all confirmed for these mostly outdoor shows. Other second stage artists will be announced soon.

MUSTAINE personally hand-picks all the GIGANTOUR bands, with a sharp eye on true musicianship. He says GIGANTOUR is a great place for like-minded music fans to see a full day of music on two stages without breaking the bank, and he's glad the tour is back in '06. " This is the concert that I, as a heavy metal music fan, would want to see," says MUSTAINE. "It is going to be something to look forward to each year, to see what kind of tremendous talent we can assemble, for GIGANTOUR festivals in the years to come."

Lamb of God's Mark Morton says, "Megadeth is one of the main reasons I started playing metal guitar in the first place. To finally tour with them is really exciting and it's a great way to start off our world tour supporting Sacrament . We've been dying to get the new material up and running on the live stage. We've worked so hard on the new record--it's really a great sense of accomplishment to see the new tunes come to life in a live setting. We're really looking forward to this one." The group's Chris Adler says, "Teaming up with Megadeth on GIGANTOUR is a metal dream come true. The lineup represents some of the most proficient metal bands and players from across the world and we are looking forward to joining forces and kicking ass. We're planning on a nice long set, introducing a lot of new and very heavy material from Sacrament as well as keeping the brutal live tracks from our previous albums. We can't wait to take the stage and destroy it."

Last year's inaugural GIGANTOUR was a six-week trek that was hailed by the Miami Herald for featuring "only bands whose musicianship matches their ability to melt faces with sheer volume and power." The Orange County Register agreed, saying, "...it does a heart good to see Mustaine able to buck the chameleon trend of rock and stay firm to his ideals, keeping the music the priority and not the image."

As for joining forces with GIGANTOUR, Craig Davison, Director of Global Games Marketing for Xbox, says, "We're totally jazzed about the partnership between Gigantour 2006 and our forthcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster, Gears of War ! Partnering a music extravaganza like GIGANTOUR with the launch of a mega-hit game like Gears of War captures the excitement around two awesome happenings for fans of music and video games!" Gears of War is a blockbuster video game exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system that blends tactical action with survival horror. Gears of War thrusts gamers into a harrowing story of humankind's epic battle for survival and is available this holiday.

In other GIGANTOUR news, Image Entertainment will release two-DVD and two-CD sets of GIGANTOUR 2005, which included Megadeth, Dream Theatre, Fear Factory, Anthrax, Nevermore, Life of Agony, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic and Bobaflex. The CD is out August 22, with the DVD hitting stores September 5--just in time for this year's tour.

Stay tuned for more details, or check out www.GIGANTOUR.com , www.megadeth.com , www.myspace.com/gigantour2006 , and www.myspace.com/megadeth .

The current itinerary is below (note: exact line-up for shows subject to change).

September:

7 San Diego - TBA

8 Oakland - Oakland Coliseum

9 San Luis Obispo - Pozo Saloon Amphitheatre

10 San Bernardino - Hyundai Pavilion

12 Las Vegas - TBA

13 Phoenix - Dodge Theatre

15 Salt Lake City - USANA

16 Denver - Coors Amphitheatre

17 Albuquerque - Journal Pavilion

19 TBD

21 Milwaukee - Eagles Ballroom

22 Chicago - Congress Theatre

23 Columbus - Nationwide Arena

24 Detroit - DTE Energy Amphitheatre

25 Toronto - Molson Amphitheatre

27 Montreal - Bell Centre

28 Nassau - Nassau Coliseum

29 TBD

30 Holmdel - PNC Bank Center

October:

1 TBD

3 TBD

5 TBD

6 Tampa - St Pete Times Forum

7 Orlando - Hard Rock Live

8 Sunrise FL - Bank Atlantic Forum