Tickets go on sale this Sunday (January 10) for Metallica's performance with composer/arranger Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony.

A press conference in San Francisco yesterday (January 6) confirmed that two appearances are scheduled for April 21 and 22 at the Berkeley Community Theater. Singer James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett, drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Jason Newsted will be performing with 100+ members of the symphony. The orchestra has previously collaborated with members of the Grateful Dead.

Metallica is working with a set list of approximately two dozen songs from their repertoire, including "Devil's Dance," "Fight Fire With Fire," "Hero of the Day" and "Enter Sandman," and may possibly include a new song which may be written before the event.

The press conference, staged in the venue's Green Room, revealed that the idea for the metal collaboration was suggested over a year ago by Kamen, best known for his soundtrack credits and contemporary orchestral work, though he's been handling orchestral arrangement for rock musicians for decades. Kamen told the crowd that the plan was to let "Metallica be Metallica and the Symphony be the Symphony." He said that the two factions had a lot in common, and that he thought the band's music was "Brahmsian and Wagnerian."

Hammet told the press not to expect Metallica "unplugged, re-plugged or de-plugged." He promised "full-on amplification." Hetfield joked that the band was thinking of turning the orchestra pit into a mosh pit, and that the stage show, in keeping with the pyrotechnics on their last tour, may feature a "flaming violinist."