One of the rockingest summer festivals, Summer Sanitarium, might have rocked even harder this year. Event organizers originally wanted Godsmack to join the lineup of Metallica, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Deftones and Mudvayne, and if tickets to the event had been priced lower than $55 for the super-cheap seats, Godsmack might have joined the party.

"[It's] a big issue for us [when] a kid has to go to his mother at 16 years old and ask her for $200 just to go to a concert, get a bottle of water and a T-shirt," vocalist Sully Erna said. "Also, they seemed to have their key bands picked anyway, and since we've got a new record, we feel we have to support this record ourselves. We've always built this band up from the street level and tried to build our own entity."

Instead of traveling the U.S. with a package tour this summer (see [article id="1470135"]"More Dates Added To Metallica/ Limp Bizkit/ Linkin Park Tour"[/article]), Godsmack decided to head to Europe, then return to America when the festival tours are over.

"We're gonna zig when they zag," Erna said. "Then, when they all go overseas we're gonna come back in the fall and play again."

Before heading overseas, Godsmack will play 10 weeks of U.S. dates starting April 25 in Miami. The first five shows will be at various radio festivals, then starting May 2 the band will play headline shows with Breaking Benjamin opening. The tour will end on June 11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The trek will be Godsmack's first in the U.S. with new drummer Shannon Larkin, who replaced Tommy Stewart last June (see [article id="1457121"]"Godsmack's Erna Releases Details On New LP, Drummer"[/article]). The band's third album, Faceless, was released Tuesday (April 8).

Godsmack's spring tour dates, according to Universal Records:

--Jon Wiederhorn

To win a chance to see Godsmack play a hometown gig in Boston, check out MTV's "Voodoo Tribe Party With Godsmack" sweepstakes.