POP MUSIC

The veteran thrash metal band is to be announced as a co-headliner at the KROQ event.

Concert fans in Southern California are getting a lesson from the old school these days. First, Roger Waters brought his floating pig and Pink Floyd laser show to the desert grounds of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and today KROQ-FM (106.7) will announce that Metallica, those graybeards of thrash metal, will co-headline the station's annual Weenie Roast on May 17 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Other performers include the Offspring, the Raconteurs, Rise Against, Pennywise, Bad Religion, the Bravery and Flogging Molly.

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It was 25 years ago this summer that Metallica released "Kill 'Em All," the album that announced that this intended to be the hardest, fastest and loudest band in the world.

Its ninth album is due in September. For the first time in 15 years, the band turned to a producer other than Bob Rock, collaborating instead with Rick Rubin, the guru who has worked his magic with a wildly eclectic group of artists, among them Johnny Cash, the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Dixie Chicks, Neil Diamond and Jay-Z.

The return of Metallica (and its upcoming eligibility for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which clicks in after a recording career hits its 25th birthday) is not the only major highlight: Orange County's the Offspring has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, but its last studio effort, "Splinter," was released in 2003. The band returns with its eighth studio collection, "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace," in June.

The Weenie Roast will be formally announced this morning on "The Kevin and Bean Show" on KROQ, and on-sale information will be coming shortly from the station via the airwaves and its website, www.kroq.com.

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Geoff Boucher