Almost seven seasons have passed since Metallica released their 11th studio album, 72 seasons. The band’s M72 world tour in support of the album will extend for at least three more seasons after announcing the upcoming dates of its spring and summer North American tour on Thursday.
The new leg begins on April 12 with a performance at the Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas and, aside from a few one-off engagements and festival appearances, will continue its streak of two-day performances across the continent. On these days – dubbed No Repeat Weekend – the band will play unique setlists so their fans won’t hear the same songs twice. Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies will be opening acts on some dates, while Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills will be opening acts on others.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. local time on September 27. Pre-sale details can be found on the band’s website. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the group’s All Within My Hands Foundation, which has supported job training, hunger relief and disaster relief in various ways since its founding in 2017.
Last year, drummer Lars Ulrich said Rolling Stone how exciting it was for the band to perform songs from 72 seasons live, particularly “Lux Æterna” and “Too Far Gone?”, which fly by at breakneck speed. “Playing these songs live is super fun,” he said. “We control them, not them control us. Some people decide not to go down certain creative paths if a song can’t be played (live). We’ve done eight of 12 songs so far and have figured out how to crack them all in a live situation and feel really good about it.”
James Hetfield of the group explained the importance of 72 seasons Title when Metallica announced the album last year: “72 seasons – the first 18 years of our lives that shape our true or false selves,” he said. “The concept that our parents told us ‘who we are.’ A possible pigeonhole of what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued exploration of those core beliefs and how they affect our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is a reenactment or reaction to those childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free from the shackles that we carry.”
The band also promises that more seasons will be announced, including dates in Australia and New Zealand.
Metallica tour dates:
April 12 – Las Vegas, NV Sick New World @ Las Vegas Festival Grounds
April 19 – Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome*
April 24 – Toronto, ON Rogers Center *
April 26 – Toronto, ON Rogers Center **
May 1 – Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium*
May 3 – Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium **
May 7 – Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium*
May 9th – Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
May 11th – Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
May 23 – Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field **
May 25 – Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field *
May 28 – Landover, MD Northwest Stadium*
May 31 – Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium*
June 3 – Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium *
June 6 – Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium **
June 8 – Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium*
June 14 – Houston, TX NRG Stadium*
June 20 – Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium **
June 22 – Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium*
June 27 – Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High **
June 29 – Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High *
* Support for Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies
** Support for Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills
