Nearly seven seasons have passed since Metallica released their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons. The band’s M72 World Tour in support of the record will stretch at least another three additional seasons since, on Thursday, they announced upcoming spring and summer North American tour dates.
The new leg will kick off with an appearance at Las Vegas’ Sick New World Festival on April 12 and, other than a couple of one-off engagements and festival appearances, will resume its run of two-night stands around the continent. On those dates — dubbed No Repeat Weekend — the band plays unique set lists so their fans don’t hear the same songs twice. Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies serve as support for some dates, while Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills will open up for others.
Tickets go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. local time on Sept. 27. Details about presales are on the band’s website. A portion of proceeds from tickets will benefit the group’s All Within My Hands foundation, which has variously supported career training, hunger relief, and disaster relief since it was established in 2017.
Last year, drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone how exciting it has been for the band to perform songs from 72 Seasons live, especially “Lux Æterna” and “Too Far Gone?” which fly by at breakneck speeds. “Playing these songs live is super fun,” he said. “We’re steering them, they’re not steering us. Certain people choose not to go down particular creative paths if a song can’t be [performed live.] We’ve done eight out of 12 songs so far, and we’ve figured out how to crack all of them in a live situation and feel really good about it.”
The group’s James Hetfield explained the significance of the 72 Seasons title when Metallica announced the record last year: “72 seasons — the first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves,” he said. “The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is a reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
The band is also promising more seasons to 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 Centre *
April 26 – Toronto, ON Rogers Centre **
May 1 – Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium *
May 3 – Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium **
May 7 – Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium *
May 9 – Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium
May 11 – 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 *
* Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies support
** Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills support
