METALLICA: Here Is A List Of All Cities And Venues Teasing 2018 North American Tour

METALLICA has confirmed that it will announce the details of the 2018 leg of its North American tour on Monday, February 26.

After METALLICA's social media sites were updated with a short teaser clip featuring stylized text matching that of the band's latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", more than 30 arenas across U.S. and Canada shared either the exact same message or a stylized variant featuring the clip appearing on that venue's scoreboard.

At the moment, there are 33 cities and venues teasing the METALLICA tour on social media (in alphabetical order):

* Albany, NY (Times Union Center)
* Birmingham, AL (BJCC)
* Boise, ID (Taco Bell Arena)
* Buffalo, NY (KeyBank Center)
* Charlotte, NC (Spectrum Center)
* Cincinnati, OH (US Bank Arena)
* Cleveland, OH (Quicken Loans Arena)
* El Paso, TX (Don Haskins Center)
* Fresno, CA (Save Mart Center)
* Grand Forks, ND (Alerus Center)
* Grand Rapids, MI (Van Andel Arena)
* Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
* Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)
* Las Vegas, NV (T-Mobile Arena)
* Lincoln, NE (Pinnacle Bank Arena)
* Louisville, KY (KFC Yum Center)
* Lubbock, TX (United Supermarkets Arena)
* Milwaukee, WI (Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center)
* Minneapolis, MN (Target Center)
* Nashville, TN (Bridgestone Arena)
* North Little Rock, AR (Verizon Arena)
* Pittsburgh, PA (PPG Paints Arena)
* Portland, OR (Moda Center)
* Raleigh, NC (PNC Arena)
* Sacramento, CA (Golden 1 Center)
* Salt Lake City, UT (Vivint Arena)
* Saskatoon, SK, Canada (SaskTel Centre)
* Sioux Falls, SD (Premier Center)
* Spokane, WA (Spokane Arena)
* Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)
* University Park, PA (Bryce Jordan Center)
* Wichita, KS (Intrust Bank Arena)
* Winnipeg, MB, Canada (Bell MTS Place)

According to the CNY Rock Concert Source, the Buffalo, New York concert will take place on October 27.

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield revealed in a 2016 interview that the band will cap its live schedule at around 50 shows a year. Hetfield explained: "My body has told me to tell these guys that 50 shows a year is kind of what we can do, so make the best of those. And I think we all kind of agree in that. But 50 shows a year, that's pretty good. My body can handle that. Body, mind and spirit all need to kind of revitalize themselves at home, and days off for voices — things like that — so 50 shows a year, it goes pretty quick, I'm sure."

METALLICA played eight shows in Europe earlier this month and has another 16 dates booked between now and mid-May. The above-mentioned North American concerts would bring the total number of 2018 shows for METALLICA to 57 — making it unlikely that the North American leg of the tour will be expanded.

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett candidly admitted in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone that the band has to tour pretty continuously in order to pay for its huge overhead, which includes the group's own studio, salaries for the staff and crew, and the live show production.

METALLICA was one of six artists — and one of only two rock acts, the other being TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA — to sell more than one million concert tickets in North America in 2017, a feat they accomplished in just 26 performances.

The "WorldWired" trek was the fifth-highest grossing tour of 2017, with 1.5 million tickets sold and $153 million earned. The band was also the top-selling rock act of the year and had the third best-selling rock album.

Touring in support of its latest album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct", that arrived in November 2016, METALLICA launched the world tour in Latin America a month before the disc's release. In early 2017, prior to the North American stadium tour, the band made festival appearances and headlined concerts at venues in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Although METALLICA played U.S. stadiums last summer, the band was mostly indoors for the first leg of its European tour last fall.

METALLICA's European tour included the first drone swarm for a major touring act. It consisted of 120 autonomous micro drones that emerge from the main-stage prop lifts during the song "Moth Into Flames" and swarm into several formations over the band's heads, according to Pollstar.