METALLICA Rehearses A Lot To Make Each Show On 'M72' Tour Sound Good For The Fans

During the question-and-answer session at the May 18 book signing at the MK2 Bibliothèque in Paris, France by METALLICA's official photographer Ross Halfin, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett spoke about the band's "M72" world tour, which features two-night stops in nearly two dozen cities. Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only) and promoted by Live Nation, the 46-show trek launched in Amsterdam on April 27 and includes shows all over Europe and North America through 2024. Each "No Repeat Weekend" on "M72" will feature two completely different setlists and support lineups.

Regarding the prospect of playing two different sets in every city, Hammett said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We rehearse [a lot]. We go do about a third of the set, it seems like, nowadays. But it's what we have to do just to make it sound as good as possible for you guys."

Trujillo added: "At the same time, what I wanna add to that is, with some of these songs, in my opinion, like 'Fight Fire [With Fire]' in Amsterdam was probably the tightest we've played that ever. So there are moments where you're gonna get — I believe — that you're gonna get something really special. And the fact that we're getting into the newer songs and challenging ourselves is super exciting. So there are gonna be moments of glory and there's gonna be moments of hopefully not too bad of a train wreck."

Continued Kirk: "I get used to the train wrecks, actually."

Last month, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Japanese music critic and radio personality Masa Ito of TVK's "Rock City" about playing different songs in each city during the "M72" tour: "[It's] definitely exciting, definitely a little crazy. But it's fun spirited, of course, and a little overwhelming, to be honest with you.

"The concept was born out of a gentleman named Danny Wimmer who runs a series of festivals in America," he explained. "And I guess about four years ago now, he came to us and asked us if we would play six or eight of his festivals, and we would bookend the festival. We would play Friday and Sunday, and somebody else would play Saturday. And we would play Friday and Sunday — completely different sets — and bookend the festival. That sounded interesting, unique and crazy cool, so we said yes. And we had six, seven, maybe eight of those scheduled for 2020. Then the pandemic and lockdown came, and obviously that all went away. By the time we circled into the fall of '21, we went out and did three of those. And it was fun. We survived it. And it felt like it connected with an audience. And for us, it was an opportunity to do kind of a blank canvas experiment of just starting completely over, which is always fun and appreciated in the METALLICA camp. So when we were trying to figure out for the next record, we thought this concept of going around the world and playing two nights in every city and doing this would be fun.

"So, here we go. 'No Repeat Weekend'. We're not repeating any of the songs from one show to the other. It seems like a really good idea. It's also, obviously, gonna be a big undertaking. But I think it will be fun. I think the buzz is good.

"I'm not sure these days, to be honest with you, if everybody really understands what it is we're doing," Lars admitted. "I'm not sure we understand what it is we're doing. But I've heard myself talk about it now for a couple of weeks, and certainly everybody on our team is doing the best they can to get the message out there. It started off as one ticket for two shows, and then we let some single-day tickets be available for people that couldn't make both shows. Obviously, both shows, two shows is a big commitment for a lot of people; I understand that. So I don't know the idea that if people go to a show on one day, if they understand that there may not be certain toe-tapping favorites, as they may be called, that they will not hear. I don't know if they fully understand that concept, and I don't know if it matters. At the end of the day, it's a fun experiment, and when you've been playing for as long as we have and playing as many shows as we have, I think it's important to keep coming up with new ideas, to keep it fresh for the fans and fresh for yourselves. So hopefully this will connect. It's certainly exciting."

The "M72" tour features a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age.

METALLICA is visiting a total of 22 different cities around the world and playing two nights in each city.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.

METALLICA promises fans who purchase a two-day ticket that they won't see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs spanning the band's 40-plus-year career.

Each weekend offers a variety of "Enhanced Experiences", ranging from access to a meet-and-greet, production and stage tour, food and beverage in the "Black Box" lounge to early entry into the venue and the Snake Pit. The very popular "Black Laminate" is back, now known as the "I Disappear Ticket", and is the ultimate pass for the fan who wants to run away with METALLICA for multiple weekends.

A single "I Disappear" ticket purchase gives you access to as many of METALLICA's 46 headlining tour dates across Europe and North America in 2023 and 2024 as you choose. You decide how many shows you'd like to attend around the world, and for how long, and METALLICA will make it as easy as possible.