Metallica had been pretty coy about what they were up throughout the pandemic, with guitarist Kirk Hammett generally being the guy asked about things. Then all of a sudden yesterday, Metallica announced their new record 72 Seasons and dropped a brand new song. So how'd they keep it all under such tight wraps throughout the whole process? Drummer Lars Ulrich said it wasn't easy at all.
"We thought for sure this thing would leak," he said in an interview with The Howard Stern Show. "It hasn't fucking leaked." Which actually is pretty nuts when you think about it – no photos surfaced, no information managed to leak online, nobody slipped up and mentioned something they shouldn't have, nothing. Just all of a sudden 72 Seasons was part of our lives one day.
"We've been working on a new album for the last year, year and a half — our COVID lockdown record. And the one thing that we've done all through that is for the first time in our career, we never really talked about it. So, rather than, 'Hey, there's a new record' and countdowns, and, 'Guess what's coming your way,' and all that kind of shit, we've been tight-fucking-lipped about it. And this morning I wanna share a new song with the world and I wanna tell everybody about the new Metallica album. And we have a new tour, we have a song, we have a video — all the bells and whistles."
Ulrich also touches on the band's upcoming extensive touring plans featuring Pantera's first North American dates since the announcement of their celebration shows. He notes each stop is split into two dates, where Metallica plans to play two completely different setlists with no repeats.
"We're announcing a two-year world tour. We have all the dates for '23 and '24 ready to go. We're coming to a city near you. We're playing two nights in every city, playing two completely different shows. So you buy one ticket for two shows — a Friday and a Sunday — and you get what's called a no-repeat weekend, which, obviously, is an old radio term. You get two one hundred percent completely different and unique shows."
Show No. 1 opened each night by Architects & Mammoth WVH, Show No. 2 by Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
4/27/23 – Amsterdam NL – Johan Cruijff Arena
4/29/23 – Amsterdam NL – Johan Cruijff Arena
5/17/23 – Paris FR – Stade de France (w/ Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills)
5/19/23 – Paris FR – Stade de France (w/ Architects & Mammoth WVH)
5/26/23 – Hamburg DE – Volksparkstadion
5/28/23 – Hamburg DE – Volksparkstadion
6/16/23 – Gothenburg SE – Ullevi Stadium (w/ Volbeat in place of Architects)
6/18/23 – Gothenburg SE – Ullevi Stadium
Show No. 1 opened each night by Pantera & Mammoth WVH, Show No. 2 by Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
8/4/23 – East Rutherford NJ – MetLife Stadium [Tickets]
8/6/23 – East Rutherford NJ – MetLife Stadium [Tickets]
8/11/23 – Montreal QC – Stade Olympique [Tickets]
8/13/23 – Montreal QC – Stade Olympique [Tickets]
8/18/23 – Arlington TX – AT&T Stadium [Tickets]
8/20/23 – Arlington TX – AT&T Stadium [Tickets]
8/25/23 – Inglewood CA – SoFi Stadium [Tickets]
8/27/23 – Inglewood CA – SoFi Stadium [Tickets]
9/1/23 – Glendale AZ – State Farm Stadium [Tickets]
9/3/23 – Glendale AZ – State Farm Stadium [Tickets]
10/3/23 – St. Louis MO – The Dome at America’s Center [Tickets]
10/5/23 – St. Louis MO – The Dome at America’s Center [Tickets]
10/10/23 – Detroit MI – Ford Field [Tickets]
10/12/23 – Detroit MI – Ford Field [Tickets]
5/24/24 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion
5/26/24 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion
6/7/24 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
6/9/24 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
6/14/24 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
6/16/24 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
7/5/24 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
7/7/24 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
7/12/24 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
7/14/24 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
8/2/24 – Foxborough MA – Gillette Stadium [Tickets]
8/4/24 – Foxborough MA – Gillette Stadium [Tickets]
8/9/24 – Chicago IL – Soldier Field [Tickets]
8/11/24 – Chicago IL – Soldier Field [Tickets]
8/16/24 – Minneapolis MN – US Bank Stadium [Tickets]
8/18/24 – Minneapolis MN – US Bank Stadium [Tickets]
8/23/24 – Edmonton AB – Commonwealth Stadium
8/25/24 – Edmonton AB – Commonwealth Stadium
8/30/24 – Seattle WA – Lumen Field [Tickets]
9/1/24 – Seattle WA – Lumen Field [Tickets]
9/20/24 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol (w/ Greta Van Fleet no Pantera)
9/22/24 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
9/27/24 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol (w/ Greta Van Fleet no Pantera)
9/29/24 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
