LARS ULRICH hopes METALLICA has got another decade
06-04-2023
In a new interview with Revolver, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked if he and his bandmates have ever thought about reaching a certain benchmark before retiring from the road. He responded: “It’s not something we’ve talked a lot about, no. I think most of the energy and the resources go into trying to stay healthy, stay cohesive, stay functioning. As I get older, I spend more and more of my time on my daily workouts, on my cardio, on my strength training. I’m chained to my Peloton hours a day. It’s all about trying to stay healthy: eating healthy, living healthy, whatever it is each of us need to bring to the table.
Obviously, there is a point where it’s maybe not going to function anymore at some level, where we can’t play ‘Battery’ or ‘Master Of Puppets’ or songs like that. I know there’s some people in the comments section that think that point has already come — and I appreciate that. (Laughs) But the only thing I can say is that it hasn’t happened yet, knock on wood. Hopefully it won’t happen for a while. I mean, Paul McCartney‘s out there past his 80th birthday. THE (ROLLING) STONES are still out there. Bruce Springsteen just started his tour.”
When the interviewer noted that “none of those dudes are playing anything even close to ‘Battery’ tempo every night,” the 59-year old Lars concurred: “Right. But at the same time, Springsteen plays three-hour shows and just played 28 fucking songs on the opening night. He looks healthier and stronger than ever. But I appreciate what you’re saying. None of them are playing ‘Battery’. I would say if we stay healthy, hopefully we’ve got another decade. I mean, the second I’m done with you, I’m getting on the Peloton.”
Lars previously discussed the possibility of METALLICA calling it quits in a September 2019 interview with Pollstar. At the time, the drummer, who will turn 60 in December, spoke about METALLICA‘s future plans while discussing the band’s “WorldWired” tour, which launched in late 2016.
“When people go, ‘How long is the tour?’ Maybe to my early-to-mid-70s and then as long as we can keep going without, you know, falling prey to the physical ailments that can cut these things short,” he said. “Knock on wood.”
Asked if he thinks METALLICA can keep going that long, Ulrich said: “I’m pretty sure that the notion of us playing or functioning when we’re 76 mentally is not a stretch at all. In terms of the desire to want to play music, connect with each other, connect with the fans and take METALLICA music, I think that we can, definitely. I mean, obviously, you know, sanity/insanity aside — which some could argue is certainly a part of what we do. But I’m not worried about that side of this. I think that we’ll always be inspired.
“We’ll always get an incredible joy out of playing music, sharing it with people will always have incredible respect for the audience and will always feel that. Playing is something that keeps us alive. Obviously, the physical part of it is the big unknown. So when you look into the future, when you look into the pipeline, who knows what that will look like?
“And if I don’t want to be disrespectful to the Charlie Wattses of the world or whatever. But yeah, you know, obviously playing ‘Master Of Puppets’ or ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ or ‘Battery’ or any of these songs, maybe has a slightly different demand.
“I just don’t know — I don’t know how long it can go. We’ll see. But we’re taking precautions — or cautions is the right word — but we’ve found these bound balances for us. So right now playing 50 shows a year is good, but we could play 50 shows every year rather than play 50 shows one year and then not play any the next year. But 50 shows a year is really good for us. We play them in two-week increments. And that works really well. We go out, we play our ass off a couple of weeks and we get all beat up and banged up and burned out, and then we’d go home and then we recharge the batteries for two, three weeks and then we go out and do it again. That model works for us.
“I think that we’ve got a couple of guys out here that are taking care of the physical elements and stretching us and stitching us back together after the show. And, you know, we spoil ourselves with a chef that cooks good, healthy food. So we invest a lot of resources and time into trying to make the physical experience as kindly as possible.
“So hopefully there’s a few years left in the tank, physically. Like I said, I’m not worried about the mental side of it now.”
Ulrich‘s comments echoed those made by METALLICA frontman James Hetfield, who said in 2015 that retirement was not on the agenda for him and his bandmates.
“Look, musicians never retire,” Hetfield said. “They just become less popular. People think you’ve retired, but no, I’m still writing. It’s a part of me. It’s what I do on this planet. That’s why I’ve been put here, I believe. And if I stop that, part of me dies. There’s no retirement. So we do what we do until physically we can’t do it.”
METALLICA has recently shared the official music video for the title track of the band’s 12th studio album, “72 Seasons”. The Tim Saccenti-directed clip, which was filmed in Los Angeles, California on February 12, is now released.
Watch “72 Seasons” below.
72 Seasons // 03.30.23 pic.twitter.com/yi4yXg5Ykd
— Metallica (@Metallica) March 28, 2023
METALLICA has recently released lyric videos for the band’s latest single, “If Darkness Had A Son”, in English, Spanish, German and French. The song is taken from their latest album ’72 Seasons’, to be released on their own Blackened Records imprint.
Watch the lyric videos for “If Darkness Had A Son” below.
Watch the original video below.
The official Tim Saccenti-directed music video for “If Darkness Had A Son” was made available on March 1. The full track came days after METALLICA used TikTok‘s duet function to tease out instrumental portions of the new tune, with drummer Lars Ulrich, bassist Robert Trujillo, guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett all gradually adding their parts.
“If Darkness Had A Son” is taken from METALLICA‘s 12th studio album, “72 Seasons”, which will be released April 14 via the band’s own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track “72 Seasons” is METALLICA‘s first full-length collection of new material since 2016’s “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct”. The album will be released in formats, including 2LP 140g black vinyl and limited-edition variants, CD and digital.
METALLICA and Trafalgar Releasing will hold a worldwide “72 Seasons” listening party. For one night only on Thursday, April 13, “72 Seasons” will be played in full in pummeling surround sound, exclusively for cinema audiences worldwide — with every one of the new songs featuring its own music video and exclusive commentary from the band. The result will offer fans an unforgettable night as they experience “72 Seasons” first and fully on the eve of its April 14 release date.
The “72 Seasons” global premiere sees METALLICA and Trafalgar joining forces once more, having previously worked together on the October 2019 worldwide cinematic release of “S&M²”, which documented METALLICA and San Francisco Symphony reuniting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original “S&M” (Symphony & Metallica) concerts and releases.
In a recently released behind-the-scenes look at the making of “72 Seasons”, Hetfield stated about the LP’s first single, “Lux Æterna”: “‘Lux Æterna’ is an upbeat, kind of fast and joyous song, I would say — really indicative of New Wave Of British (Heavy) Metal stuff, so kind of a harkening-back-to-’80s kind of riff. It’s just fun and makes me move. It was fun making the video, fun recording a song that comes out really easy, that was a real easy song to write and to perform, like I said, very much like the early ’80s for us.”
As for the inspiration for the “72 Seasons” album title, Hetfield said: “’72 Seasons’ came out of a book I was reading about childhood, basically, and sorting out childhood as an adult. And 72 seasons is basically the first 18 years of your life. How do you evolve and grow and mature and develop your own ideas and identity of self after those first 72 seasons? Some things are more difficult than others — you know, some things you can’t unsee and they’re with you for the rest of your life, and other things you’re able to rewind the tape and make a new tape in your life. So that’s the real interesting part for me, is how you’re able to address those situations as an adult and mature.”
He continued: “There’s been a lot of darkness in my life and in our career and things that have happened with us, but always having a sense of hope, always having the light that is in that darkness… Without darkness, there is no light, and being able to focus a little more on the light in life instead of all of the… how it used to be and how horrible it is… There’s a lot of good things going on in life — focusing on that instead, and it helps to balance out my life. And there’s no one meaning to it — everyone has some sense of hope or light in their life, and, obviously, music is mine. And the song specifically talks about gathering of people at a concert and (being) able to see the joy and the life and the love that comes out of music and the family and the kinship in that, and just a sense of uplifting.”
METALLICA recently released behond the scenes footage of their last video “Screaming Suicide”. Watch the footage below.
When the “Screaming Suicide” video was first released last month, METALLICA said in a statement: “We’re back with another taste from ’72 Seasons’, the new album coming out on April 14. ‘Screaming Suicide’, the second track we’re releasing in advance, is now available to stream and download and as an instant grat with all album pre-orders.”
Adds METALLICA frontman James Hetfield: “‘Screaming Suicide’ addresses the taboo word of suicide. The intention is to communicate about the darkness we feel inside. It’s ridiculous to think we should deny that we have these thoughts. At one point or another, I believe most people have thought about it. To face it is to speak the unspoken. If it’s a human experience, we should be able to talk about it. You are not alone.”
Regarding the “Screaming Suicide” music video, METALLICA said: “We first worked with Tim on ‘Lux Æterna’ and were so blown away that we asked him to come back for round two.”
Watch the official video below
METALLICA announced their new album ’72 Seasons’ 14th release.
Speaking on the concept of the album title, Hetfield says: “72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. 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 reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
The complete track listing for “72 Seasons” is:
- 72 Seasons
- Shadows Follow
- Screaming Suicide
- Sleepwalk My Life Away
- You Must Burn!
- Lux Æterna
- Crown Of Barbed Wire
- Chasing Light
- If Darkness Had A Son
- Too Far Gone?
- Room Of Mirrors
- Inamorata
Says METALLICA: “The album package was once again conceived and art directed by our good friend, acclaimed designer David Turner and his team. David, who won a Grammy for his work on ‘Death Magnetic’, is the man behind the look and feel of all of our recent releases, including ‘Through The Never’, ‘S&M2’, and ‘Hardwired’.”
METALLICA announced every show booked through 2023 and 2024: Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only) and promoted by Live Nation, METALLICA‘s “M72” world tour will see the band playing two nights in every city it visits — with each “No Repeat Weekend” featuring two completely different setlists and support lineups. The “M72” tour will feature 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. Two-day tickets will be on sale Friday, December 2 at Ticketmaster.com and will include the option of pre-ordering METALLICA‘s new album, “72 Seasons”, on vinyl and/or CD. Single-day tickets will be available beginning January 20. For further information including fan club presales, enhanced experiences and more, go to metallica.com/m72-info.
A portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to the band’s All Within My Hands foundation. Founded in 2017, AWMH‘s efforts to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band have raised nearly $13 million — providing $5.9 million in grants to career and technical education programs in the US, over $2.5 million to combat food insecurity, and more than $3.2 million to disaster relief efforts worldwide.
Citi is the official card of the “M72” tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets in the U.S. beginning Wednesday, November 30 at 2:00 p.m. local time until Thursday, December 1 at 10:00 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program.
“72 Seasons” will be released on April 14, 2023 via the band’s own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with METALLICA‘s James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track “72 Seasons” is METALLICA‘s first full length collection of new material since 2016’s “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct”. The album will be released in formats including 2LP 140g black vinyl and limited-edition variants, CD and digital.
Says METALLICA: “We told you about our new album ’72 Seasons’. So what’s next now that we’ve escaped the studio? Hit the road, of course! You want a tour, we’ve got a tour… how about two full years’ worth of shows?!?!
“Over the past few years, we have been so inspired by the dedication and family/community vibe of the fans who traveled to San Francisco for our recent weekend celebrations, first in 2019 with the two ‘S&M2’ shows, followed by last year’s 40th Anniversary shows. On top of that, we had a blast being a part of the 2021 Wimmer Festivals when we played two nights in one city, each with a totally different setlist. With all of that in mind, the ‘M72’ tour was born!
“Starting in April of 2023, we’ll be visiting 22 different cities around the world and playing two nights in each city, with each ‘No Repeat Weekend’ show a completely unique experience: Two totally different set lists with two different bands opening the show each night! Purchase a two-day ticket, and you won’t see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs spanning our 40+ years of being lucky enough to make music. Most of the shows (sorry, not all – we tried!) will be on Fridays and Sundays, so we’ll be sure to have lots of extracurricular events for you to hang with fellow METALLICA fans at before the shows kick-off and on the Saturday night in between.
“Presented worldwide by Liquid Death and Blackened American Whiskey (in North America only),and brought to you by our friends at Live Nation, the ‘M72’ tour also launches a completely different look for us in stadiums — we’ll be in the round in the middle of the field. On top of that, the Snake Pit has been relocated to the center of the stage so that fans there will have a complete 360 view of the show. 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 aforementioned 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 us for multiple weekends. Grab one of these and attend every show on your continent or in the world! For more information about Enhanced Experiences and I Disappear Tickets, visit wearesuper.co/metallica.
“In keeping with the theme of two completely unique shows each weekend, we’re excited to share the stage with different bands each night, including some we have traveled with before and new friends who are joining us for the first time. Signing up for the entire adventure with us are FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS and MAMMOTH WVH, and some of you will see PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET or VOLBEAT, depending on the shows you attend. All the details are in the listing of dates below and on the individual show pages.
“Two-day discounted tickets will be on sale Friday, December 2, for all shows. Fan Club presales start early on Wednesday, November 30, with various other presales beginning later that day and throughout the week. To request your Fan Club presale code, visit metallica.com/presale-code. If you cannot join us for the entire weekend, single-day tickets will be available starting January 20, 2023.
“A portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to the band’s All Within My Hands foundation. Founded in 2017, AWMH‘s efforts to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band have raised nearly $13 million – providing $5.9 million in grants to career and technical education programs in the US, over $2.5 million to combat food insecurity, and more than $3.2 million to disaster relief efforts worldwide.
“We cannot wait to embark on this new adventure, play some new music, and spend our weekends in ’23 and ’24 with YOU!”
“M72” world tour 2023-2024
Thursday, April 27 2023 – Amsterdam NL – Johan Cruijff Arena
Saturday, April 29 2023 – Amsterdam NL – Johan Cruijff Arena
Wednesday, May 17 2023 – Paris FR – Stade de France*
Friday, May 19 2023 – Paris FR – Stade de France
Friday, May 26 2023 – Hamburg DE – Volksparkstadion
Sunday, May 28 2023 – Hamburg DE – Volksparkstadion
Friday, June 16 2023 – Gothenburg SE – Ullevi Stadium**
Sunday, June 18 2023 – Gothenburg SE – Ullevi Stadium
Friday, August 4 2023 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
Sunday, August 6 2023 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
Friday, August 11 2023 – Montreal, QC – Stade Olympique
Sunday, August 13 2023 – Montreal, QC – Stade Olympique
Friday, August 18 2023 – Arlington, TX – AT&T Stadium
Sunday, August 20 2023 – Arlington, TX – AT&T Stadium
Friday, August 25 2023 – Inglewood, CA – SoFi Stadium
Sunday, August 27 2023 – Inglewood, CA – SoFi Stadium
Friday, September 1 2023 – Glendale, AZ – State Farm Stadium
Sunday, September 3, 2023 – Glendale, AZ – State Farm Stadium
Friday, November 3, 2023 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center
Sunday, November 5, 2023 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center
Friday, November 10, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field
Sunday, November 12, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field
Friday, May 24 2024 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion
Sunday, May 26 2024 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion
Friday, June 7 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
Sunday, June 9 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
Friday, June 14 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
Sunday, June 16 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
Friday, July 5 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
Sunday, July 7 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
Friday, July 12 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
Sunday, July 14 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
Friday, August 2 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
Sunday, August 4 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
Friday, August 9 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
Sunday, August 11 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
Friday, August 16 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium
Sunday, August 18 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium
Friday, August 23 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
Sunday, August 25 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
Friday, August 30 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field
Sunday, September 1 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field
Friday, September 20 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol***
Sunday, September 22 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
Friday, September 27 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol***
Sunday, September 29 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
Show 1 Support Europe: ARCHITECTS and MAMMOTH WVH**
Show 2 Support Europe: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and ICE NINE KILLS
* FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH/ICE NINE KILLS play show 1 in Paris, ARCHITECTS and MAMMOTH WVH play show 2 in Paris
** VOLBEAT replaces ARCHITECTS on show 1 in Gothenburg
Show 1 Support North America: PANTERA and MAMMOTH WVH***
Show 2 Support North America: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and ICE NINE KILLS
***GRETA VAN FLEET replaces PANTERA on show 1 both weekends in Mexico City
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