During an appearance on the 45th episode of “The Metallica Report”, the podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett spoke about what it has been like to return to the road after taking a six-month break with the “M72” world tour. Kirk said: “I’m just happy to be out here and bringing the music to the people, man, like I always am. And I’m happy having the feeling of, like, METALLICA is a working, touring band, ’cause sometimes I miss that feeling, ’cause I don’t believe we tour enough. But that’s just how it is. So, what I can get out of this, I’m always up for it. It’s just, like, ‘Yeah, bring it on.’ ‘Cause this is what it’s all about, is playing guitar and writing, recording, going out on tour. It’s what it’s all about. And I don’t feel that there’s enough of it in my life right now.”

Asked if “M72” feels like a brand new tour after taking a six-month break from the road, Kirk said: “No, it doesn’t feel like a whole new thing. Walking out to see the stage yesterday (in Munich, Germany) for the first time in about six months or so, it just felt like a continuation. Everything looks super familiar — familiar stage, familiar monitors, familiar screens, familiar crew, familiar faces, familiar guitars, familiar songs. It’s really easy for me to spot right into place.”

Regarding his preparation for these shows, Hammett said: “It’s our normal thing. I hook up with Rob (METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo) during the day with final arrangements for the duets. And I’ll make sure I hop on a Peloton for about 20 minutes or so, ’cause I have knee issues, so that pedaling, I have to make sure my knee is nice and strong. And then once I get to the gig, I usually do my usual yoga thing. And my entire day is filled with sporadic guitar playing here and there.”

On the topic of his lifestyle right now in terms of health, Kirk said: “Well, I keep up on my pretty physically active lifestyle anyway. When I’m at home, I am continuously walking or biking, swimming. I can’t really run or do any surfing these days ’cause of aforementioned knee issue. But hopefully that’s just a transitional thing — I know it is a transitional thing. But going into this tour, I was totally ready for it and in shape, which is pretty remarkable considering that I have a lot of responsibility at home and whatnot. But I managed to get it all together miraculously — miraculously so. And so it was just, like, ‘Yeah, we’re going on tour. I’m ready.’ … I mean, let’s face it. I’m a musician. I’m a guitar player. And so it becomes a huge opportunity, ’cause I play my guitar every day — to be able to get paid for it, yeah, of course I’m gonna… ‘Cause I’m gonna be playing my guitar anyway. I might as well get paid for it. (Laughs)”