Metallica announced on Monday that their October residency at Las Vegas’ hottest and most elaborate venue, the Sphere, would be extended by six dates. The move comes after the initial announcement of the band’s plans to play the attraction in the preceding week.
“Surprise! The world’s worst-kept secret is now official… we are bringing our No Repeat Weekends to Sphere in Las Vegas this fall,” they announced last week, accompanying it with an update in their usual personal style on 2 March that “due to unbelievable demand (wow, guys!) SIX SHOWS are being added to our Life Burns Faster residency at Sphere in Las Vegas.” The fan club presale for the shows will take place on 4 March.
The band have also declared that these dates will keep the ‘No Repeat Weekend’ pattern of their current M72 world tour, running since 2023. The band have taken to playing two gigs in every venue, playing entirely different setlists on each night, incorporating both their stadium crowd pleasers like ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Master of Puppets’ with deeper tracks like ‘Hit The Lights’ and ‘The Day That Never Comes’ for the diehards.
The Sphere has become a prestigious landmark in the Vegas music scene since its opening in 2023. Attached to the Venetian Resort, it boasts a 20,000 capacity with a surrounding screen display and 4D features to heighten the concert experience beyond merely a traditional stage and arena format. The first artist to headline it was Irish arena rock band U2, whose 40 date run at the venue saw the band play their 1991 classic ‘Achtung Baby’ in full. Since then, several bands have performed there, like the Backstreet Boys, Eagles and No Doubt, all playing special setlists and many releasing concert footage. Music is not the only attraction the Sphere has offered, having also ran a successful 4D version of 1939 children’s classic The Wizard of Oz.
Metallica will be the first metal band to headline, fresh off their three year M72 trek across the globe in support of their album ‘72 Seasons’, which went to number one in many countries across the world, including the UK, Australia and France, going gold in Germany and France. The tour continues across Europe until July, supported by French environmental groove metallers Gojira and a recalibrated Pantera as well as hardcore phenomenon Knocked Loose and Sweden’s groovy, melodic death metallists Avatar. The band will next roll through the UK in June and July doing both one night and ‘No Repeat Weekend’ sets.
The Californian thrashers’ Sphere dates will run from 1 October, with the extended dates so far unannounced. The original run was intended to last until Halloween night, with announcements regarding specific dates coming in due course.
