AC/DC, METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN and OZZY OSBOURNEare the rumored headliners for the 2023 edition of the Power Trip festival. Also expected to appear at the event is TOOL.
According to The Scenestar, the Goldenvoice-produced three-day festival will take place Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 8 at the Empire Polo Club In Indio, California and will “feature legendary rock heavy performers from the 1970s and 1980s.”
The full festival lineup and further details will be officially revealed on Thursday, March 30, at 7 a.m.
Earlier today, AC/DC, METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, OZZY OSBOURNE and TOOL all shared a similar teaser videos for this week’s announcement, with the logos of the five bands featured in each respective clip.
METALLICA previously performed at the Empire Polo Grounds in 2011 as part of the West Coast installment of the “Big Four” event, also featuring ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and SLAYER.
The similarly named Desert Tripfestival was held in 2016 and featured performances by THE ROLLING STONES, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and THE WHO. That event was reportedly the single most lucrative music festival in American history, having grossed $160 million.
Passes for this year’s Power Trip will go on sale next week.
METALLICA‘s James Hetfieldhas a role in the upcoming dark western thriller “The Thicket“, based on Joe R. Lansdale‘s novel of the same name. Production on the film, starring and produced by “Game Of Thrones”alum Peter Dinklage, is underway in Calgary, Canada.
Dinklage will play Shorty, a bounty hunter enlisted to find a woman who has been kidnapped by a violent killer. The movie, which is set at the turn of the 20th century, follows Shorty and his fellow trackers as they travel into a violent and chaotic place known as the Big Thicket.
“The Thicket” also stars Juliette Lewis (“Yellowjackets”),Esmé Creed-Miles (“Hanna”),Levon Hawke (“The Crowded Room”),Leslie Grace (“In The Heights”),Gbenga Akinnagbe(“The Old Man”),Macon Blair (“I Care A Lot”),Ned Dennehy(“Peaky Blinders”),Andrew Schulz(“Infamous”) and Arliss Howard(“Mank”).
Back in 2019, Hetfield had a part in the Netflix thriller “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile”. That film followed the relationship between notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, played by Zac Efron, and his longtime girlfriend, played by Lily Collins, who at the time had no knowledge of the crimes. Hetfield played officer Bob Hayward, a no-nonsense Utah highway patrol veteran who was the first law enforcement officer to arrest Bundy in 1975 after pulling the killer over and discovering burglary tools in his car but wisely suspecting much worse. While Hetfield had played himself in other films and television productions, this was his first dramatic role taking on a different character.
Four years ago, Efron praised the METALLICAguitarist/vocalist’s acting chops during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, saying: “James Hetfield, to his credit, absolutely nailed the part, he just crushed it. It’s like he’s been acting his whole life. He had no fear. He did a great job. I was ready to maybe give James Hetfield [an acting] tip, but he didn’t ask for a single one. James Hetfield is the shit!”
“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.
METALLICAand 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 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 seasonsis 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.” “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.”
In November, METALLICA released the Tim Saccenti-directed music video for “Lux Æterna“, along with details about the album’s accompanying “M72“ world tour featuring 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 will launch in Amsterdam on April 27 and will include shows all over Europe and North America through 2024. Each “No Repeat Weekend” on “M72“ will feature 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. Opening acts for the tour include PANTERA, MAMMOTH WVH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, ARCHITECTS, VOLBEAT and GRETA VAN FLEET.
72 Seasons Track Listing:
1. 72 Seasons 2. Shadows Follow 3. Screaming Suicide 4. Sleepwalk My Life Away 5. You Must Burn! 6. Lux Æterna 7. Crown of Barbed Wire 8. Chasing Light 9. If Darkness Had a Son 10. Too Far Gone? 11. Room of Mirrors 12. Inamorata
METALLICA has confirmed the title and release date of its forthcoming 12th studio album: “72 Seasons” will be available 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.
“72 Seasons” is heralded by first single “Lux Æterna”, a short, sharp blast that distills 40 years of METALLICA into three and a half minutes. “Lux Æterna” is available now to stream and download, and as an instant-grat track with all pre-orders of “72 Seasons”. The “Lux Æterna”video, directed by Tim Saccenti, can be seen below.
Says METALLICA about the clip: “We recently traveled to Los Angeles to capture our performance using some crazy cutting-edge technology.”
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:
01. 72 Seasons 02. Shadows Follow 03. Screaming Suicide 04. Sleepwalk My Life Away 05. You Must Burn! 06. Lux Æterna 07. Crown Of Barbed Wire 08. Chasing Light 09. If Darkness Had A Son 10. Too Far Gone? 11. Room Of Mirrors 12. 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’.”
This past August, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, whose recently released “Portals” EP marked his first-ever foray as a solo artist, was asked in an interview with Goldmine magazine why he and his bandmates take so long between records. (In 40 years, METALLICA has released 10 albums.) he responded: “Yeah, you know, it’s not getting any quicker, too. It’s just like, we have a way of working. We have a process that unfortunately takes a long time. It’s just the way we work, the way it is, the way it works as a band. And I’ve grown to accept that.
“You know, putting out ‘Portals’ is great for me because it kind of frees me up from that schedule,” Kirk explained. “I can come up with a few tracks, record them and put them out, and I can do it on a completely different time schedule from the band. And that’s great because it doesn’t seem to get in the way of the band’s schedule because, like I say, we move at our own pace.”
Hammett also touched upon his songwriting approach in METALLICA, saying: “When I go in and create METALLICA stuff, I give it my full creative energies. The way I look at it is, all the notes are already there. You just have to find them. I’m serious. They’re already there. You just gotta friggin’ find them. And so there’s that but also a reliance on spontaneity, on real in-the-moment creation. I think that’s where I’m most effective. It’s like, any time I sit down to try and compose something that should be spontaneous, it ends up sounding composed. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think catching yourself in a spontaneous moment is just much more exciting and much more honest. That might not make me sound like Eddie Van Halen, but that’s beside the point. I really feel like I’m playing for the song when I play that way.”
Two years ago, Hammett told Metal Hammer magazine that there was “a lot of material” written for a follow-up to 2016’s “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct” album, which marked METALLICA‘s first full-length collection of new music in eight years. “I know I have tons, because I totally overcompensated,” he said. “You know, last time around, it was a real shock to my system losing all those musical ideas. [Editor’s note: Kirk lost a phone with more than 300 pieces of music on it during the creative process for ‘Hardwired…’] So, I was very determined to try and make up for lost time. I also felt that, creatively, I have so much more to offer this time around.”
Bassist Robert Trujillo added that the songwriting process for the next album could be a decidedly more collective effort compared to “Hardwired…”, which was largely composed by guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich.
“I’m not gonna speak on behalf of the other guys, but to me, it feels like this could be a very collaborative [writing process],” Robert said. “And for me personally, I love that. I love that we are in that head space to be more collaborative, and I think that’s very exciting for where we’re at now, the journey we’re about to take, the fact that those doors are opening like that.”
“It’s taking a couple of months, literally, for me to go through all [my ideas],” added Kirk, who is is not credited on any of the songs on “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct”. “I’ve got a wealth of material, and so, at any given point when we all decide, ‘Okay, let’s start formulating a schedule to start writing songs and recording it.’ I’m ready. I’m there, from day one.”
“Kirk has so many ideas,” continued Trujillo. “It’s funny because sometimes it’s literally him in the kitchen and he’s cooking, and at the same time he’s playing you a riff, or you’re sitting on the toilet and he’s playing you some ideas. But when we started to understand that [the lockdown] was gonna happen, it was like, ‘Hey, let’s be creative’, you know? Let’s just get on it. A lot of times, when there’s a band that’s been around as long as METALLICA has, you find that one of the biggest problems is, ‘Man I can’t come up with a riff, I can’t come up with any good lyrics, it’s just harder to write songs’, but that just doesn’t seem to be the problem with us. Not taking anything away from any other bands, but sometimes our worst riff might be another band’s A-list riff.”
“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: ARCHITECTSand 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, ARCHITECTSand 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 PANTERAon show 1 both weekends in Mexico City
For Halloween this year METALLICA frontman James Hetfield dressed up as “Stranger Things”‘ long-haired, leather-clad character Eddie Munson, who played an instrumental version of the band’s 1986 track “Master Of Puppets” where he fought demons.
METALLICA‘s official Instagram account shared a photo of James wearing a mullet wig, leather jacket and battle vest while throwing the horns. “Eddie Munson says Happy Halloween!” reads a message accompanying the image.
This past July, METALLICA met and jammed with Joseph Quinn, the actor who played Eddie Munson in “Stranger Things”, at a rehearsal for their headlining gig at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.
During the private meet-up, Quinn jammed with METALLICA and they gifted him a custom and signed B.C. Rich guitar just like the one Quinn played on the show.
Hetfield told the 28-year-old he’s been a fan of the hit Netflix show since its first season. “My kids and I, it’s been a bonding experience for us,” Hetfield said.
Quinn revealed he consistently listened to the tune over the past two years and felt “very connected” to the band. “Thank you so much for letting us use the track,” Quinn told the band. “Thanks for doing it justice,” Hetfieldresponded.
After their chat, bassist Robert Trujillo invited Quinn to a backstage jam session. Quinn, who has been playing guitar since he was a child, joked, “I’m a bit rusty, so I might need a lesson.”
Afterward, Quinn told the Netflix-owned fan site Tudum: “It was amazing! Opportunities to play ‘Master Of Puppets’with the most iconic metal band of all time don’t come around very often. A story for the grandkids.”
Hetfield, Trujillo and the other METALLICA members — drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist Kirk Hammett — have enthusiastically embraced the scene since it first aired this summer.
“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into ‘Stranger Things’has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master Of Puppets’ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” METALLICA said in an Instagram post on July 5. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away. … It’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn‘s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”
The band added: “It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie‘s journey.”
The “Stranger Things” guitar solo was actually performed by Tye Trujillo, the 17-year-old son of the band’s bassist.
