Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Lars Ulrich discussed Metallica’s impending residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas during an appearance on U2 guitarist The Edge’s U2 X-Radio series “Close To The Edge” on SiriusXM, as per Blabbermouth. Metallica added gigs in November (November 5 and 7), January (January 28 and 30), February (February 4, 6, 18, 20, 25, and 27), and March (March 4, 6, 11, and 13) after initially announcing eight dates at the arena between October 1 and October 31.
We’ll take a couple weeks [after the completion of Metallica’s ‘M72’ world tour] to chill out, but then we gotta start thinking about scaling the Sphere mountain and conquering that. We’ve been working on this for a year, year and a half, and certainly, thank you to you guys [in U2, which was the first to play at the Sphere in 2023]. I was there opening night [of the U2 residency] and was so just fucking awestruck, inspired, energized, all of it. And it was just, like, ‘Holy shit, this is somehow another frontier.’
We’re all fortunate enough to be able to do these shows, to connect with these audiences, to play with the configuration and to sort of reinvent the staging and all of it all the time. But this is something else. This is another level. And so to be able to do that here is so exciting. And, obviously, you guys were the first ones in, and it was just so incredible to see that night. And so in that spirit, three years later, when we start here in a few months, we’re so excited and definitely have heard from a few folks about the filming and all of it. And it’s gonna be challenging. And, obviously, I think like everybody else I’ve talked to about it, it’s overwhelming and fucking intimidating. But hopefully when we step out on stage that first night, we’ll have it somewhat together. And as you know, that’s a place maybe we don’t end up in often enough, because we have a tendency to put ourselves in environments that we completely control and know. And so I think it’s really good to be able to throw yourself for a loop like that.
He also spoke about his relationship with James Hetfield.
I would like to think that we each bring a different energy and a different focus and a different — I don’t know — maybe a skillset or whatever word you wanna use to it. Obviously, not discounting what Kirk and Robert bring, but we are all different. And certainly James and I are different. We’re… Fuck, we’re 45 years into this — that’s insane. So 45 years, and we know each other so well. Not quite [to the same extent as] you guys [in U2] — I think you went to the same school and kind of grew up in the same neighborhood and all that. Obviously, James and I have pretty significantly different backgrounds, me being from Denmark and him from Southern California, et cetera, et cetera. But, yes, I’d like to think that the differences that all of us bring and the different influences, inspirations and the way we grew up and just our sort of attitudes and approaches is what makes this work.
Upcoming shows:
