METALLICA has announced a number of summer 2022 European festival appearances.
The seven-date run will kick off on June 15, 2022 at Copenhagen, Denmark's Copenhell and conclude on July 8, 2022 at Lisbon, Portugal's NOS Alive.
METALLICA said in a statement: "We have waited far too long to say these words — we're getting back out there and are finally announcing our return to Europe in 2022!
"Needless to say, we cannot wait to see all of you once again as our European 'TALLICA Family will finally have a chance to reunite in June and July of next year.
"We can't wait to once again take the stage as part of the time-honored tradition of summer music festivals and we're excited to see some of our friends, both new and old, at Copenhell, Pinkpop, Firenze Rocks, Prague Rocks, Rock Werchter, Mad Cool, and NOS Alive.
"Dates are listed below, and Fifth Members should be sure to check all the details in the Club News Story to find out when special pre-sales will be held. A few of the festivals are already on sale and we're happy to join their party… info about when and where you can grab tickets is listed next to each show.
"Stay tuned — we'll be back soon to keep adding to this list.
"We hope you, your family, and your friends are safe and in good health, and ready to go next level, next summer!"
METALLICA 2022 tour dates:
Jun. 15 - Copenhell - Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun. 17 - Pinkpop – Landgraaf, Netherlands
Jun. 19 - Firenze Rocks - Florence, Italy
Jun. 22 - Prague Rocks - Prague, Czech Republic
Jul. 01 - Rock Werchter - Werchter, Belgium
Jul. 06 - Mad Cool - Madrid, Spain
Jul. 08 - NOS Alive - Lisbon, Portugal
METALLICA is scheduled to play several U.S. festivals in 2021, including Louder Than Life, Aftershock and Welcome To Rockville.
Last November, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told journalist and CNBC contributor Kara Swisher that it might be a while before the shows return from their pandemic-induced pause, estimating it could be a year "at the earliest."
"As we unfortunately have to come to grips with, the last thing that will happen are big concerts, you know 20,000 people in an arena, 50,000 people in a stadium," Ulrich said. Live sporting events are much easier to bring back than concerts, he added, given they are "slightly more orderly" than a sold-out rock show tends to be.
"The good news on the live concert front, when METALLICA and other bands like METALLICA play big arena or stadium concerts again, then you can pretty much count on the fact that COVID, as we know it now, is over," he added.
