NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM
Metallica has launched a new weekly concert series titled Metallica Mondays.
In a new announcement, the band announced the launch of the new series and promised to bring entire shows from their past onto their YouTube channel and Facebook every Monday.
Joining the current trend of artist streaming concerts online during the global coronavirus pandemic, the band kicked off the series with a full set from Slane Castle in Ireland – filmed on June 8, 2019.
Metallica said: “Need to take a break from Netflix before you binge-watch the entire library? Introducing our brand new concert series #MetallicaMondays.”
The Slane Castle show can be watched below, while further concerts will be streamed on the band’s YouTube page and Facebook account.
This comes after it was announced the band have cancelled two festival headline performances due to take place later this year in order to support frontman James Hetfield’s recovery.
Hetfield is currently in recovery after entering rehab in September 2019 to deal with his “struggles with addiction”. His addiction and alcoholism issues were previously detailed in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster.
Metallica will now no longer be headlining Columbus’ Sonic Temple festival in May or Louisville’s Louder Than Life in September. At the former event, they will be replaced by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool.
In a letter to fans, Hetfield explained why the band were pulling out of the festivals. “As part of my continuing effort to get and stay healthy, I have critical recovery events on those weekends that cannot be moved,” he wrote.
“I apologise to all of our fans who have bought tickets for these festivals. We are working with the festival promoters to provide for refunds or exchanges. My intent with this statement is saying ‘I apologise’ to each one of you. The reality is that I have not prioritised my health in the past year of touring and I now know that my mental health comes first. That might sound like a no-brainer for most of you but I didn’t want to let the Metallica team/family down and, I alone, completely compromised myself.”
The frontman added an update on his journey so far, saying his therapy was “going well” and he is “optimistic about the blessings I have been given and what the future brings”.
“Like the moth into the flame, being human in this career has its huge challenges and can be difficult,” he concluded. “Your understanding helps the healing.”
The post Metallica stream classic concerts in new weekly YouTube series appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
