Metal music titans Metallica have announced an Australian leg of their M72 world tour, marking their first visit to our shores in 12 years.
Fans of the group — known for iconic hits like Master of Puppets, Enter Sandman, One, Seek & Destroy, and many more — will have to wait until November 2025, when Metallica play shows in capital cities around the country.
What are Metallica’s Australian tour dates?
Metallica will begin with a headline show in Perth on November 1, followed by Adelaide on November 5, Melbourne on November 8, Brisbane on November 12, and wrapping in Sydney on November 15.
The shows are presented by the Australian and New Zealand arm of global concert promoters Live Nation. Tickets are available from Monday November 4, 2024.
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Joining as special guests for the 2025 tour will be two more heavy-hitting acts: Evanescence, the rock band fronted by vocalist Amy Lee and best known for their 2003 hits Bring Me To Life and Going Under, and Suicidal Tendencies, the long-running Californian thrash band that once featured Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
A long-awaited return for Metallica fans
These shows mark Metallica’s first Australian tour since they headlined the now-defunct Soundwave festival in 2013, alongside Linkin Park and Blink-182.
The four-piece were scheduled to return in 2019 but were forced to cancel when frontman James Hetfield sought treatment for addiction. Plans to reschedule were abandoned due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The M72 tour, which kicked off last year in Europe, is in support of 72 Seasons, Metallica’s latest album and 11th overall, which debuted atop the charts in nearly 20 countries, including here in Australia.
The Australian shows will follow the same format, which sees the band performing at one end of the stadium and includes the ‘Snake Pit’, an extension of the front of the stage that encloses fans and gets them closer to all the action.
Early access to the Snake Pit is available as part of a host of ticket packages that will range from access to a Black Box VIP lounge, meet and greet opportunities, and the I Disappear Ticket, which gives access to all five Australian shows and travel packages with accommodation.
One of the biggest bands on the planet
It’s difficult to summarise the career and impact of Metallica, currently consisting of vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield, drummer and co-founder Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Rob Trujillo.
They’ve endured more for more than 40 years and have remained wildly popular for the majority of that time, having sold more than 125 million albums and shifted many millions of tickets more as a formidable live act.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1981, their frantic tempos, pummelling riffs and intensity ushered in a new era of heavy music. Metallica were part of the ‘big four’ founding bands of thrash metal, alongside Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.
They swiftly became one of the bigger critical and commercial successes among their peers, thanks to classic early albums like …And Justice For All (1988) and Master Of Puppets (1986).
The latter’s title track also introduced a younger generation to Metallica in 2022, returning to the charts after its use in a key scene of popular Netflix series Stranger Things.
Despite being synonymous with heavy metal, Metallica have also crafted intricate, sensitive ballads. Several of them feature on their 1991 self-titled album, which reinvented their sound and streamlined it into a blockbuster that commanded influence on both the mainstream and underground.
Case in point: A who’s who of popular music re-interpreted the album for its 30th anniversary – everyone from Miley Cyrus and Elton John to Weezer, Dermot Kennedy, Phoebe Bridgers and Australian pub rockers The Chats.
Metallica (L-R: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo) performing live in Detroit on the M72 tour. (Getty Images: Scott Legato)
In the early 2000s, Metallica pursued a high profile legal battle with Napster, leading to the dissolution of the file sharing service.
They also showed the world how close they came to breaking up in Some Kind of Monster, a tell-all documentary about the making of their 2003 album St Anger and featuring their band therapist.
Despite Metallica’s recorded output slowing over the years, releasing Death Magnetic (2008) and Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016) before last year’s 72 Seasons, they’ve consistently remained a touring juggernaut.
The M72 tour broke attendance records at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in August last year, playing to nearly 80,000 fans at the first of two sold out nights at the venue.
