METALLICA: Two More Mexico City Shows Added

More than 100,000 tickets to METALLICA's six shows at the Sports Palace in Mexico City — scheduled for August 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 — are now officially sold out. As a result, the band has added two more dates in Mexico City: July 28 and July 30 at the same venue. The band states, "The two additional shows will be the world debut of our massive new stage show including elements from our entire 30 years of touring and marking the beginning of a new era in METALLI-shows... you will definitely need to see it to believe it!"

METALLICA fan-club pre-sale begins Wednesday, April 18 at 11:00 a.m. local time. The Banamex pre-sale begins Thursday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m. local time, and any remaining tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April 20, also at 11:00 a.m. local.

METALLICA announced on March 15 that the band will unveil what the group's publicist described as a "mind-blowing new stage" in Mexico "that needs to be seen to be believed." The 140-foot-by-50-foot stage will feature "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning METALLICA's entire 30-year career."

The band itself went further in a post at its official web site, saying, "After years in the making, we are beyond excited to finally unveil the all new, out of control, massive stage and METALLI-show . . . Mexico will be the first to see what will be the cornerstone of our touring escapades for years to come."

It is not clear whether this production is the highly theatrical show that the band first discussed back in 2010, with co-manager Peter Mensch saying it would be METALLICA's "equivalent of [PINK FLOYD's] 'The Wall'" and would "blow your mind."

When The Pulse Of Radio asked drummer Lars Ulrich about that idea recently, he said it was one of many projects METALLICA was considering. "That's still circling also," he said. "None of this stuff goes away. I mean, we just throw these balls up in the air and then we try to tackle them one at a time. That one's still in the air, nothing definitive, but it's still circling. None of these things go away, they just get bigger and costlier and overwhelm us more (laughs)."

METALLICA last appeared in Mexico in 2009, playing to over 150,000 fans during three sold-out nights at Foro Sol Stadium that were captured for a live DVD.

The new stage show is said to be twice the size of the production that METALLICA has been using since 2008 on its "World Magnetic" tour.

Before all this happens, METALLICA will headline its own two-day musical event, the Orion Music + More festival, scheduled for June 23-24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Over 20 acts are slated to perform.