metallica
Ross HalfinMetallica announced a pair of summer stadium shows — their only for 2022 — set to take place this August.
The first of the two gigs will be held Aug. 11 at, Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York, while three days later, Aug. 14, Metallica will headline PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Metallica last played Highmark and PNC Park 30 years ago, hitting the two venues back-to-back on July 25 and 26, 1992). Both gigs will feature support from Greta Van Fleet and Ice Nine Kills.
Tickets for the two gigs will go on sale March 4 at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. A presale for members of Metallica’s Legacy Fan Club will launch Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. ET, while those in the band’s General Fan Club will have access to tickets that same day starting at 11 a.m. ET. All presales will end March 3 at 10 p.m. ET.
While the Buffalo and Pittsburgh shows are Metallica’s only summer stadium gigs, they’re definitely not the band’s only live shows this year. The group will play Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas this Friday, Feb. 25, and in May they’ll play the BottleRock festival in Napa, California, and Boston Calling in Boston. They also have shows in South America and Europe lined up throughout the spring and summer.
In other Metallica news, it was just announced that the band’s rare first recording — featuring Dave Mustaine — will be reissued on vinyl for the first time in 40 years. Guitarist Kirk Hammett is also prepping his first solo release, Portals, an all-instrumental EP that will arrive April 23 for Record Store Day.
Smashing Pumpkins are hoping to bring their A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness production to the Las Vegas Sphere for a one of a kind performance centered around the legendary 1995 album.
Billy Corgan is stepping away from traditional rock venues and leaning into the world of opera with his large scale A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness tour, which transforms the band’s iconic record into a full orchestral and operatic experience.
Even though the group has not officially been invited to perform at the cutting edge venue in Las Vegas, Corgan admitted he would immediately embrace the opportunity.
Speaking with KROQ, he explained: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.
“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.
"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
The performance sees Corgan joined by acclaimed solo vocalists and complete orchestras, reshaping some of Smashing Pumpkins’ most beloved songs into expansive classical arrangements.
The project first premiered in Chicago and received overwhelming praise, with audiences and reviewers applauding the powerful reinterpretations of songs such as 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.
Corgan shared that the experience has become one of the most meaningful achievements of his artistic journey.
He said: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago, we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”
The production was developed by Corgan alongside Grammy nominated conductor James Lowe, who added: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."
The lineup features vocalists Ed Parks, Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The wardrobe for the production was created by House of Gilles designers Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The upcoming run will include several September performances throughout the UK, Belgium, France and Spain, highlighted by two special evenings at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
