Metallica will be the first rock act to take the stage for the Encore Drive-In Nights series, performing for the broadcast at drive-in screens across the United States and Canada on August 29. The band will perform for cameras near its Northern California headquarters, its first performance in nearly a year since last September’s S&M2 series at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
“In all of rock, it literally doesn’t get any bigger than Metallica,” said Walter Kinzie, CEO of Encore Live. “Over the course of their career these guys have completely redefined rock, touring and frankly what’s possible in terms of success in this industry. We’ve seen with our first two Encore Nights Drive-In concerts that fans absolutely dig the drive-in experience and we know that Metallica is going to blow the top off of this thing and take it to a whole new level.”
Members of Metallica’s Fifth member fan club can access tickets first on Wednesday (8/12) with general sale to follow Friday (8/14). Tickets are $115 per vehicle, which includes up to six individuals per vehicle. Purchase will also include up to four digital downloads of the S&M2 double album documenting those performances in San Francisco. A full list of participating locations is available at https://www.ticketmaster.com/encore-metallica. Three Days Grace will also be performing as part of the show.
The rock band is the third to participate in a filmed performance for the Encore series, following Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton to the big screen for fans to attend a “live” show in a safe and socially-distant fashion. Safety measures are paramount, according to event organizers.
“Drive-in theaters hosting the concert will adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended guidelines as well as all state and local health mandates,” the release announcing the performance says. “Staff will wear personal protective equipment and enforce at least six feet of space between cars. The series will also use contactless payment and ticketing systems and limit capacity in restrooms. Guidelines around concessions will be enforced to abide by individual state regulations.”
Since Metallica’s last gig, the band had to cancel a number of fall performances as singer and guitarist James Hetfield entered treatment for substance abuse. That treatment continued to move gigs around the calendar in early 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic then pushing all other scheduled festival performances in 2020 off.
