Metallica have announced a “Munich Takeover”. When the dominant heavy metal band arrives in Bavaria, they obviously have no hostile conquest in mind, but rather a friendly takeover. James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo are always happy to accommodate their fans.
In 1984 they made their German debut in the Hemmerlein Hall in Neunkirchen in Upper Franconia, three years later they played for the first time in Munich in the Congress Hall of the German Museum. In 2018 in the Olympiahalle they honored their fans with “Skandal im Sperrbezirk” and a year later in the stadium they played the other big hit of the Spider Murphy Gang, “Schickeria”, on.
:What you need to know about Metallica’s performances
Are there still tickets available? How will the concerts go and which support acts will be playing? What else is on offer for fans in Munich? And will the metal fans be left standing in the rain? All the information about the heavy metal band’s two gigs.
It will be all the more interesting to see which secret Munich anthems Metallica have rehearsed for their local fans this time, as they will be rocking the Olympic Stadium for two evenings. The title of the “M72 World Tour” seems to be made for the Olympic city of ’72 Munich, but actually stands for “Metallica” and the title of the current album “72 Seasons”. In any case, they have promised two completely different set lists for the concept of their “No Repeat Weekends” so that the faithful who come twice don’t get bored. As if!
Metallica fan events at a glance
In fact, there are two-day tickets for the double act, just like for an entire rock festival, and as such, this weekend in May is quite understandable. Not only because the big stars bring two other support acts each evening, who already have headliner qualities in their own right: Architectswhich will take place on Friday, 24 May, together with Mamoth WVH For example, this year the headliners at the 45,000 guests, 150 bands, metal open-air “Summer Breeze”; on Sunday, May 26, warms up after Ice Nine Kills the band Five Finger Death Punch the fire, which has already filled the Olympic Hall in Munich twice.
And that’s not all: For the hangover day after the first excess, the Metallica management has come up with a quieter event to help them unwind: a reading by Ross Halfin in the Old Congress Hall (12.30 p.m.).
The photographer and former editor-in-chief of the rock magazine Kerrang has not only written a book about the band’s legendary “Black Album”, he also has a lot to say about his many photo sessions and trips with Metallica (and The Who, Sex Pistols, AC/DC …) around the planet. In fact, the pioneers of thrash metal (shredding metal) were the first band to perform on all seven continents, including Antarctica. Afterwards, from 4:30 p.m., fans here at the “Metallica Filmfest” can get in the mood for the second party on Sunday with “Cliff Them All” (old VHS recordings), “Cunning Stunt” from 1997 and “Pasion y Gloria” from the three nights in front of 155,000 Mexicans.
Kathi Berg certainly won’t miss it either. To call her a Metallica superfan would certainly not be an understatement. She has been following her favorite band for a long time, she is the event manager of the Chapter St. Germany in Munich, the largest fan club with the band’s official blessing in Europe. Being one of these 200 chosen ones (there has long been a moratorium on admissions) is an honor, but not a sure thing. “We are all ready to do something,” says Berg. Just as the band does a lot of good “with great warmth” and “gives an incredible amount back to their fans,” her circle also wants to get involved.
“Metallica Fans Give Back” is the motto for their big home game weekend: On Saturday morning, everyone wants to help the Munich food bank hand out food to those in need; the proceeds from their fundraising campaign and a raffle will also go to them. The other Metallica fans will be delighted with the prizes: Those who draw the right tickets from 1000 tickets, each costing five euros, can win not only an “ESP Metallica Signature Guitar” and a “Morley Cliff Burton Power-Wah-Fuzz Pedal”, which the band itself occasionally plays, but also parts of the original backdrop from the cover of the current album “72 Seasons”. These are basically just burnt toys, but for fans they are of course relics. And everyone can cuddle with them or take a picture backstage in a photo box during the “Metallica Weekend Bash” in Munich’s rock center.
The group St. Germany (named after the album “St. Anger”) has a lot planned for this weekend. And they are “very proud” that the band has noticed this. Not only that: The fact that all of their events and also the concert of the tribute band My’Tallica Berg happily reports that the band’s official announcements on Saturday have never happened before. Drummer Lars Ulrich must have personally pushed for this, she hopes, “he personally approves every flyer.”
It will be a family celebration, the chapters, which are centrally controlled by the band, are well networked with each other, friends from all over the world have announced that they will be coming (after all, there is a collective ticket for all the concerts on the tour). And everyone should feel at home in Munich. “Every Metallica concert is a homecoming,” says Berg, an event agent by profession: “We’re going to make it a blast.”
The program begins on Thursday, the day before the first concert, with a “charity beerathon”: First drink Augustiner beer from the sponsor and then jog three kilometers through the Hirschgarten, or vice versa. “We’re all serious now, but we still like to drink,” says Berg. Some rocker clichés are true after all. The Spirit Lab Bavaria distillery has also made a special Metallica bottling of its “top products” Rye Gin Meri, Rye VDKA and Amaro Bassa Baviera. You can try them backstage on Saturday at a tasting. Cigars are also smoked, because James Hetfield is said to like lighting up some recently.
“We’re all getting older,” says Kathi Berg. That can sometimes cause a sore neck. It’s a good thing that St. Germany has its own yoga teacher. And on Friday and Sunday afternoons, she will prepare everyone for the big head-shaking at the concerts in a “Headbanger’s Workout.”
:Standing in line for the devil on the T-shirt
This weekend, the band Metallica will play two concerts in Munich – the only ones in Germany this year. Beforehand, fans can stock up on limited edition devotional items in their own pop-up shop.
In 43 years, since they met in Los Angeles at the age of 16 because of an advert, Ulrich and Hetfield have become masters of ceremonies of mass metal: brutal, radiant, threatening, epic. But their fans can also organize events now: on Saturday, after a warm-up barbecue (12 noon), they will offer a culture meeting backstage, where they will first tell stories: about Tom Engelbrecht, world record holder with the most Metallica tattoos, Renee Richardson from the Metallica aid organisation “All Within My Hands Foundation”, and about John Cruz, who played in the band with former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. True Temper played. The wind of legends blows through the murmuring crowd of fans. Then the Schwelm cover band tries My’Tallica on authentic equipment, not to give in to the burden of legends.
From Wednesday, a Metallica pop-up shop will open in Studio Balan (Moosacher Straße 86, until Sunday, daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Fans are promised unique memorabilia: a “own splatter vinyl edition of ’72 Seasons'”, a “totally exclusive screen-printed poster and event T-shirt” by artist Ken Taylor, an “incredible skateboard in Zorlove shape” or, for the first time, “an exclusive set of four alternative band portraits in limited edition printed on 12-inch archival cardboard from Lee Jeffries’ 72 Seasons photo sessions”, as well as “two brand new collectible beer mugs”.
All locations of the Metallica weekend are also can be found on the band’s website in an interactive map. But not in which hotel you can find the musicians. Kathi Berg fully understands this and does not want to lie in wait herself. Perhaps because she has already heard from her idols at a Prank photo shoot in the TV show “Circus Halligalli” by Joko and Claas surprised But more because she thinks: “We’re not groupies anymore. And James Hetfield didn’t move to Colorado in the middle of nowhere for nothing. He can’t handle being jumped on by everyone anymore.”
Maybe that’s what distinguishes the noble fans from the “Nothing Else Matter” fans, who come for the big hit, and the young “Stranger Things” fans, who about the song “Master of Puppets” in the epic finale of the Netflix series The band itself makes no distinction: “Just for your information: everyone is welcome in the Metallica family. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years,” Hetfield once said. Everyone comes together at the concert anyway.
Metallica concerts in Munich – the dates
- Friday, May 24, admission 4pm, start 6pm, Olympic Stadium
- Sunday, May 26, admission 4pm, start 6pm, Olympic Stadium
A previous version of the text stated that Metallica played their first concert in Munich in 1986 at the Circus Krone. However, the concert was cancelled due to the death of bassist Cliff Burton. The first Munich performance therefore did not take place until 1987 at the Deutsches Museum.