METALLICA will headline the first rock concert at Minneapolis' US Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings, on Saturday, August 20 as part of the opening weekend festivities. Tickets for this one-of-a-kind concert will go on sale this Friday, March 25 at 10:00 a.m. local time. AVENGED SEVENFOLD will provide direct support, marking one of only a few shows the hard rock band will play in the United States this year. VOLBEAT will open the show with their unique blend of rock, metal and rockabilly. METALLICA will be offering a presale to the Met Club beginning March 22 at 8 a.m. CST (running through March 24 at 10 p.m.). Both AVENGED SEVENFOLD and VOLBEAT will offer presales to their fans beginning March 22 at 12 noon running through March 24 at 10 p.m. "We had such an amazing time playing in our hometown stadium the night before the Super Bowl that when asked we couldn't say 'no' to another chance to be part of a very special weekend," said METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. "We can't wait to see our friends in Minneapolis! Opening the new U.S. Bank Stadium would be an honor all on its own but having the opportunity to play with the mighty METALLICA makes this a must see event," said AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows. "We've been cooped up in the studio for over a year and can't think of a better way to bust out than with all of you in Minneapolis." "VOLBEAT are very thankful and beyond thrilled that our friends in Metallica have asked us to join them for the first rock concert at the US Bank Arena alongside AVENGED SEVENFOLD," said VOLBEAT's Michael Poulsen. "We can't wait to see you all there." Ulrich told Rolling Stone that METALLICA's plans for the rest of 2016 include completing their long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" album. Saying that 2016 will be a "pretty in-your-face year, at least the back half of it," Ulrich added, "Obviously, we've gotta finish the new record now. But thankfully we're quite far along. Hopefully we should be able to knock that on the head this spring, I would guess. So we will be gearing up and playing shows and doing all that fun stuff again soon." Ulrich revealed that the band spent about nine months working on the music for the new album, saying "We'll play it faster, then slower, then half a step down, exploring all these options. There are 75 different ways to play something, and you end up driving yourself nutty." Even though they're working on a new record, METALLICA is also reissuing its first two albums, "Kill 'Em All" and "Ride The Lightning", and issuing a book on the making of its third studio effort, 1986's "Master Of Puppets". Ulrich said: "We've had one foot in the past, sifting through old photos and old memorabilia and listening to old songs, and another in the new album. It's been a confluence of all these different energies, and I'm not even sure exactly what to make of all of it." The drummer told Rolling Stone that even though he and the other members of METALLICA are now in their 50s, the band still feels the years melt away when they get together to play. He explained, "It's awesome to feel my age. But when the four of us are together, it's like the median age of all of us just drops and drops. We get very silly, very childlike. It's kind of nice to a degree that you can still feel young and spunky and vibrant. I still think that we feel kind of young and like we have something left to prove."
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