Metal fans were hit by a strange mix of concert news today as Metallica announced their first-ever Orion Festival, which will see the band headline a two day show in Atlantic City this June.
At first glance, East Coasters are in for a fantastic opportunity, as Metallica is scheduled to play both Saturday and Sunday nights of the June 23-24th festival. As if two nights of Metallica isn't enough, they will be playing all 12 tracks of the Black album at one show, and the 8 blistering songs from Ride The Lightening the next night. The summer shows will be held at Bader Field, an outdoor chunk of land surrounded by water on three sides right out of downtown Atlantic City.
Tickets for a 2-day pass are priced at a very reasonable $150, only slightly more than a typical one night arena show for Metallica. New Yorkers, however, may want to factor in the expense of either driving back and forth both days, or trying to get hold of a decent hotel room in Atlantic City over a summer weekend.
Even more striking is the festival's lineup, which currently lists only a handful of bands that could be considered metal, such as Avenged Sevenfold and The Sword. Indie and alternative bands like The Gaslight Anthem, The Arctic Monkeys. and Modest Mouse fill up most of the rest of the roster, which may make for some strange socializing among fans at these shows, and could even be considered a musical reversal of the mighty Big 4 concert this past summer (read my review of The Big 4 at Yankee Stadium by clicking here).
It's tough to guess what made Metallica decide to headline a festival of this nature, but as has become habit when faced with a seemingly insane decision by James Hetfield & Co, all a fan can do is shrug and say "They're f*cking Metallica, they can do whatever they want."
Die hard metalheads will surely be debating whether or not to attend the shows with this kind of lineup, but given that there's plenty to do all day long in Atlantic City (for those 21 and over), if you have the time and money this shouldn't be a hard call at all, especially given the historic opportunity to hear two of the finest metal records ever laid to tape.
As always, stay in the loop with the Hard Rock Examiner for further information on tickets on-sales and all local rock and heavy metal news by subscribing at the top of this page, or follow me at twitter.com/NYROCKEXAMINER.
Comments