METALLICA To Headline GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL

METALLICA will headline the legendary Glastonbury Festival in England on June 28. The five-day annual extravaganza features not only live music, but also dance, comedy, cabaret, theater and other arts.

Comments the band: "We've made no secret that there was still one live music festival on our wish list that has eluded us . . . until now! It is with a great deal of pride that we announce that we have been tapped to headline the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, June 28th!

"There is such a vibe at Glastonbury and it's maybe the most quintessentially English festival, so when we finally got that call to visit Worthy Farm, we just had to reply with a resounding 'YES!'

"Glastonbury is the largest green field festival in the world and over the forty plus years of its existence, a widely diverse group of artists have graced the stage including Paul McCartney, OASIS, David Bowie, U2, MUSE, Stevie Wonder, RADIOHEAD, Neil Young, Jay-Z and so many more.

"We're psyched and honored to be among the first hard rock bands to hit the Pyramid Stage and join this prestigious group.

"As this is a late addition to the schedule, this show will not be a 'By Request' night . . . Guess we'll have to go back to writing the set list ourselves!

"For those of you looking for the 'By Request' show or a second dose of 'TALLICA, we will be just down the road a week later at Knebworth for Sonisphere on July 6th, which we thought might be our only chance to visit the U.K. this summer until the Glastonbury call came in last week. Hope to see you at both!"

Asked how METALLICA will win over the doubters at Glastonbury who are not familiar with the band's work, drummer Lars Ulrich told The Guardian: "Listen, we just go out and do what we do. Isn't it wonderful, 33 years in, to be able to place yourself in situations where that's even a distinct possibility that you actually have to go and, like you say, win people over? I don't know if the competitive fire burns with quite the same spark as it did 20 years ago, so I don't know if we're as concerned about that stuff as we used to be. But obviously, playing to any people who may not be overly familiar with what you're doing is always interesting. Right now [my reaction] is one of jubilation and ecstasy and appreciation for being given a chance to be invited to the hallowed grounds of Glastonbury. So I'm not really looking at anything other than, fuck yeah, here we come!

"The one thing we've figured out along the way is that METALLICA have a tendency to get some fairly strong opinions out of people — which is a great thing, because nobody seems to just be neutral and dismissive. Everybody's always got an opinion about what we do, or what we're playing, or what we had for breakfast, or whatever. That's something you find the good in, because it means that people care. And it's better to have people care than not have anybody care. So we'll find the good in all of it, thank you very much for asking!"

Regarding the setlist for Glastonbury, Ulrich said: "It will be a straightforward set. With Glastonbury, we figured since all the people had bought the tickets and it's our first visit to the sacred, hallowed Glastonbury grounds that maybe we would be better off if I took charge of the setlist, like I have in the past, and write what I considered to be the most suitable setlist…"

He added: "We played a new song every night [on tour] in Latin America, and that was a lot of fun. And that's definitely what we're planning on doing in Europe. Whether it'll be the same new song from Latin America ['Lords Of Summer'] or not, I don't know yet. We still have about three weeks to tinker around and see what else we come up with."