Watch: METALLICA Kicks Off 'M72' World Tour In Amsterdam

METALLICA kicked off its "M72" world tour earlier tonight (Thursday, April 27) at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The trek sees the band playing two nights in every city it visits — with each "No Repeat Weekend" featuring two completely different setlists and support lineups. The "M72" tour features a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the "I Disappear" full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age.

METALLICA launched the 16-song set in Amsterdam with "Orion", marking the first time that song has opened a METALLICA concert since December 2011. The group also performed two new songs from the "72 Seasons" album live for the first time: "Screaming Suicide" and "Sleepwalk My Life Away". Other "72 Seasons" tracks that were played in Amsterdam — "Lux Aeterna" and "If Darkness Had A Son" — were previously performed by METALLICA earlier this month in front of a studio audience as part of their four-night residency on late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!""Lux Aeterna" was also played during the band's All Within My Hands benefit concert last December.

METALLICA's setlist for the April 27 concert at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands was as follows:

01. Orion (first time as opener since December 10, 2011)
02. For Whom The Bell Tolls
03. Holier Than Thou
04. King Nothing
05. Lux Aeterna
06. Screaming Suicide (live debut)
07. Fade To Black
08. Sleepwalk My Life Away (live debut)
09. Nothing Else Matters
10. Sad But True
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Ride The Lightning
13. Battery
14. Fuel
15. Seek & Destroy
16. Master Of Puppets

METALLICA is visiting a total of 22 different cities around the world and playing two nights in each city.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.

METALLICA promises fans who purchase a two-day ticket that they won't see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs spanning the band's 40-plus-year career.

Each weekend offers a variety of "Enhanced Experiences", ranging from access to a meet-and-greet, production and stage tour, food and beverage in the "Black Box" lounge to early entry into the venue and the Snake Pit. The very popular "Black Laminate" is back, now known as the "I Disappear Ticket", and is the ultimate pass for the fan who wants to run away with METALLICA for multiple weekends.

A single "I Disappear" ticket purchase gives you access to as many of METALLICA's 46 headlining tour dates across Europe and North America in 2023 and 2024 as you choose. You decide how many shows you'd like to attend around the world, and for how long, and METALLICA will make it as easy as possible.

During an appearance on comedian Bill Maher's "Club Random" podcast, Lars Ulrich opened up about how a child custody arrangement with one of his ex-wives led to METALLICA embracing a touring schedule that involved playing shows for no more than two weeks at a time. The METALLICA drummer said: "Maybe in the last 10, 15 years, we came around — and this is no disrespect to our managers — but we came around the other side and basically said, 'Listen, we need to start putting some boundaries and some parameters around what we're willing to do,' because back in the day we would do three [or] four in a row and then have one day off and then three in a row and then one day off, and then have a week off between going to Europe and America. And finally, like I said, maybe around 15 [years ago], maybe around the [release of the] 'Some Kind Of Monster' [documentary], we took charge and said, 'We're willing to go out for this long, for this long,' and blah blah blah. And at one point, when I was fighting a child custody case between maybe '08 to '10, maybe, give or take, we did a whole world tour for two years around not being on the road for more than two weeks at a time. We would play in Europe for two weeks, then come home, play two weeks and then come home. We did an American tour a week at a time."

Ulrich went on to explain that because he "had 50-50 custody" of his kids, "there was no budging" on the amount of uninterrupted time each parent had with the children. "So literally I would take 'em to school Monday morning and we would fly and we would play five shows in America — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday," he explained. "Sunday night we'd fly home. I would be with my kids from that Monday morning for a week. And the rest of the guys in the band — God bless them — were gracious enough and kind enough to work with that. And it was a whole world tour for two years. So we were never gone for more than two weeks at a time."