Metallica cancels two spring festivals and postpones South American tour due to coronavirus
American heavy metal band Metallica has decided to postpone its South American tour and cancel two spring festival dates in the US due to the coronavirus. In October last year, the band announced they were booked to headline five upcoming festivals, four of which were overseen by the festival production company Danny Wimmer Presents.
Three of the events by DWP, which were scheduled for May, have all been canceled — Epicenter in Concord, North Carolina; Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida; and Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Metallica's fall DWP festival — Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky — will still take place and has now been expanded to four days, September 17 to September 20, according to Rolling Stone.
Notably, Metallica frontman James Hetfield is undergoing treatment following a relapse last fall and the band had already pulled out of Sonic Temple and Louder Than Life as the dates conflicted with Hetfield's recovery events he was scheduled to attend.
"As many of you know, in our nearly 40 years of touring, we've had a few mishaps along the way: broken bones, trashed appendixes, a pyro mishap, backs thrown out, crazy weather, food poisoning (beware of the oysters!), and even one way-next-level anxiety attack!" Metallica said in a statement, adding, "None of it has ever stopped us, but this is obviously a very different time, and leaving the house now literally means taking your life in your hands. Unfortunately, in these surreal times, that means we have to stay away from each other for the foreseeable future before we can start thinking about 'Tallica Family reunions around the world."
Metallica is also still scheduled to play in October for the Aftershock festival in Sacramento. Additionally, prior to the May festival dates, the band was set to perform with Greta Van Fleet to support their South American tour in April, but those dates have now been postponed until December. Metallica still plans to make stops in the same cities, although some of the venues are likely to change. The band will announce new dates and details later this week.