Metallica save dance music festival from cancellation after fire destroys main stage
Thousands of dance music fans are enjoying the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium this weekend after heavy metal heroes Metallica stepped in to save the event from cancellation.
The main stage for the huge EDM event in the town of Boom in Belgium's Antwerp province was decimated by fire this week, just days before the gates were due to open.
Fans looking forward to seeing artists including Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5 and David Guetta feared they would miss out. But the kings of thrash metal stepped in to keep things on track.
Metallica's stage was in storage in Austria and was quickly flown to Belgium on short notice according to HLN News.
DJ Martin Garrix, who performed at Tomorrowland on Friday, posted a photo of him hanging out with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and wrote in a social media post: "I can not believe I'm actually typing this… but my set at Tomorrowland is still happening! Massive love and a big shoutout to the incredible Tomorrowland team for pulling off miracles – and to Metallica for coming through with the new stage parts."
Metallica's stage set, which features a giant wall of TV screens, was being stored ahead of the resumption of their massive M72 World Tour. Remaining dates can be viewed below.
Metallica M72 Tour 2025
Nov 01: Perth Optus Stadium, AustraliaNov 05: Adelaide Oval, AustraliaNov 08: Melbourne Marvel Stadium, AustraliaNov 12: Brisbane Suncorp Stadium, AustraliaNov 15: Sydney Accor Stadium, AustraliaNov 19: Auckland Eden Park, New ZealandDec 03: Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre Sakhir, BahrainDec 06: Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Metallica 2026 European tour dates
May 09: Athens Olympic Stadium, GreeceMay 13: Bucharest Arena Națională, RomaniaMay 19: Chorzów Stadion Śląski, PolandMay 22: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, GermanyMay 24: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, GermanyMay 27: Zurich Stadion Letzigrund, SwitzerlandMay 30: Berlin Olympiastadion, GermanyJun 03: Bologna Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, ItalyJun 11: Budapest Puskas Arena, HungaryJun 13: Budapest Puskas Arena, HungaryJun 19: Dublin Aviva Stadium, IrelandJun 21: Dublin Aviva Stadium, IrelandJun 25: Glasgow Hampden Park, UKJun 28: Cardiff Principality Stadium, UKJul 03: London Stadium, UKJul 05: London Stadium, UK
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San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Hulk Hogan tried to join Metallica but never got a call back
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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Metallica Remember Their Friend Ozzy Osbourne: ‘Hero, Icon, Pioneer, Inspiration, Mentor'
Metallica have paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, whom they credit for giving them their big break. The musician died on Tuesday morning at the age of 76. 'It's impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to Metallica. Hero, icon, pioneer, inspiration, mentor, and, most of all, friend are a few that come to mind,' the band wrote in a statement on Instagram. 'Ozzy and Sharon believed in us and transformed our lives and careers. He taught us how to play in the big leagues while at the same time being warm, welcoming, engaging, and all around brilliant.' More from Rolling Stone Pat Boone Says He'll Always Cherish the 'Warm Friendliness' of His Old Neighbor Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne's Memoirs Return to Top of Charts Following Singer's Death The Tao of Ozzy Osbourne: 17 Profound Quotes From Metal's Prince of Darkness As drummer Lars Ulrich told Howard Stern in a 2023 interview, Osbourne 'was known to bring out bands that were kind of on the verge of breaking' to tour with him. In 1986, Metallica had released Master of Puppets, and Ulrich said Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne 'were kind enough to take us out and give us a shot.' He said that five years prior, he and singer James Hetfield were still trying to 'figure out what we were doing,' and then with the Osbourne's invitation to tour, 'we were out playing arenas in America.' 'It was such a transformative time,' Ulrich told Stern. 'And it was our first go around in the big leagues, and hanging with Ozzy and being around that A-level energy and that sort of A-league, like we were in the we were in the majors.' On that tour, during soundchecks they would play Black Sabbath songs, something the band heard Osbourne thought was them 'taunting him,' but it was really because 'we wanted him to come up and sing with us. That was like our big dream,' Ulrich said. Of course, that dream did come true. They performed together during 2009's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event, where they delivered 'Iron Man' and 'Paranoid' together. More recently, Metallica performed during Osbourne and Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning farewell show in their hometown of Birmingham, England on July 5. The band covered Black Sabbath's 'Hole in the Sky' from 1975's Sabotage and they also covered 'Johnny Blade' from 1978's Never Say Die! 'We are heartbroken and devastated by this loss and send our love and condolences to Sharon and their family, bandmates, and his very large circle of friends,' Metallica concluded in their tribute. 'He left an incredible legacy and will be sorely missed.' Black Sabbath paid homage to their leader and scores of artists from across genres and generations remembered the heavy metal pioneer, who collaborated and shared the stage with the likes of Slash, Elton John, Motörhead, and Madonna, as well as Busta Rhymes, Yungblud, and Post Malone. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword


USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
The Fantastic Four: First Steps plays it too safe to get it just right
If the goal for The Fantastic Four: First Steps was for Marvel to finally get the comic world's first family right, then the mission has finally been accomplished. If the goal was more than that, the ship remains in orbit. The trouble with the latest Marvel attempt at bringing the Fantastic Four to the big screen is also what gets it across the finish line. It's a film perfectly concocted to avoid getting dinged for technicalities, a savvy brand investment that feels new enough but still clings to the formula that fuels the fore-heroes that come before it. Is there a post-credit scene in The Fantastic Four: First Steps? It's sleek, sturdy and sentimental, but it drives with a strict governor that prohibits it from ever being more than just satisfactory. Marvel Studios tries so hard to avoid another Fantastic 4-tastrophe that it forgets to stretch its legs and really settle into finding some tangible soul. A lack of cinematic flexibility is pretty ironic for a movie with a character with superhuman elasticity and wholly emblematic of a movie studio gone so far astray that didn't even try for a grand slam to ensure the double gets logged on the stat sheet. Making movies isn't about connecting the dots; the art is not a math equation where your eureka moment is a solved problem that crosses a new group of characters off your completion sheet. You've got to feel your way into the storm and find your spirit through the struggle. Good enough isn't good enough, or at least it shouldn't be, not with Disney's unlimited resources. As much as the Tomorrowland 1960s retrofuturism sets a bountiful stage for the action and Michael Giacchino's score punctuates the mood with operatic urgency, director Matt Shakman plays it safe whenever he can. The script from Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer gives the big four just enough characterization to keep the predictable plot humming, but not enough to risk hitting a false note. Yes, cribbing off Brad Bird's Incredibles movies makes sense when you think about how this comic series influenced Bird with his Pixar masterclasses, but to what end if you can't add anything to the discussion? To borrow from another Bird movie, food critic Anton Ego from Ratatouille would probably send this dish back to the kitchen... not because it tastes bad, but because it lacks any sense of real perspective. Shakman's ability to set a stage was apparent with WandaVision, as he's really got a knack for atmosphere through production design. His projects with Marvel have all looked great, but the focus tends to be on allowing the aura to mask the lack of flavor. This is a film where the concept art book is probably a page-turner, but the script book might put you to sleep. 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In the film's best moment, a jittery reporter probes Pascal's Reed Richards about if his team is actually going to be able to save the world once Galactus enters the picture. Pascal nails the remorseful expression of doubt, and the world's favorite heroes quickly become a global pariah. However, the film doesn't wish to linger in this discomfort for longer than it has to, and the resolution to the only real dramatic meat on the bone is just far, far too tidy to register. The moment is the film's great weakness presented as a strength. It never lets itself sit in a decision that could challenge the audience; instead, it squarely aims at wriggling free from having to confront the messiness of the dilemmas its characters face. Also, it's a bit baffling that a film with such delirious cosmic oddities doesn't take more pride in its wilder nature. Part of why James Gunn's Superman worked so well is that Gunn never shied away from the inherently cartoonish nature of the material. His film is endearingly messy and thoroughly passionate; there's a willingness to breach the void and find out if something works or not. It owns its blemishes and soars at its heights. The latest Fantastic Four film sets a workable floor for itself because it refuses to install a ceiling. Like, this is a movie with a gigantic space robot man villain who wants to eat the Earth because he's hungry or transfer himself into the body of a baby. One of the main characters is a giant orange rock man who can grow a beard. You don't need to go full Taika Waititi to infuse your movie with even the slightest hint of irreverence. Even so, Marvel can chalk the film as a win because, for the first time in the company's history, it finally has a generally agreeable Fantastic Four it can use in other company properties. Audiences will probably enjoy the film because there's not much to hate. The golf claps abound. However, is that really the goal here now? 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