Metallica’s “M72” world tour touched down in their Bay Area backyard last week with two major shows at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As part of the hometown stop, Metallica tour coordinator Jon-Michael Marino gave CBS Bay Area’s KPIX and NBC Bay Area a behind-the-scenes look at the scale of the June 20 concert and what it takes to bring a tour of this magnitude to life.
“You have certainly an energy that’s a little bit different when you’re in your hometown, whether you wanna say there’s a little bit extra pressure, a little bit extra incentive,” Marino told KPIX. “To me, some of the best shows on a tour are absolutely the hometown shows.”
The production setup at Levi’s Stadium spanned eight days, with six days devoted to unloading and staging 87 semi-trucks’ worth of equipment. The band’s signature circular stage featured eight towers housing a total of 588 speakers, 192 audio inputs, and 72 cameras, all connected with miles of fiber optic cable.
Marino explained the scale of preparation involved: four drum kits are used on stage, with two additional backups. Out of the 64 guitars and basses that travel with the band, 36 must be show-ready, that’s 12 per band member. “Across, let’s call it 15-16 songs, there’s various tuning. There’s also things that happen naturally like strings breaking, guitars going out of tune that have to be swapped in the moment,” Marino previously told CBS.
Other tour stats are equally staggering: each show involves 6,000 guitar picks and about 25 drumsticks being used or handed out.
More than 55,000 fans filled the stadium for Friday night’s show alone, with ticket prices ranging from $70 to $1,800. Some fans reportedly began lining up as early as 3 a.m. for a shot at limited-edition merchandise.
The band is currently touring in support of their latest album, 72 Seasons, performing two-night, no-repeat shows in each city, a format that has taken them across Europe and North America, and back again. The “M72” shows feature Metallica performing on a massive ring-shaped stage, with a Snake Pit in the middle and four drum sets placed around the stage to allow Lars Ulrich to rotate and engage different sections of the audience.
According to Metallica‘s manager Cliff Burnstein, 80% to 90% of attendees at each city’s stop purchase tickets for both nights.
Since kicking off in Amsterdam in April 2023, the “M72” tour has drawn nearly three million fans and earned glowing reviews. Billboard described it as “an altogether life-affirming experience,” while the Detroit News called it “a stone-cold stunner of a show.” The Los Angeles Times wrote that Metallica sounded “as tight and furious” as ever.
The tour wrapped its 2024 run with four sold-out nights at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros, performing to more than 250,000 fans across two weekends.
Now, “M72” is rolling into its 2025 North American leg, continuing the No Repeat Weekend tradition. The upcoming shows will feature support from Pantera, Limp Bizkit, Suicidal Tendencies, and Ice Nine Kills.
Produced by Live Nation and presented by sponsor inKind, the tour offers fans exclusive perks through the inKind app, which supports restaurants with sustainable financing.
True to form, Metallica continues giving back through their All Within My Hands foundation. Since its founding in 2017, the initiative has raised over $15 million, including $8.2 million in grants for career and technical education, $3.6 million toward fighting food insecurity, and $3.5 million for disaster relief.
