Metallica NY Weekend Details: Global Citizen Festival, Howard Stern, Town Meeting
Metallica once again feels like they’re at the precipice. Before the release of each of Metallica’s albums, there seems to be a charge in the air and ominous clouds lined with lightning on the horizon before the coming storm. That’s what it feels like now… and it feels like this storm is going to be a big one. And that’s a good thing. In the world of metal, thunder and lightning is expected en-masse. For eight long years, through the snippets of covers, a collaboration with the legendary Lou Reed, a 3-D movie, the Orion Festivals, some horror festivals, the Pastorius documentary, and a 101 other side projects, Metallica fans have been salivating for the next, full-length followup to 2008’s Death Magnetic.
And we’re almost there.
When Metallica unleashed “Hardwired” on the world last month and announced that the release of their tenth studio album, Hardwired… to Self Destruct would be in November the buzz started. When Metallica broke the U.S. Bank Stadium wide open in Minneapolis, the buzz grew. This weekend, it looks like that buzz may hit a fever pitch, and we’re still a month and a half away from the release of the new album.
According to Metallica’s Facebook account, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo (sporting a Suicidal Tendencies hat!) were in Central Park yesterday doing their sound check for today’s Global Citizen Festival. The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music festival started in 2012. Coldplay’s Chris Martin is the creative director for the event, and its aim is to reduce global poverty by the year 2030 in allegiance with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Today in Central Park, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Demi Lovato, Major Lazer, and Metallica will take to the stage to entertain 60,000+ fans.
Soundcheck in #CentralPark. #globalcitizen pic.twitter.com/j93kNvC5q3
— Metallica (@Metallica) September 23, 2016
So you’re not in New York? Didn’t get a ticket? No worries. Metallica has you covered. Just as Metallica was live-streamed last month in Minneapolis via Pandora, today’s concert can be heard and seen in a number of ways. The entire Global Citizen Festival will be shown live on MSNBC, and you can also live-stream it on YouTube and Facebook. (And let’s face it, every Metallica fan in the world is hoping that we might hear another new song from Hardwired… to Self Destruct today!)
Metallica also announced this morning via their website that they’re making good use of their time while in New York and making an extended weekend out of it. On Monday (September 26), Howard Stern has asked Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo and Hammett to come on his show. Stern has been a longtime supporter and friend of the band, and Metallica has also stated that the legendary radio jock has asked them to play live on the SiriusXM show.
BIG NEWS: @Metallica is returning to the Stern Show Monday morning for a live performance and interview! https://t.co/sucirvZpBp #Howard100 pic.twitter.com/dO4B5bixn1
— Stern Show (@sternshow) September 23, 2016
So you don’t have SiriusXM? Again, no worries. SiriusXM and Metallica have set it up so that you can still check out the show via a “Howard Stern Free Trial.”
Later on Monday, Metallica is doing yet another event in New York, but this one you’re going to have to wait to hear. Metallica is doing a “Town Hall” series with music journalist and SiriusXM host David Fricke. Metallica will be answering questions from a “select group of SiriusXM listeners.” When can you hear this Metallica Town Hall? Two days before the release of Hardwired… to Self Destruct, on Wednesday, November 16, the Mandatory Metallica Channel is coming back to SiriusXM, and the Town Hall will air then.
And is that it? Apparently not. Metallica says to keep watching their website for a few more surprises as they “make New York City their home” for the next week.
It’s no surprise that Metallica is helping out Global Citizen by playing the festival today. Metallica has been involved in a slew of charitable work over the years, including MusiCares, Acoustic-4-A-Cure, the Bridge School and the Surfrider Foundation to name just a few.
[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
