Metallica returning to Columbus to headline 2025 Sonic Temple festival
The fans spoke, and Danny Wimmer Presents listened.
Metallica — the No. 1 most requested act to appear at Sonic Temple — has been tapped to headline the art and music festival for the first time since it replaced Rock on the Range in 2019.
The Grammy-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will close out two nights of Sonic Temple, which is set for May 8-11 at Historic Crew Stadium.
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The four-day festival will feature more than 100 bands playing on four stages, including Rob Zombie and Alice in Chains supporting Metallica, who will perform on May 9 and May 11.
“Every year, we ask our fans who they want to see at Sonic Temple, and the answer this year was clear: Metallica! We’ve been trying to get Metallica to Sonic Temple for the last five years," festival producer Wimmer said in a press release.
Fans can sign up now for the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival email list at sonictemple.com to participate in an exclusive pass presale opportunity, which will begin at noon Monday.
Passes will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Sept. 25 and will include two-day Rock Royalty reserved packages for May 9-10 and several other types of passes. Passes can be secured starting at $1 down, with seven months to pay them off in full. For prices, visit sonictemplefestival.com/passes.
Service charges on all pass purchases include a charity fee for the DWP Foundation, which supports local and national charities.
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The upcoming festival, Metallica's only date in the Midwest for their "M72" tour, will mark their return to Columbus. The band played at the sold-out 2017 Rock on the Range music festival, which drew more than 120,000 attendees.
Metallica also came to Ohio Stadium in 2003 on the "Summer Sanitarium" tour with Mudvayne, Deftones, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. A Dispatch reviewer called their two-hour set "ferociously speedy yet taut" and "multidimensional."
The heavy metal masters were scheduled to perform at Sonic Temple in 2020 but canceled due to frontman James Hetfield's ongoing recovery from substance abuse. The fest was called off shortly afterward because of the coronavirus outbreak.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Metallica to headline Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival on May 8-11