ACL Festival 2018 weekend one - Saturday
photo by Andy Sawyer

Metallica postpone AUS/NZ tour as James Hetfield re-enters addiction treatment

Metallica were set to head to Australia and New Zealand in October on another leg of their WorldWired Tour, with Slipknot as support. The dates were to have been Metallica’s first in Australia since 2013, and their first in New Zealand since 2010. Those shows have now been postponed, the band explains on Twitter:

A Note from Lars, Kirk, and Rob

We are truly sorry to inform our fans and friends that we must postpone our upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.

As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years. He has now, unfortunately, had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again.

We fully intend to make our way to your part of the world as soon as health and schedule permit. We’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Once again, we are devastated that we have inconvenienced so many of you, especially our most loyal fans who travel great distances to experience our shows. We appreciate your understanding and support for James & thank you for being a part of our Metallica family.

All tickets purchased to the shows in Australia and New Zealand, including Enhanced Experiences and Black Tickets, will be fully refunded.

Metallica’s next scheduled dates aren’t until 2020, and include a San Francisco benefit show and a South American tour in April. See all of their upcoming dates below.

Metallica: Postponed 2019 Tour
Oct 17 Perth, Australia Optus Stadium
Oct 20 Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval
Oct 22 Melbourne, Australia Marvel Stadium
Oct 24 Melbourne, Australia Marvel Stadium
Oct 26 Sydney, Australia ANZ Stadium
Oct 29 Brisbane, Australia QSAC
Oct 31 Auckland, New Zealand Mt. Smart Stadium
Nov 02 Auckland, New Zealand Mt. Smart Stadium

Metallica: 2020 Tour
Mar 28 San Francisco, CA, United States The All Within My Hands Helping Hands Concert & Auction @ The Masonic
Apr 15 Santiago, Chile Estadio Nacional
Apr 18 Buenos Aires, Argentina Campo Argentino de Polo
Apr 21 Porto Alegre, Brazil Arena do Grêmio
Apr 23 Curitiba, Brazil Estádio Couto Pereira
Apr 25 São Paulo, Brazil Estádio do Morumbi
Apr 27 Belo Horizonte, Brazil Estádio do Mineirão