Lars Ulrich admits to nerves over Metallica’s “intimidating” and “overwhelming” Sphere residency
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has admitted that the prospect of the band’s upcoming Sphere residency is “overwhelming”.
While the rock icons have just concluded a huge European tour, which has seen them perform to mammoth crowds each night in some of the biggest stadiums on the continent, the Sphere is a whole different prospect.
In comparison, the Sphere, which only has a capacity of 20,000, should, in theory, be less intimidating than the 80,000-capacity London Stadium; the immersive nature of the venue makes it incomparable to stadiums, which are Metallica’s bread and butter.
During a recent conversation with The Edge, whose band U2 were the first act to perform at the Sphere in 2023, on SiriusXM, Ulrich explained how he’s feeling about their upcoming set of shows.
He explained of where they currently are with the show, “We’ve been working on this for a year, year and a half. And certainly thank you to you guys (U2). You know, I was there opening night and was so just fucking awestruck, inspired, energised, all of it. And it was just like, “Holy shit, this is somehow another frontier.”
Ulrich then said that it’s unlike any other tour they’ve had to prepare for, adding, “This is, you know, we’re all fortunate enough to be able to do these shows, to connect with these audiences, to play with the configuration, and to sort of reinvent the staging and all of it, all the time. But this is something else. This is another level.”
While Ulrich said Metallica are “so excited” for the Sphere, he did concede, “It’s going to be challenging, and obviously, I think like everybody else I’ve talked to about it’s overwhelming and fucking intimidating.”
Nevertheless, the drummer is hopeful that once they get the first performance out of the way that “we’ll have it somewhat together” and is enjoying being in uncharted territory, admitting, “We have a tendency to put ourselves in environments that we completely control and know.”
Metallica will play a total of 24 shows at the Sphere, which will kick off in October and take them through until March 2027.
Meanwhile, it was recently reported that Rush are in talks to bring their 50 Something Tour to Nevada for a residency.
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