Metallica Announce Orion Music + More Festival

Breaking the news today, Metallica announced their upcoming music festival scheduled for summer. Orion Music + More is a “music, arts and lifestyle” event with multiple stages at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Scheduled for June 23 and 24, Orion not only features Metallica, but Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, the Gaslight Anthem, Cage the Elephant, F---ed Up, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Roky Erickson, the Black Angels, the Sword, and Liturgy are also added to the bill.

Not doing a standard concert set to promote Lulu or their upcoming solo album, Metallica is performing The Black Album the first night and Ride The Lightning the second. Tickets go for pre-sale February 8 at 10 a.m. and to the public on Saturday. In a statement, Lars Ulrich said: "We've had the idea of doing our own lifestyle festival with lots of diverse music and fun and games for years. Finally this year all the practical ducks lined up in a row, and we are beyond psyched to bring Orion to our fans, friends and the curious. After the most incredible of weeks ever in December 2011 celebrating our 30th anniversary at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA, bringing the spirit of that week, the looseness of that week, the possibilities of that week, the fan interactive elements of that week, and the (fill in your own blank here) of that week to a festival setting is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves."

Lulu, Metallica’s collaboration with Lou Reed, was met with polarized reviews and controversy in 2011. Recently in an interview with Brazilian podcast Wikimetal, Ulrich described the band’s decision to make the album, stating: "I can give you some bulls--t answer, but I don't look at things like that. The freedom of being in Metallica… What the success of Metallica affords us is to do these types of things. It's only in interviews six months later when you sit and talk about it and all of a sudden you have to figure out 'why.' I never asked, 'Why?' So Lou Reed says, 'Hey, you wanna make a record together one day?' 'OK.' I don't think it has to be more complicated than that. I would say maybe when the next Metallica record comes out, maybe in another year or two, I'll have more answers about this thing. I don't really know yet, 'cause I haven't had any distance from it yet. There's a lot of music and it's very overwhelming, and there's a lot to digest, so I don't even know the f---ing answer to it all, but I hope that in a couple of years I'll be able to look back on the experience and maybe I can answer it better. It's definitely very unique, and whether it's unique in a good way or unique in a not-so-good way, I have no idea yet. The people whose opinions I trust say it's very good. It feels very good; it's a lot of fun to do. But whether it's making a new sound, or paving a new way, I have no idea."