It’s King’s Day in the Netherlands – anational holiday to celebrate the birthday of King Willem-Alexander, who this year turns 56. The streets and canals of Amsterdam are awash with pissed-up citizens dressed in the royal colour of orange. But Metal Hammer don’t see any of that first-hand. We’re five miles outside of town, where 71,000 Metallica fans are gathering at the Johan Cruijff Arena for a party of their own. It’s the first date of Metallica’s M72 World Tour, in support of 11th album 72 Seasons, and tonight the band will debut their new show.
“I’ve travelled halfway across the world to be here today,” grins Jason, a 52-year-old fan from Newcastle, Australia, who’s wearing a zip-up Master Of Puppets hoodie. “It was actually 31 hours, all up, to be here.”
Is it worth it?
“Totally. 100%. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” says Jason, who has been to more than 70 Metallica shows in 22 countries. “I love everything about Metallica – what they represent, the connection with their fans, and obviously their music. Yeah – pretty much everything!”
From the outside, the Johan Cruijff Arena – home to AFC Ajax football club – looks like a giant hamster cage, with long, transparent tubes housing escalators to transport people to their seats. Around the perimeter and with an hour until doors, fans are queuing at the t-shirt stands – stocked with 15 different designs – grabbing food from hotdog vans, spilling out of bars and meeting up with friends.
Because this is Metallica, today isn’t just the start of an ordinary tour, it’s the start of an The M72 Tour will go through Europe – including Download festival – followed by North America, and is currently scheduled to finish on September 29, 2024, in Mexico City. They will play two shows per place with no
