It's been just shy of a month since Metallica's return to China in 2017 was officially confirmed with the announcement of their Beijing show on January 18 - so long that we were starting to worry we'd been a little hasty in assuming they'd add a long-rumoured Shanghai date to the tour as well. Online chatter that a (spurious) complaint had been filed regarding the band's appearance in the capital compounded concerns that the Shanghai concert wouldn't be happening.
But finally the permit has been approved for Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo to play the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Sunday 15 January. Tickets start from 480RMB and go on sale from 2pm on Tuesday 13 December.
Metallica will be back in China to tout their new album Hardwired... To Self-Destruct, the eleventh studio LP from the band. Their first Shanghai show back in 2013 - attended by fans from all over China - sold out in minutes and prompted promoters AEG Live to add a second date at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. It was easily one of the live music highlights of the year, with the band playing a fantastic set to an enraptured audience.
Tickets for the Beijing show sold out quickly, and we expect the Shanghai show to follow suit, so be prepared to act quickly if you want to see them here.
Get your hands on a ticket and you can expect something like this:
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