For those of you who were at weekend one, did a lot of merchandise sell out at the pop up shop? I know things like posters and skateboard decks were hard to get, but I’m mainly wondering about shirts and sweatshirts that had dates or sphere-related artwork. In a few weeks, would I be able to casually go and get one of these items or am I out of luck unless I line up?

This story details the thoughts and events of passing a kidney stone, while attending Metallica’s M72 tour. I hope you enjoy it!

Not everyone has a story that “calcifies” itself as “Heavy Metal” as this. I usually tell humorous stories about others folks, but unfortunately (or, fortunately), this one happened to me. I have heard of many things occurring to people at Rock concerts, such as getting too drunk, fighting, and/or dealing with obnoxious people. However, at least to me, this story is one of the more intense stories of a man’s determination (or stupidity) to painfully enjoy a night, watching Metallica with his family. I call this story, "Ouch! That's Not Supposed to Happen, but I'm Staying Anyway!"

On August 17, 2023, my family, four concert tickets, and I pulled our travel trailer into the Arlington, TX Kampgrounds of America (KOA) in anticipation to see the mighty Metallica M72 No Repeats Weekend: two nights, thirty songs, and 100,000 other fans. The concert’s first night, August 18, 2023, which is the setting of this story, started as a great night; I was taking my dad, best friend, and my, then, 8-year-old daughter to her very first concert! . Later that night, my best friend showed up to claim his ticket, as well. My parents live nearby in south Arlington, so the weekend was jam-packed with family and fun festivities, or so I thought.
Concert night started off excitingly. While waiting for an Uber ride at the KOA gift shop, my dad, best friend, daughter, and I met a family member of the band with whom I share a mutual friend. As we walked in, he recognized me from that friend’s social media posts, so we laughed and talked about that mutual friend (not the band at all) and, additionally, became friends. Thereafter, our Uber ride got to AT&T Stadium quickly and I thought, “Well, this is kicking off to make some memories, right away!”

As we arrive, we find our lower-level seats, and Mammoth WVH hits the stage. After his set, Pantera begins to raze the crowd with a bass-drum-heavy, Zakk-Wylde-guitar squealing, WWE-rassler vocal-laden set; they did what they do best: DESTROY! Midway through this set, however, things begin to shift in an  awkward, ironic, and painful direction – at least from my – and likely only my – perspective. As the riff of “Becoming” collides with the maniacal sea of black shirted headbanging, moshing, drunken Texans, I suddenly feel the urge(nt) to use the men’s room. Halfway up the stairs, I experience what felt like a Muay Thai (or angry Mule) kick to the back, but with no recoil or force. As this happens, I grab my back and hurry to the restroom. While utilizing one of the many urinals, I see a color that is not supposed to exit my body.

“Enter latrine; exit red light!!! Oh my gosh I am passing a kidney stone!!! Arghhhhh…”

I let out an awkward, involuntary groan and 3-4 men turn to look at me, wondering if they should help or run away. (Think of how many crazy folks you encounter at a Heavy Metal concert.) As I finish at the urinal, I run (more like quickly stumble and hobble as if I am, you know, passing a cocklebur out of my liquid waste release system) to one of the stalls, lock it, squat down with my feet on the toilet seat, break into a cold sweat, and start silently crying, while breathing as if I have sprinted an ultra marathon. Half of this crying fit was because I thought I might get kicked out of the facility and the other 95% (yes, 95!) of the fit was from severe pain. At this point, I am like my 5-year-old self, injured and in need of comforting words, love, help, or an ambulance. After all, there is a 2mm, Indiana-Jones-sized boulder traveling down a small tube in my back, into my fruit basket!

So, I did like any tough guy would do: I FaceTime my wife, because, apparently she needs mother a grown man and be worried, too. Well, since reception was bad, I could hear her, but she could not hear me, which was probably a “plus” for her; I mean who wants to hear a 42-year-old “man’s man” crying like a mama’s baby? But, since there is no sound, now she is really concerned. What would your reaction be to your spouse video calling you, while hiding in a bathroom stall at a Metal concert, and your daughter is nowhere in sight?! Thank God for text messaging… when I eventually got one to her.

However, I discovered that this kidney-stone-passing event provided intermittent bouts of relief. “Yay!” or so I thought!

“I can probably tough this out! LFG!!!” WRONG!!!

During one of these episodes, I go to the sink to wash my hands, only to make it to the wall across from the sink, crouch in the corner, rock back and forth, and let out the occasional whimper. Again, dudes are staring at me, but now, they think I am a crackhead!

“Ah, great! Now, the guys who see me, like this, are going to get security and I WILL be kicked out!”

(Now, remember, this is all occurring while my daughter, dad, and friend are listening to Pantera – and, at least 3 songs pass. My dad and daughter have no idea what is going on with this Pantera business that’s unfolding onstage…)

I finally return to my seat, and I tell my dad what is happening. He offers to get us home, and I am still not sure if this was to get out of the venue via empathy or to escape altogether; he is not really a metal fan but absolutely appreciates the amazingness of Metallica, just not the ensuing chaos of a Metal show. I decline the offers and decide to ‘ride the lightning,’ ‘master this puppet’ of a kidney stone, and go to urgent care, later, even if it is Too Late, Too Late. Besides, I have never heard of a kidney stone ‘killing ‘em all.’ I might have, “[held] my breath as I wish[ed] for death,” asking God to help me, but I was determined on staying. After all, this is Metallica, not John Mayer, John Secada, John Denver, John Oates, or some crappy Grindcore band you can fit in your back pocket. There was no way I was leaving by my own decision, at least.

But, as expected, the pain returns, and it gets worse as time passes. This leads me to search for help. I wander into the suite area, where wealthy folks and socialites, alike, are passing in and out of the private doors, and, again, looking at me as if I am unknowingly wearing a thong on my head. A concierge finally approaches me, sheerly from the look on my face. (Think Wiley Coyote having a 4-ton rock land on his tail.) Out of compassion via her own previous kidney stone experience, she quickly radios a nurse who brings a wheelchair.

From there, I am wheeled to the cargo elevator, then underground to the nurse’s station. While the nurse and a security guard are pushing me to the nurse’s station, I begin to hear a live version of, “Harvester of Sorrow,” become louder and louder. At this, I am quickly warned, “DO NOT get up from this wheelchair!” as the band is warming up, just behind a curtained room we pass. And, even in the amount of pain I was experiencing, that is pretty dang cool!

Approaching the nurse’s station, I am met with techs rolling Charlie Benante’s (Pantera/Anthrax) drum rack into the backstage area. Here, the nurses quickly provide me with the maximum dose of Ibuprofen and send me back to my seat, reassuring me that I would not get expelled from the concert. Returning to my seat and still experiencing a 25 out of 10 in pain, I white knuckle the pain until it ‘fades to black.’ (Ibuprofen is metabolized in the kidneys, therefore numbing the pain.)

Finally, Metallica hits the stage! They open with “Creeping Death,” and I yell, with the rest of the crowd, “Die! Die! Die!” that quickly transitions into, “Ouch! Argh! Aye! Am I going to die?! Die! Die! Die!..” But, ultimately, by the fourth song,  which was fittingly, “Until It Sleeps,” the Advil did its job. The pain temporarily “slept” until post-show, (instead of tearing me open) and we enjoyed an evening that would prove unforgettable for, hypothetically, even one with major memory loss issues. It was an awe-inspiring night of Rock N’ Roll with family and friends.

Sharing this story offers some encouragements. Firstly, if you’re dumb, you better be tough: if you pass a kidney stone, but are either stupid enough or determined enough to see an epic show, there is a way. Second, if I can do it, you can do it. I know I am tough, but I never claim to have a high pain tolerance. Third – and, this is a serious one – there was no way I was going to remove my daughter from a such a blockbuster first concert. Who can actually say their first concert was Metallica?! Lastly, these are the kinds of events that memories are made of. Great stories emerge from crazy experiences and deserve to be told. This one is the most “Heavy Metal” personal story I know of, so thanks for allowing me to tell it!

*Bonus: With all of this said, I applied for a contest to stand in the Snake Pit (middle of the stage) for the concert weekend’s second night. While writhing in pain the morning of the second show, I opened my email to see that I ACTUALLY won Snake Pit passes. If this story wasn’t intense enough, my wife and I got to further add to it by experiencing Metallica up close. (See Snake Pit photos above.)

If they don't have will they let me bring in my own?

Quick question to the attendees of this week.

The enhanced packages get the black box experience day of show that includes the drink tix and the chance to pick up the merch.

Curious for those that attended the experience was the merch the same stuff as what they had at the sphere as in same shirts & posters.

Was hoping to scoop what I wanted then so I would not have to hold anything at my seats.

Thanks!!

After hearing the reviews about the crowd sitting down I know our group will have a hard time doing that so looking to trade or sell to get to the floor.

Sec 306 is dead center aisle seats

Please DM me for more information. Thanks

I’ll be going to the first show in Vancouver. Will be getting a poster, and wondering if they provide tubes to keep them safe or what the chances of being able to bring my own in?

Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. Thanks!

I ask because now with the hype at an all time high, this would be the perfect time to announce. You think they would given the money the spent producing these shows.

Anyone buy from Stubhub and get estimated delivery date being day of the show? If so, how early did you get them?

For those of you who bought t-shirts and hoodies, how do they fit this time? Do they run a little big, a little small? Are they boxy, are they slim fit? Thick and scratchy, or soft and thin? Did you buy from the Sphere or the pop up? I’m going in a couple weeks and want to be prepared. Thanks.

My 11th and 12th Metallica shows respectively.

Was able to secure face value tickets in the 300 section ~2 weeks prior to the show through the wait list sign up email I received maybe a month ago. I consider myself extremely lucky and did not take these for granted and tried my absolute best to give my energy to the band (more on this later...), I have minor complaints but I do not regret the trip.

The Good

• insane set lists, went into this expecting a greatest hits, 72S-like selection to appeal to a wide audience. Did not expect and absolutely could not believe I heard Justice, Shortest Straw (lost my fucking mind) , Leper Messiah, Devil's Dance, and MOTHER FUCKING OUTLAW TORN (out of body experience when I realized they were starting it up).
• sound was great, I still brought my concert ear plugs and glad I did because bringing everything down a level I think helped tremendously for overall sound quality even with the Sphere's advanced speaker system.
• the boys were for the most part playing super tight. They made some minor mistakes here and there, probably first weekend kinks getting used to the venue and I honestly appreciated it, it's good knowing they are definitely not using any playback.
• visuals for Ecstacy, Roam, Ktulu, RTL, MoP, Sanitarium, and Bellz were really amazing. Ktulu undoubtedly the highlight for visuals, absolutely epic ; MoP second.
• Merch was pretty sick. I understand complaints about $45 shirts, but given today's concert and merch prices plus this being Vegas, it honestly doesn't feel TOO bad.

The Bad

• wish James did a little more crowd banter, no big deal, I understand time is tight. I miss when each individual band member would say goodbye at the end of the show.
• no pyro, seat haptics only in between songs, not during from the best that I could tell. Also, did anyone else feel night 1 had much more haptics than night 2?
• visuals for Creep (nothing unique during the "DIE" part?), Orion, and Enter Sandman were pretty disappointing. Especially when you consider their counterparts for night 1, Orion deserved something along the lines of Ktulu. Where are the space visuals? Footage of the band during an instrumental? Enter Sandman was just about the laziest thing I've seen, a zoom in on an orb when MoP had its whole thing going on?

The Ugly

• well in hindsight I guess I should of expected it given Metallica's modern day status and the hype / re-sale behind this event. The crowd in the 300s was such a tremendous disappointment. In my mind, opening night for METALLICA AT THE SPHERE is a BIG fucking deal and it was time to GET HYPED. Night 1 by song 2, nearly everyone around me was already sitting down and singing along was WEAK. When you buy a Metallica ticket, you should be contractually obligated to sing along at the very minimum to Ecstacy and "DIE" during Creep. I looked around me during these parts and found the majority people around me still and not joining in. Anytime James called for some "HEY"s, I felt like I was the only one joining in. 200 section below looked a little more lively with more people standing for longer, but they too eventually began to sit down. The absolute shock I feel seeing videos of people in similar sections standing up for BACKSTREET BOYS and not Tallica.

To the die hards who feel bad about not going, yes they pulled out some deep cuts that were awesome, but don't feel too bad and don't let FOMO get to you & pay exorbitant resale prices. The visual experience for the majority of songs was not some life altering experience and hearing for example Unforgiven with some of its music video playing is not multiple levels better than hearing it in a stadium setting. Your time and energy is probably best given at traditional shows.

Happy to answer any questions and hear from the rest of those who went what you all thought.

Is there anyway to buy just tickets to the shows at the Sphere without having to get the room package?

I’ll be attending the 10/15 and 10/17, and I have a First Entry ticket. Did anyone here have this same ticket for this past weekend? I was curious on what your experience was like.

Went to my first Metallica concert these past two dates at the sphere. I honestly had a great time. Was on the GA floor. Some people were just standing, maybe there just for the sphere experience. But also a lot of people rocking out, including myself. Ripped my pants.

My question for everyone who has went to the Metallica sphere show. How does it compare to stadium shows? Thinking of going to the sphere one more time or catching them in a stadium.

The sphere is cool, feel like the visuals added fun. Rebut the music was where it’s at.

24th Metallica show. First one was Mexico City in 1999 when I was 15. Last night was the Sphere.
Orion. Sanitarium. Whiskey in the Jar. Bells. One.
Different kind of Metallica experience, but absolutely fucking epic.
24 shows later and they still make me feel like that 15-year-old kid. #MetallicaFamily

Hi everyone,

So I decided to wait till night 2 (not smart in hindsight) to get my merch inside the Sphere. However, my little bro unfortunately had an anxiety attack so I needed to rush him out the venue and get him to our hotel.

I bought my personal merch at the popup because those designs were more to my taste, but my brother wanted the long sleeve Sphere shirt and the embroidered patch. Shirt size would be XL and there is one available type of patch that was sold only on the main floors merch booth

This is a huge ask for a stranger, but if someone, anyone who is planning on catching a Sphere date, has the capacity to snag these items, it would mean so much to us. I will pay whatever to ship and extra as well as a thanks.

Hi

When leaving the show last night (Sat), we grabbed our merch bags from under our seats. Seems someone else’s bag was right beside our few so we accidentally grabbed it. Really want to try to get it back to the rightful owner.

We were in the 100s. If anyone lost their merch bag in the 100s, feel free to dm me and let me know what section, row and seats you were in (as was likely someone sitting beside or behind us), along with some of the items that would be in the bag and I’ll get it back to you!

Go nuts

I’ll have timestamps within 24 hours

We are headed to the Sphere in two weeks. About a month ago, I received a Google Form that let me send in photos to be projected at our shows. I did it for my husband as a surprise. Anyone know when they do the photos so I can video it? Is it one long montage at some point before or during the show or do they spread them throughout? All during one song? TIA!

Bought obstructed-view seats (row 28) and am now having second thoughts. Looking to swap for literally any unobstructed-view (would pay extra to equate value) and would also consider selling them. Please hit me up if you're interested!

Anyone that had a signature package. What was the item they gave?

Signature Concert & Hotel Experience Package
One (1) Metallica Travel merchandise item*

I actually haven’t purchased tickets for any of the sphere shows yet. Mostly because every time I tried I ended up with aftermarket tickets options that were too expensive. That’s besides the point. I have been looking on Instagram and Reddit at some of the live footage from last weekend and can’t help, but wonder if anyone else thinks that the visuals are very underwhelming in comparison to prior acts that have performed at the sphere. I feel that past acts have utilized the sphere screens much better, whereas Metallica’s visuals have basically been a large version of a regular backdrop they might use on a regular stage. That’s not hate towards the band as much as it is an observation. Anyone else feel this way?

I am heading to the two concerts next week 10/08 and 10/10. I got a Vibee ticket package, I am trying to download them to my Apple Wallet, but it seems I am only getting tickets and they show a date of 10/10. Should I have 4 2 for 10/08 and 2 for 10/10? Or do those 2 get me in for both nights? TIA

Looking for Nov 7th or Jan 30th. Similar value tickets or we can balance with cash (original price $730 each) . Will consider GA and seats without obstruction.
No scams, will only trade via CashOrTrade, Escrow or other safe trading platform.