metallica tour 2023 song list

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METALLICA M72 No Repeat Weekend World Tour 2023-2024 Setlist Playlist

Recent setlist playlist of all the bands, on the METALLICA M72 World Tour No Repeat Weekend with two sets of METALLICA, Pantera, Greta Van Fleet, Architects, Volbeat, Ice Nine Kills, Mammoth MVH and Five Finger Death Punch.

Playlists updated on 7/6/2023 with July shows from Mammoth MVH, Ice Nine Kills, Pantera, and both Metallica sets.

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METALLICA / PANTERA M72 Show Setlist Playlist

Recent setlist playlist for the Metallica / Pantera shows with sets from Mammoth WVH, Pantera, and Metallica for Friday. Then sets from Ice Nine Kills, Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica, again, for Sunday. The two Metallica sets are unique without repeats. Updated on 7/6/2023 with July shows from Mammoth MVH, Ice Nine Kills, Pantera and both Metallica sets. 🤘🏽🤘🤘🏾🤘🏻🤘🏿🤘🏼

METALLICA / GRETA VAN FLEET M72 Show Setlist Playlist

Recent setlist playlist for the Metallica / Greta Van Fleet shows with sets from Mammoth WVH, Greta Van Fleet, and Metallica for Friday. Then sets from Ice Nine Kills, Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica, again, for Sunday. The two Metallica sets are unique without repeats.

METALLICA / ARCHITECTS M72 Show Setlist Playlist

Recent setlist playlist for the Metallica / Architects shows with sets from Mammoth WVH, Architects, and Metallica for Friday. Then sets from Ice Nine Kills, Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica, again, for Sunday. The two Metallica sets are unique without repeats.

METALLICA / VOLBEAT M72 Show Setlist Playlist

Recent setlist playlist for the Metallica / Volbeat shows with sets from Mammoth WVH, Volbeat, and Metallica for Friday. Then sets from Ice Nine Kills, Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica, again, for Sunday. The two Metallica sets are unique without repeats.

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Metallica Kicks Off M72 World Tour: Set List and Videos

Metallica kicked off their M72 World Tour  at Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff Arena on Thursday, beginning a sprawling road trip that will run through late 2024.

You can see the set list and videos from the performance below.

The metal giants kicked off their 16-song set with "Orion" — their first time using the  Master of Puppets instrumental as a show opener since 2011, according to setlist.fm . Other mainstays such as "Master of Puppets," "Battery," "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Sad but True" also appeared.

Several classic songs were notably omitted on opening night, including "Enter Sandman" and "One" (the band played no tracks off  ... And Justice for All ). Metallica is playing two shows in each city on this tour, changing set lists and opening acts each night to create a "No Repeat Weekend," so those songs could still appear at their next show.

Watch Metallica Play 'Lux Æterna' at M72 World Tour Kickoff

Watch Metallica Play 'Fuel' at M72 World Tour Kickoff

The band also played three songs off its new album  72 Seasons : "Lux Æterna" and the live debuts of "Screaming Suicide" and "Sleepwalk My Life Away." Metallica released their 11th album two weeks ago, marking their first full-length since 2016's  Hardwired ... to Self-Destruct . The LP debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, ending a chart-topping streak that dated back to their 1991 self-titled album .

James Hetfield described the album's concept in an official statement: "Seventy-two seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told 'who we are' by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry."

Watch Metallica Play 'Seek & Destroy' at M72 World Tour Kickoff

Watch Metallica Play 'Screaming Suicide' at M72 World Tour Kickoff

Metallica will return to the Johan Cruyff Arena on Saturday with Floor Jansen and Ice Nine Kills in place of Architects and Mammoth WVH . Other support acts on different legs of the tour include Pantera , Greta Van Fleet and Five Finger Death Punch.

Watch Metallica Play 'Sleepwalk My Life Away' at M72 World Tour Kickoff

Metallica, 4/27/23, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam 1. "Orion" 2. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" 3. "Holier Than Thou" 4. "King Nothing" 5. "Lux Æterna" 6. "Screaming Suicide" 7. "Fade to Black" 8. "Sleepwalk My Life Away" 9. "Nothing Else Matters" 10. "Sad but True" 11. "The Day That Never Comes" 12. "Ride the Lightning" 13. "Battery" 14. "Fuel" 15. "Seek & Destroy" 16. "Master of Puppets"

Metallica Albums Ranked

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Metallica’s 2023 M72 Tour: The Dream Setlist

Billboard's vision for an ideal stop on the metal gods' upcoming global trek.

By Bobby Olivier

Bobby Olivier

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“No repeat weekend.” 

That’s how Metallica has branded the setlists for its upcoming M72 stadium tour, celebrating both the band’s new album 72 Seasons (out April 14) and 40 years of thrash-metal dominance.  

Each city stop on the new roadshow — Metallica’s first full trek in four years —  includes two nights promising completely different sets, encouraging Metallica lifers to attend both gigs for a deep dive into the band’s maniacal catalog. 

As the tour kicks off in Amsterdam April 27, we’ve been fantasizing about what a given night will look like — and which songs will make the cut during which show. Surely, as James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo exit a city, there will be a consensus among fans as to which night offered the better gig. 

Of course, it’s a matter of opinion. The most devout diehards would be happy with a set more focused on deep cuts and credence given to ‘83’s seminal Kill ‘Em All debut, celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer, while the multi-generational Metallica families would be down to hear more off 2016’s explosive Hardwired … To Self-Destruct. And of course, there’s the contrarian who actually wants to hear stuff off St. Anger . 

With all of this, here’s our dream setlist for the tour; a best-case-scenario M72 set, taking into consideration the band’s past tours — and leaving enough meat on the bone for night two. The setlist below would clock in around two hours, in step with their massive Hardwired tour that ran from 2017 to 2019. 

Let’s rage!

“Fight Fire With Fire”

In this dream, Metallica saves more of the 21st Century stuff for night two and instead buckles down on the fan-beloved oldies, a commitment made apparent immediately. As the stadium fades to black (get it), an acoustic, almost baroque guitar melody begins to blare from the PA. The band takes the stage, Ulrich leads them in with some big, extended cymbal fill and boom — Hammett’s first godkiller riff gets the place moving. 

“Trapped Under Ice”

The band does not pause, does not welcome the crowd, not yet. Instead they remain in 1984 with another Ride the Lightning shredder, thrilling elder fans who attribute their hearing loss to seeing the band about 10 too many times. Some wild winter scene plays out on the Jumbotron, with an abominable snowman emerging from a frozen lake. He inexplicably breathes blue flame; no one bats an eye. 

“Disposable Heroes” 

We’ll give “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and “Orion” to night two and here harness the maximum octane of “Disposable Heroes,” the night’s first offering from Master of Puppets, with its forever-relevant barkings of the horrors and futility of war. “Back to the front!” the crowd roars. It’s largely been Hammett’s show so far as the solo on “Heroes” is pure guitar triumph, noodling its way to hell as a warzone rages on the big screen. 

“Wherever I May Roam”  

Okay, back to the Black Album fan favorites and another titanic sing-along, as fans get the heartiest Hetfield “ yeah-yeah ”s of the night so far. It’s also a relative break for the band; less demanding parts, steadying them for what’s to come. 

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

The stadium goes dark again, momentarily, as the band catches its breath amid the cheers of 60,000 fans. Then the monster video screen illuminates once more. It depicts an unholy black church built into a mountainside. The camera zooms in to focus on the belltower. The bell begins to ring. The crowd shrieks as Trujillo begins the famous bass melody, passed from the late Cliff Burton to Jason Newsted to him. Trujillo does his funny crabwalk thing as Hetfield hammers the mammoth vocal. If this rendition of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is anything like the beast brought to stadiums on the Hardwired Tour, the crowd bellowing “Take a look to the sky just before you die/ It’s the last time you will! ” will be enough to send fissures through the parking lot asphalt. An unlucky Kia Optima tumbles into the abyss. 

“Lux Æterna” 

Hetfield talks to the crowd for the first time and plugs the new album 72 Seasons, asking how many in the audience have bought the new album. Everyone screams in affirmation and they are indeed telling the truth — metal fans still buy records! And so the band launches into the only new track on the night, the searing and fun lead single “Lux Æterna” — which unloads its stadium-ready chorus as people sing along, without a clue of what “Lux Æterna” actually means. A few dudes who drank their Bud Light tallboys a little too fast run to the bathroom. 

“Atlas, Rise!”

The best song off their preceding LP Hardwired … To Self-Destruct (and a 2018 Grammy nominee for best rock song) comes hurtling through next, with a riff and drum crash that beats the crowd into submission. Meanwhile, a 50-foot tall Atlas — Greek mythology’s eternal shoulderer of the heavens — inflates behind the band, holding a globe large enough to be rented as an AirBnb. Yes, Atlas literally rises! Fans gawk as the song’s hard-rock-and-blues chug soldiers on. 

“Creeping Death” 

For the next 80 minutes or so, nothing released in the last 25 years is referenced. Everything is for the graying diehards, beginning with the mammoth march of “Creeping Death.” The call-and-response “die!” chants force a helicopter flying overhead to be diverted. Fans don’t yet know this is the last Ride the Lightning track of the night — “Fade to Black,” the title track and “The Call of Ktulu” are saved for night two — but that’s cool, there’s much hell-raising still to be had. So let it be written!

“Harvester of Sorrow” 

As far as … And Justice For All goes, we’re also fine giving “One” and “Blackened” to the inferior second night, and providing an underappreciated track for the real fans in “Harvester of Sorrow,” for which the bass is turned up so loudly it nearly cracks a few fans’ sternums in the front rows. The relatively simpler riff allows for steady headbanging. A few more casual fans make one last run to the beer stand to find out it’s about to close — the true harvesters of sorrow!

“The Unforgiven” 

An acoustic guitar is brought out. Everyone takes a breath. No one is willing to admit they’re thrilled to sit a spell as the Black Album power ballad kicks in. Hammett still annihilates the solos, of course. 

Hetfield schmoozes with the crowd a little, asking whoever’s drunk to throw up their devil horns. Heavy metal, man! The frontman then begins to note how the band’s seminal debut album Kill ‘Em All turns 40 in July, and to celebrate, they are going to play a mini-set. The next 15 minutes are pure speedfreak bedlam, beginning with the aptly named “Whiplash,” backed by the band’s oldest photos plastered on the big screen, surrounded by bloody hammer iconography. They were just kids! 

“The Four Horsemen” 

Onward with the galloping riffs! Around the stadium, the know-it-all friend of every group is sure to point out how Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine co-wrote the song before he was fired. Luckily no one can hear them over the solos, which signal intelligent life in nearby galaxies. Everyone is thrilled, as “Four Horsemen” has been only scantily performed over the last decade.

“Seek and Destroy”

The band ties a pretty, pulverizing bow on Kill ‘Em All with the album’s most enduring, well-known track — it feels like home for fans who’ve been with them since their mighty Megaforce Records beginnings, sleeping on floors in New Jersey. Everyone sings the repetitive hook and cheers once the big Judas Priest-y solo begins to unfurl. 

“King Nothing” (with Phil Anselmo) 

As the mini-set concludes, a jewel-studded crown appears on the screen, rotating gloriously as it descends onto the skull of a festering zombie — night two can have “Fuel,” we’ll take this killer third single from Load, with its incendiary hard-rock chorus. To boost the track, the band welcomes fellow metal god Phil Anselmo (Pantera is opening the tour) to the stage, for some extra fury. The song gives way to an extended outro with a snippet of “Walk” as the stadium’s foundation quakes. 

The band turns “Battery,” usually used as a set or encore opener, on its hurtling head, closing the main set with a final burst of pandemonium. The acoustic riff hypes the crowd and then Hetfield, under a spotlight, unleashes that famed, punishing riff. Hammett delivers the knockout blow with one of the best solos in his pantheon and band trots off. No fans dare leave, knowing what’s still to come.

ENCORE : “Master of Puppets” 

After a few moments and requisite “Metal-lica!” chants, the foursome re-emerges. Hetfield has swapped his sweat-soaked black t-shirt for an identical (albeit dry) black t-shirt. And then it hits: Dun … dun-dun-dun! The stadium erupts once more, let’s go! The cosmic “Master! MASTER!” sing-along tears a chasm into the fabric of time and space, shifting dimensions and laws of physics. Puddles of Michelob Ultra form floating helixes throughout the concourse, frightening concession workers. The Kia Optima rises from the Earth’s molten core to its rightful parking space. 

“Nothing Else Matters”

The stadium returns to this plane as Hammett strums those open strings, summoning the night’s final power ballad. Fans know the night is slowly coming to an end, but no one wants to believe it as they wail the iconic chorus: “Never cared for what they do! Never cared for what they know-ow-owwww!” 

“Enter Sandman” 

Hetfield shouts that they’ve got one more, and promises to “see you for night two!” before unloading metal’s most recognizable riff. It’s a party, a finale, a storm of thunder and bursting flames from the pyro cannons. In this moment, no one is sick of “Sandman” anymore, happily barking “exit light, enter night!” Though once Hetfield reaches the spoken prayer part, all the dads begin to file out, hoping to beat the traffic. But then they miss the extended outro, with pieces from “Frayed Ends of Sanity,” borrowing from the Hardwired Tour. 

It’s an unforgettable night of metal prowess, and a culmination of one of rock’s bar-none most untouchable acts of the last half-century. But who knows — maybe the real tour will be even better than this fan-fiction fever dream. We’ll be counting the days!

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Metallica Concert Setlists: What to Expect at the M72 World Tour

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Metallica have become one of the highest-grossing live acts of all-time for good reason: Aside from hosting a staggering collection of classic concerts , the heavy metal band has continued to push themselves as a touring band after performing shows every year for over four nearly uninterrupted decades.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s latest massive outing, the M72 World Tour , offers the most ambitious and immersive experience of the group’s career, with each city’s “No Repeat Weekend” visit featuring “2 Nights. 2 Different Sets. 2 Different Opening Acts. In the Round.” The M72 World Tour officially kicked off in April 2023, just behind the release of their eleventh album 72 Seasons , and follows a five-leg circuit that will see the band return to North America in August 2024.

Take a look at a common Metallica tour setlist and find everything you need to know about the band’s concerts before they return to the U.S. in August 2024.

Metallica Concert Setlist Info

Metallica have prided themselves on creating a unique setlist for each show since touring their 2003 album St. Anger , but the group decided to raise the bar further for the M72 World Tour , which features two shows per city with no-repeat songs. The stadium-sized venues will also face a new configuration with the band performing on a ring-shaped stage, placing their dedicated Snake Pit fan section directly in the center.

Although each Metallica setlist is unique by design, the band still delivers many of their most familiar, most-played songs, including “Master of Puppets,” “Enter Sandman,” “Seek & Destroy” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The band has also seamlessly installed newer material from their 2023 album 72 Seasons such as the Grammy-winning title track and singles like “Lux Æterna,” “If Darkness Had a Son” and “Too Far Gone?”

Below, you can find a breakdown of Metallica’s live setlist from a two-night tour stop at Detroit, Michigan’s Ford Field on November 10 and 12, 2023; the performance closed the first of two North American legs within the ongoing M72 World Tour . Check back after the tour resumes in North America in August 2024 to see updated setlist information.

Metallica M72 World Tour Setlist:

• Creeping Death
• Harvester of Sorrow
• Through the Never
• Leper Messiah
• Too Far Gone?
• Fade to Black
• Shadows Follow
• Nothing Else Matters
• Sad but True
• The Day That Never Comes
• Seek & Destroy
• Master of Puppets
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Ride the Lightning
• Dirty Window
• If Darkness Had a Son
• Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
• You Must Burn!
• The Call of Ktulu
• The Unforgiven
• Wherever I May Roam
• Moth Into Flame
• Fight Fire With Fire
• Whiskey in the Jar ([traditional] cover)
• Enter Sandman

Source: Setlist.fm.

Metallica Tour Stats

Current tour: M72 World Tour (2023-2024)

Set time: On the M72 World Tour, Metallica usually went on stage between 8:45 and 8:55 p.m., though set times vary. Check back once the M72 World Tour resumes in North America for updated information.

Length of average Metallica show: 2 hours, 5 minutes (on M72 World Tour)

Past tours:

• Kill ‘Em All for One (1983–1984)
• Ride the Lightning Tour (1985)
• Damage, Inc. Tour (1986-1987)
• Damaged Justice (1988-1989)
• Wherever We May Roam Tour (1991-1992)
• Nowhere Else to Roam (1993)
• Shit Hits the Sheds Tour (1994)
• Poor Touring Me (1996-1997)
• Poor Re-Touring Me Tour (1998-1999)
• Summer Sanitarium Tour (2000)
• Summer Sanitarium 2003 (2003)
• Madly in Anger with the World Tour (2003-2004)
• Escape from the Studio ’06 (2006)
• World Magnetic Tour (2008-2010)
• 2011 Vacation Tour (2011)
• The Full Arsenal Tour (2012)
• Summer Tour 2013 (2013)
• By Request Tour (2014)
• Lords of Summer Tour (2015)
• WorldWired Tour (2016-2019)

Metallica Discography:

• Kill ‘Em All  (1983)
• Ride the Lightning (1984)
• Master of Puppets (1986)
• …And Justice for All (1988)
• Metallica (1991)
• Load (1996)
• Reload (1997)
• St. Anger (2003)
• Death Magnetic (2008)
• Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016)
• 72 Seasons (2023)

Metallica’s Popular Songs:

• “Enter Sandman”
• “Nothing Else Matters”
• “Master of Puppets”
• “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

Metallica’s Recent Opening Acts:

• Mammoth WVH
• Five Finger Death Punch
• Ice Nine Kills
• Greta Van Fleet
• Floor Jansen

How to Get Tickets For Metallica Concerts

Tickets for Metallica’s  M72 World Tour are available via Ticketmaster. Standard Tickets, including single and 2-day tickets, are available for the following dates.

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• Concert Setlists

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Metallica's 2023 setlist: Every song they played on Night 2 in Phoenix

Metallica dropped two songs from the opening night of their 2023 No Repeat Weekend in metro Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 1, before rescheduling the second night to allow James Hetfield time to bounce back from the bout of COVID-19 that led to him dropping those songs.

Eight days later, the thrash-metal icons returned to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, bringing their concert to a headbanging conclusion with the one-two punch of “One” and “Enter Sandman.”

The thrash-metal icons have promised to deliver two completely different concerts in each city they hit on a stadium tour in support of their first studio release in seven years. And that’s exactly what we got – preceded by two different openers each night.

Pantera and Mammoth WVH got things going on that first date. On Night 2, Five Finger Death Punch and Suicidal Tendencies did the honors.

They even played three different songs each night from “72 Seasons,” an album that’s been hailed as both their best thrash album of the century and a savage return to the form of their earliest triumphs, in a set that touched on every era.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

They did three songs each from “Ride the Lightning” and "The Black Album" and reached back to their seminal debut, the 40-years-old yet somehow ageless “Kill ‘Em All,” to open the concert with the aptly titled “Whiplash.”

And we got "Master of Puppets," the song that was supposed to end their set on Night 1.

But it's a DRY extreme heat: All the concerts canceled by extreme heat in Phoenix, from Disturbed to Danzig

Metallica 2023 tour Night 2 setlist in Phoenix

Here’s every song Metallica played in their second show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

“Ride the Lightning”

“Dirty Window”

“72 Seasons”

“If Darkness Had a Son”

“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” (preceded by “Miller Time,” an instrumental doodle by Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo).

“You Must Burn!”

“The Call of Ktulu”

“The Unforgiven”

“Wherever I May Roam”

“Master of Puppets”

“Blackened”

“Whiskey in the Jar”

“Enter Sandman”

Reach the reporter at  [email protected]  or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter)  @EdMasley .

Support local journalism.   Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Metallica release pro-shot ‘Master of Puppets’ footage with lightning in Munich

The moment went viral during the band’s ongoing ‘72 Seasons’ tour

Metallica have released pro-shoot footage of their ‘Master of Puppets’ performance in Munich, Germany, which took place on May 24. Watch the clip below.

• READ MORE: Metallica live in Amsterdam: still the greatest heavy metal band around

The performance went viral last month due to the weather that took place above the open-air Olympiastadion stadium – amidst heavy rain, as the band ripped into the song’s iconic opening riff, a bolt of lightning appeared in the sky.

A fan filmed the incident and tweeted about it: “Went to the Metallica concert in München today, a thunderstorm happened and it made for the coolest fucking intro of all time”.

NME spoke with the band last year , where drummer Lars Ulrich opened up about the impact of Stranger Things using ‘Master of Puppets’ during a key scene in the show’s season four finale.

“We see a lot of 13 to 14-year-olds coming for the first time,” said Ulrich. “There’s always been a coming-of-age element to our shows, and just look at the Stranger Things phenomena of last summer.

“That came out of nowhere and all of a sudden introduced Metallica to a whole other set of younger people.”

Recommended

Metallica are currently embarking on a tour supporting their latest album, 2023’s ‘72 Seasons’. As part of the itinerary, the band performs two sets in every city with different setlists and opening acts.

On the band’s second performance in Munich (May 26), they debuted ‘Inamorata’ , a ‘72 Seasons’ track that’s also the longest recording of an original Metallica song in their discography – at just over 11 minutes.

The honour of Metallica’s longest recording overall goes to ‘Mercyful Fate’. A medley of covers paying tribute to the work of the titular Danish heavy metal band, its runtime of 11:11 edges out ‘Inamorata’ by a second. ‘Mercyful Fate’ is included in the band’s 1998 compilation album ‘Garage Inc’.

As for the album ’72 Seasons’ itself, NME ’s Kevin EG Perry called it “a ragged beast that explodes out of the traps and never lets up” in a four-star review .

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UPCOMING TOUR DATES

M72 world tour 2023/4.

June 9, 2024

June 14, 2024

June 16, 2024

June 26, 2024

June 29, 2024

July 5, 2024

July 7, 2024

July 12, 2024

July 14, 2024

August 2, 2024

August 4, 2024

August 9, 2024

August 11, 2024

August 16, 2024

August 18, 2024

August 23, 2024

August 25, 2024

August 30, 2024

September 1, 2024

September 20, 2024

September 22, 2024

September 27, 2024

September 29, 2024

Explore Past Shows, Set Lists, Photos & More

The Great Concert Ticket Bust

Big musical acts are canceling tours. Are Taylor Swift and Beyoncé the only artists who can sell out shows?

It's probably really great to be Jennifer Lopez . Of my running mental list of people whose lives seem absolutely awesome, she easily falls within the top 10. But just because she lives a charmed life doesn't mean things go great all of the time, and, lately, things have been a little less than ideal for the actor/singer/dancer from the Bronx. Her relationship with Ben Affleck is said to be on the rocks, and beyond any personal woes, she's got professional pains, too. Namely, JLo is apparently having a hard time selling tickets.

Lopez announced a tour to support her new album ( and truly wild accompanying movie ), "This Is Me … Now," earlier this year, but she wound up canceling a bunch of dates amid weak sales. She then rebranded the tour as a greatest-hits show, but fans still weren't tripping over themselves to see her. At the end of May, JLo decided to cancel her tour , saying she was "heartsick" but needed to spend time with her family and friends.

In JLo's defense, she's not the only one having trouble packing venues. The rock duo The Black Keys scrapped a planned arena tour and are expected to announce a "revised" set of dates at smaller venues. On social media, fans have noted that some shows from the pop artists Troye Sivan and Charli XCX as well as the band Wallows appear to be undersold. The Latin trap artist Bad Bunny recently pulled out of a show in Minneapolis, reportedly amid weak sales. Coachella lagged this year, and there's been chatter about a variety of acts not hitting home runs sales-wise in some instances and locations, including Cardi B, Justin Timberlake, and Pink.

This doesn't mean the entire concert industry is in disarray. Taylor Swift is unstoppable . As is Beyoncé whenever she is on the road. Acts such as Luke Combs, Zach Bryan, and Olivia Rodrigo are selling a ton. Dead & Company, the successor band to the Grateful Dead, is adding dates at the Las Vegas Sphere. Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster and rules the roost in the live-events space, had a huge 2023, estimating that 145 million fans attended more than 50,000 events, a 20% increase in fans over the year before. However, not everything is going smoothly for everyone. For some artists, conditions aren't so favorable, and they're struggling to pull in the crowds they anticipated, at least right out of the gate.

"Concert promotion is a betting business. You don't always win. And sometimes, you can be humbled," said Jarred Arfa, the head of global music at Independent Artist Group, whose client roster includes Billy Joel, 50 Cent, and Metallica.

Ticket prices are just astronomical right now.

There are a combination of factors that are dragging down some artists' ticket sales. For one thing, a lot of acts are on tour at the moment. In the wake of the pandemic, artists have been eager to get back out there and recoup lost time and money. Even if the return hasn't been smooth , basically anyone who can be touring is, meaning the space is crowded and oversaturated.

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"You'd never before had a moment in time where all the horses lined up at the starting gate and they all went out on the road at the same time," said Gary Witt, the CEO and co-owner of The Pabst Theater Group in Milwaukee.

The world really is your oyster right now when it comes to catching a show. But it also means that people have a ton of options, and there is only so much time to go around. Maybe you already saw your favorite artist when they first went on the road after the worst of COVID passed, and you don't feel especially inspired to go see them again. Or you like the band or singer in question plenty, but not enough to go through all the rigamarole of seeing them live. Either way, the once feverish demand for that ticket has probably cooled.

Pricing is also a factor. Anyone who's looked for concert tickets recently has probably been gobsmacked at the cost. Many consumers have been spending through inflation , even if begrudgingly so, but no one's budget is limitless, especially as prices for basically everything — including tickets to live events — remain elevated. Pollstar calculated that the average ticket price for the top 100 tours in the first quarter of this year was $123.25, an all-time. Its data indicates that the average ticket price for a Bad Bunny ticket is $290, for Justin Timberlake $216, and for Nicki Minaj $149.

"Ticket prices are just astronomical right now," said David "5-1" Norman, an industry veteran who has toured with Prince, Green Day, and Alicia Keys. "And if you're bringing a child with you, and then you have to stay overnight and gas and hotel and then food, that stuff adds up."

Just having the big song doesn't necessarily always translate into ticket sales.

Going on tour is always a gamble based on numerous factors including ticket history, streaming performance, email list sizes, and online attention. But there are no guarantees that any of that will translate to hard ticket sales . There are artists who might have massive numbers online but whose fans are only surface-level and don't really care enough to appear at a show. The way artists break out on social media nowadays makes it even harder to figure out whether that might be the case. Having a couple of hits on Spotify or TikTok doesn't mean someone can sell out a stadium.

That's why, in some cases, there seems to be a degree of overshooting. Artists (and their agents and managers and promoters) are trying to sell out bigger venues than they can. A more conservative approach would be to book a handful of big venues and see how it goes before committing to more, but that's not the approach everyone is taking.

"We have some hard-rock artists who you've never even heard of and they sell out everywhere, but they have that loyal fan base," Arfa said. "Just having the big song doesn't necessarily always translate into ticket sales." For every five or six acts that are doing great touring, one is a little clunky, he added. "We're having a couple conversations where we're thinking it may be best to push into Q1 of next year because of a high level of traffic on the road right now."

A spokesperson for Live Nation said in a statement that over 100 million tickets have been sold this year, even with fewer stadium shows touring, and that sales for shows in arenas, amphitheaters, theaters, and clubs are up "double digits" from last year. "Every year some events naturally fall off for various reasons, and in 2024 across all venue types we've seen a 4% cancellation rate – which is flat to last year," the spokesperson said.

Every artist and situation is unique. Bad Bunny may not have been able to sell such high-priced tickets in Minneapolis, but he's sold a ton of other places. JLo seems to have a lot more on her plate than trying to tour right now, and the Black Keys will probably do fine in smaller venues. A representative for Live Nation, which is producing the Troye Sivan/Charli XCX show, said the tour had sold out some dates and was 70% sold across the board, implying there had been misconceptions about sales online. (They said Wallows is selling "well" without providing on-the-record specifics and pointed to public statements from the Black Keys and Lopez, the tours of which Live Nation all produced.) Hiccups are not all about ticket sales, either. Kid Cudi canceled his tour this year because he broke his foot jumping off the stage during Coachella, and many acts aren't specifically saying the problem is sales when they do cancel.

There are strategies acts undertake to try to freshen things up for fans and boost sales, such as combining forces or bringing in special guests. Def Leppard is touring with Journey this year, and last year it toured with Mötley Crüe. There's always good old marketing. Live Nation recently wrapped its "concert week," which offers a variety of tickets at $25 — a good way to push tickets that aren't moving.

There is, of course, a huge issue that undergirds the entire conversation: Buying tickets is supremely annoying. You have to really want to see a show to try to navigate the labyrinthine purchase process. Live Nation-Ticketmaster dominates the market, which critics — including the Department of Justice, which is suing the company over claims of anti-competitive practices — say stifles innovation, allows for unfair markups, and contributes to an overall negative experience for fans . Fees on tickets are confoundingly high and seemingly endless . Bot armies snatch up tickets when they go on sale and flip them on the secondary markets for exorbitantly high prices. (One piece of silver lining here is that this year's lowered demand has resulted in lower resale ticket prices. SeatGeek says the average resale ticket price to attend a summer concert this year is $214; last year, it was $257, though a lot of that was due to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.)

"The time when customer experiences aren't good is usually when there's a monopoly involved," Witt, from The Pabst Theater Group, said.

JLo, of course, will be fine — she is very rich, famous, and beautiful after all. Her fans will survive and will probably have a chance to see her perform again. But next time she hits the road, they'd be wise to scoop up her tickets fast so "This Is Me … Whenever In the Future" doesn't get axed, too.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

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