“Be sure to catch this tour if it stops by your town.” – Go Venue
“holy f**king hell, did it live up to its billing”- Metal Insider
“A show that was as brash and hardcore as it was a fun night out.” – The Aquarian
“The Metal Tour of the Year was exactly as it was described. If anything, it was one of the best metal shows from the last several years” – Get Some Magazine
“A sold-out venue waited for a heavy dose of fist pounding metal and this tour didn’t disappoint”. – Metal Nexus
“I am here to say that this is a must-see tour. It not only delivers as a top-tier showcase of metal giants, but also comes to show the power of a well-assembled, diversely-packaged, multi-band amphitheater tour.” – The Hype Magazine
Tuesday, January 11th, 2022 – Following the enormous success of their 2021 co-headline US tour, metal titans MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD have today announced the second US run of their aptly named METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR. Joining them will be special guests TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES. Tickets for the second leg of THE METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR, produced by Live Nation, will go on general sale at 10am local time on Friday, January 14th from MetalTourOfTheYear.com.
THE METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR was originally announced and planned for 2020 but was halted by the pandemic. Fans waited patiently for touring to return and in the summer of 2021 were granted their wish. THE METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR was one of the first national amphitheater tours to hit the road in 2021 and saw co-headliners MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD hit 29 cities across North America with special guests TRIVIUM and HATEBREED, who stepped in to replace IN FLAMES who couldn’t join the tour due to travel restrictions. The tour was met with enormous acclaim, truly living up to its name and playing to a whopping 172,000 metal fans in the process.
Speaking on the success of the initial leg of the tour and his excitement in hitting the road again in 2022, MEGADETH’s leader and frontman, Dave Mustaine says
“The Metal Tour of The Year is exactly what it sounds like – a night of some of the best heavy metal bands in the world – live and loud. Anyone who came to a show last year knows what I mean, only this one’s going be even better. Do not miss out.”
Randy Blythe, inimitable frontman of LAMB OF GOD, adds
“It was great to get out on the road for an incredible tour last summer with Megadeth, Trivium and Hatebreed so we figured we’d do it again! We look forward to hitting new cities with Megadeth, Trivium and In Flames, who we’re happy to have over for leg 2!”
TRIVIUM’s Matthew Kiichi Heafy adds
“The Metal Tour Of The Year was one of the strongest, most incredible Metal tours in ages – it’s namesake nothing but accurate. How do you follow that up? By doing it again – even bigger, even better, and have it play everywhere it didn’t on the first leg. MTOTYII – let’s do this. “
With IN FLAMES singer, Anders Fridén stating
”We are excited to finally be able to join our dear friends in Megadeth, Lamb of God, and Trivium on this year’s, Metal Tour of The Year! We can’t wait to be back on the road in America and to reunite with you all. Don’t miss this tour it’s a juggernaut.”
Produced by Live Nation, the second leg of this epic metal trek will kick off on Saturday, April 9th in Las Vegas, NV and hit a further 21 cities before wrapping in Allentown, PA on Sunday, May 15. Full tour itinerary below
Tickets and VIP packages for all artists go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, January 14th, 2022 at 10am local time viaMetalTourOfTheYear.com
The tour will be part of Live Nation’s Live Stubs initiative which provides digital, collectible NFT ticket stubs to ticket holders. Reimagining ticket stubs as digital collectible NFTs, Live Nation’s Live Stubs will mirror the unique section, row, and seat of each ticket purchased, allowing fans to collect ticket stubs once again – this time with more capabilities. Live Stubs will automatically be included with tickets on select Live Nation shows in North America. Fans will be able to view, share, gift, trade, and resell their live stubs on Livenation.com. These are collector items and will not replace the digital tickets needed to physically enter the show.
The Metal Tour Of The Year
Megadeth and Lamb of God 2022 North American Tour Dates:
Sat Apr 09 – Las Vegas, NV | Michelob Ultra Arena
Sun Apr 10 – Tucson, AZ | Tucson Arena
Tue Apr 12 – Colorado Springs, CO | Broadmoor World Arena
Thu Apr 14 – Corpus Christi, TX | American Bank Center Arena
Fri Apr 15 – Lafayette, LA | Lafayette Cajundome
Sat Apr 16 – Brandon, MS | Brandon Amphitheater
Tue Apr 19 – Grand Rapids, MI | Van Andel Arena
Thu Apr 21 – Fort Wayne, IN | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Fri Apr 22 – Green Bay, WI | Resch Center
Sun Apr 24 – Sioux Falls, SD | Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
Tue Apr 26 – Omaha, NE | Baxter Arena
Wed Apr 27 – Cedar Rapids, IA | Alliant Energy PowerHouse
Fri Apr 29 – Kansas City, MO | T-Mobile Center
Sat Apr 30 – Tulsa, OK | BOK Center * No Trivium
Tue May 03 – North Charleston, SC | North Charleston Coliseum
Mon May 09 – Pittsburgh, PA | Petersen Events Center
Tue May 10 – Rochester, NY | Blue Cross Arena
Thu May 12 – Portland, ME | Cross Insurance Arena
Fri May 13 – Uncasville, CT | Mohegan Sun Arena
Sun May 15 – Allentown, PA | PPL Center
Megadeth Photo Credit: Steve Rose
It was over 30 years ago that Dave Mustaine founded MEGADETH, in the process pioneering the sound that would become known the world over as thrash metal. And from the very beginning, the band proved to be the most lethal and audacious unit on the heavy music scene, pushing thrash to the limits of musical ferocity and instrumental virtuosity on early efforts like their 1985 debut, Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! and 1986’s seminal Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?.
MEGADETH have taken their place as one of metal’s most influential and respected acts—not to mention among its most successful. They have gone on to sell more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning numerous accolades including a 2017 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Metal Performance” for the title track “Dystopia,” 12 GRAMMY® nominations, and scoring five consecutive platinum albums. With sheer determination and a relentless recording and touring schedule, MEGADETH worked their way up from headlining clubs to headlining arenas, festival and stadiums, cementing a legacy that continues to grow and spread throughout the world. MEGADETH are slated to release their 16th studio album later this year.
Lamb Of God Photo Credit: Anne Munition
LAMB OF GOD propelled heavy metal into the new millennium two decades ago with the prophetically titled New American Gospel. They followed with 2003’s As the Palaces Burn, which made the Rolling Stone list of the Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Ashes of the Wake, released in 2004, was the first LAMB OF GOD album to be certified gold by the RIAA, as was 2006’s Sacrament, which also made a Top 10 Billboard 200 chart debut. In 2009, LAMB OF GOD released Wrath, their first with Josh Wilbur as producer, and earned the number one album spot on Billboard’s Hard Rock, Rock, and Tastemaker charts, with a number two position on the Billboard 200.
Those number one positions were repeated with 2012’s Resolution, which swung effortlessly between thrash, traditional metal, sludgy doom, with flashes of crust punk swagger and bravado. LAMB OF GOD’s last album, VII: Sturm und Drang (2015) made its debut on the Billboard 200 at number three and finished number 2 in the world charts, reaching Top 5 in five countries and six additional Top 15 positions. The single “512” was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Metal Performance”, the band’s fifth nomination.
In 2020 LAMB OF GOD released their critically acclaimed self-titled opus, the band’s best work to date, featuring new drummer Art Cruz, LAMB OF GOD is re-energized and unrelenting, ready to lay claim to the metal throne.
TRIVIUM’s tenth album In The Court Of The Dragon arrived in 2021. The band and album have been praised by and featured in mainstream outlets like The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Billboard, TechCrunch, and Kotaku, as well as Guitar World, Revolver, Alternative Press, and more. They released the now-canonical album Ascendancy in 2005. It was recognized as KERRANG!’s “Album of the Year,” achieved a gold certification in the UK, and eclipsed sales of 500,000 worldwide. Metal Hammer placed it in the Top 15 of “The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the 21st Century.” It ignited a string of six consecutive Top 25 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 and five straight Top 3 debuts on the Top Hard Rock Albums Chart, culminating on 2017’s benchmark “The Sin And The Sentence.”
That album elevated the group’s total stream tally past a quarter-of-a-billion. Additionally, “Betrayer” received a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Best Metal Performance.” Unanimous acclaim followed fromDecibel, Loudwire, Ultimate Guitar, MetalSucks, and Metal Hammer, who dubbed them, “quite simply one of the best bands in modern metal.” 2020 brought What The Dead Men Say. The album was produced by Trivium and Josh Wilbur and debuted at #35 on the Billboard Top 200; at #2 on the Top Current Albums Chart, and at #3 on both the Hard Rock Albums Chart and Top Rock Albums Chart. They have performed alongside Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and many others and graced the main stages of Download, Bloodstock, KNOTFEST, and beyond.
IN FLAMES are less of a band than they are a musical institution in the heavy music world. Since helping create Sweden’s legendary “Gothenburg Sound” three decades ago to their current status as melodic metal monoliths, the act have constantly eschewed trends in order to forge their own musical path.having been prevented from joining the initial leg of the METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR due to travel restrictions, they are primed and ready to bring their inimitable brand of metal to the stage on this upcoming run in support of the 20th Anniversary re-release of their landmark album ‘Clayman’ and 2019 album ‘I, The Mask’.
Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com
