Bowling with Lars? Metallica announces side events in its Minneapolis ‘takeover’ weekend

When their two-night stand at U.S. Bank Stadium in August 2024 was announced way back in 2022 — with a night off between those two concerts — Metallica promised there would be other events for fans to make it a banging weekend all around in Minneapolis.

On Thursday, the metal gods finally announced what those other to-dos will be.

Billed as the “Metallica Takeover,” the festivities happening in the Twin Cities around the Aug. 16 and 18 stadium concerts will include movie screenings, concerts by Bastardane (featuring sons of two Metallica band members) and the tribute band And One for All, a photo exhibit, ax-throwing, a “Name That Tune” competition and even that most metalheaded of pastimes, bowling.

In every city on their M72 World Tour, Metallica’s members — now in the 59-61 age range — are taking one night off to catch their breath between their two high-adrenaline in-the-round shows. They are promising entirely different set lists each night (no repeats!), and different openers are scheduled, too (Pantera and Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH on Aug. 16, then Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on Aug. 18). Tickets have sold well, but many are still available via Ticketmaster for as little as $55, plus fees.

Fans don’t have to rest up on that Saturday night, though. There happens to be another big rock concert at Minneapolis’ other sports stadium on Aug. 17: Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid at Target Field. For fans wanting to stick in Metallicaville, though, here’s the rundown sent out by Live Nation listing all the related events in town. Ticket info can be had via the Minneapolis show link at metallica.com.

The ticket money from these events, by the way, goes to Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation, benefitting a wide range of causes, including technical colleges and food-shelf programs.