Metallica Returns to San Diego

"The day that never comes" is finally here: Wherever Metallica may roam apparently includes a just-announced tour stop in San Diego on Aug. 6 at Petco Park!

The metal legends -- fresh off a surprising collaboration with Lady Gaga at Sunday night's 59th annual Grammy Awards -- are kicking the tour machine into high gear with their North American WorldWired Tour, which kicks off May 10 in Baltimore. The local summertime stop will feature Avenged Sevenfold and Gojira as musical support.

Metallica's Legacy Fan Club members can buy presale tickets starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, while Met Club members can start scoring seats two hours later. Fans who are Citi Cardmembers can get presale tickets starting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, with the general public starting to snatch them up at 10 a.m. on Friday. Fans with deeper pockets can pay for early access to the venue, meet-and-greets or a visit to the "Memory Remains" exhibition, which features band memorabilia. If you're lucky enough to get a ticket, no matter when or how you buy it, you'll also be getting a copy of Metallica's newly released "Hardwired to Self Destruct" album.

It's been four years since the masters of metal puppetry descended on San Diego (sad but true) for a surprise show at Spreckels Theatre during Comic-Con 2013. That secret show obviously had very limited seating, which caused most area fans to miss out -- but a show at Petco Park should make up for that. It should be noted though that tickets will be a very hot commodity given that Metallica's last "proper" San Diego show was a stop at SDSU's Viejas Arena (then named Cox Arena), with openers Lamb of God and the Sword on Dec. 15, 2008.

While the Aug. 6 show (presented by Live Nation, a SoundDiego sponsor) is certainly a rare occurrence for us, the upcoming tour comes as no surprise given that the group is in peak promotion mode for "Hardwired to Self Destruct." The record -- their first in eight years (which, by the way, also coincides with their last San Diego tour stop) -- showcases the band making a much-heralded return to their thrash-metal roots and received glowing reviews from both critics and fans alike. It easily topped the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart in its November release, the sixth time Metallica has debuted at No. 1 on that chart.

We don't know about you but we'd rather not wait till 2025 for the band to return to San Diego, go grab some tickets like nothing else matters when they go on sale -- because, ladies and gentlemen, the Lords of Summer are back.

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