Metallica concert coming to Bay Area drive-in theaters
Mighty Metallica is set to perform its first show of 2020.
But if you want to see it, you’ll have to head to the drive-in movie theater.
The Bay Area’s best-selling music act of all time will be the first rock band featured in the Encore DriveIn Nights series, which has previously spotlighted country music’s Blake Shelton and pop star Gwen Stefani, among others.
The band’s performance, which will be their first since the grand opening concerts at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center in San Francisco in September, will be shown at drive-in and other outdoor theaters across the United States and Canada on Aug. 29.
Locations include the West Wind Drive-In Theaters in Sacramento and Concord (Solano Drive-In), but unfortunately not the company’s Capitol DriveIn in San Jose, which also missed out on the Encore screenings of the Garth Brooks and Shelton shows.
The Metallica concert will also be shown at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
Tickets are general admission and cost $115 per vehicle (with no more than six people permitted per vehicle) and go on sale at noon Friday Aug. 14 at www.ticketmaster.com/encore-metallica. Pre-sale tickets, available only for Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club, will go on sale Wednesday at the same site.
Each ticket purchase will include four digital downloads of “S&M2,” the album documenting Metallica’s reunion with the San Francisco Symphony at those Chase Center shows in September, which will be released on Aug. 28.
While the Aug. 29 Metallica outing will be shown on drive-in screens, the band will actually be taping the show at an undisclosed location near the band’s Northern California headquarters.
“The concert, the band’s first show in nearly a year, will feature material from throughout their near fourdecade career and provide Metallica fans with an intimate, unique and truly memorable concert experience,” according to a news release.
Fans attending the screenings will be required to practice social distancing and other protocol to help avoid the spread of COVID-19.
“Drive-in theaters hosting the concert will adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended guidelines as well as all state and local health mandates. Staff will wear personal protective equipment and enforce at least six feet of space between cars. The series will also use contactless payment and ticketing systems and limit capacity in restrooms. Guidelines around concessions will be enforced to abide by individual state regulations. For a full list of procedures that the Encore Drive-In Nights is employing to keep fans and staff safe, visit encorenights.com,” according to a news release.