Metallica have been playing two shows in every city throughout 2023, and at each stop of their North American leg so far, theyve opened with Creeping Death one night and Whiplash the next. During a new interview with The New York Times, Lars Ulrich described what makes a good opening song for concerts.

Both tracks are oldies in terms of Metallicas discography, as Whiplash is from their 1983 debut Kill Em All and Creeping Death is from 1984s Ride the Lightning. Ulrich considers the latter a fan-favorite, and explained why he likes opening with that song in particular.

This is one we would call a fan favorite, and its not one that we always play. Its got really good energy in the riff, and it sits in a kind of an up-tempo place without being so super fast that it just becomes, like, an indistinguishable roar, the drummer said [via Metal Injection]. But its got good accents, good dynamics. Its got a breakdown after the second chorus and the guitar solo, where it goes to a shout-along part where James [Hetfield] gets everybody pretty engaged.

Setlist.fms Tour Statistics page notes that Creeping Death is actually Metallicas second most-played song ever, having been played at over 1,600 concerts. Theyve played Whiplash around 961 times, thus its their twelfth most-played track.

As far as what the rocker thinks makes a good setlist opener, he said that different people will have different opinions since their preferences vary.

But after a while, you start figuring out instinctively that this song maybe works better than this other song, he added. Often when you are touring on the back of an album, the default is to open with the opening track off the album that youre touring with. I wanted purposely to not do that, just to sort of challenge ourselves.

The North American leg of Metallicas M72 world tour — which features support from Mammoth WVH, Pantera, Ice Nine Kills and Fiver Finger Death Punch — continues tomorrow night (Aug. 18) in Arlington, Texas. See the rest of the upcoming dates at this location.

Queens of the Stone Age are just a few days away from releasing their new album In Times New Roman..., which will be their first release since 2017s Villains. During a new interview with Revolver, Josh Homme revealed that some personal matters contributed to the delay in releasing new music, including being diagnosed with cancer in 2022.

The singer and Distillers vocalist Brody Dalle divorced in 2019 after a 14-year marriage, and they have three children together, which has resulted in a lengthy and public child custody case. The following year, the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down for several months, so there were a lot of mixed emotions that went into the recording process for this upcoming record.

I think this is the first time I didnt want to make a record, but I was dealing with a lot of stuff in my personal life, Homme said. We recorded a lot of stuff. I think I was doing it because when Im in trouble, this is what I do. This is where I go to get right.

The frontman further shared that he was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, though he didnt get into detail about what kind. He did, however, undergo a successful procedure to remove it, and hes still recovering.

I never say it cant get any worse. I never say that, and I wouldnt advise it. But I do say it can get better... Cancer is just the cherry on top of an interesting time period, you know? Im extremely thankful that Ill get through this, and Ill look back at this as something thats fucked up — but will have made me better. Im cool with that. Theres a lot of stuff I want to do. And theres a lot of people I want to do that with, he assured.

I definitely had a serious case of emotion sickness, he continued. There were times I almost didnt make it. Its okay for me to ruminate on that. Its not okay to stay there, feel too sorry for myself. This has been the darkest four years of my life. But thats okay, too. In the heartaches, my mistakes, these deaths and my own physical things Im dealing with — even though all that has occurred and smashed my old life to pieces, those pieces Ive been able to build into a ship thats about to launch. I will float into my new life from all those pieces.

Foo Fighters and The Killers will head up the two-day 2023 Sea.Hear.Now Festival set to take place Sept. 16 and 17 at Bradley Park in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Organizers have now revealed the full lineup, which can be seen below, as well as the top surfers who will be displaying their skills as the event as well.

The Killers will headline Night 1 of the festivities on Saturday, Sept. 16, joined on the bill by Greta Van Fleet, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Sheryl Crow, Tash Sultana, Royal Blood, Bob Moses, Cory Wong, Oteil & Friends, Living Colour, Babe Rainbow, Surfer Girl, Snacktime, Quincy Mumford and Yawn Mower.

As 2022 winds down, the 2023 tour season is starting to fill up, and one of early 2023s top touring bills figures to be the co-headlining trek featuring Theory of a Deadman and Skillet. The two veteran bands will be hitting the road with Saint Asonia supporting, making for one great night of rock.

The Rock Resurrection Tour kicks off Feb. 17 in Gary, Indiana, heading east before circling back across the country for the tours conclusion March 26 in Los Angeles. All of the dates, cities and venues can be seen toward the bottom of this post.

“We’re super stoked to be touring with our good friends in Skillet and Saint Asonia this winter,” shares Theory of a Deadman’s frontman Tyler Connolly. “We’re also really looking forward to playing new material for our fans!!”

We are so excited to be touring with our friends from Theory again!, says Skillets John Cooper. It’s been several years since our last tour together, and this time we are also joined by our friends in Saint Asonia. We are looking forward to kicking off 2023 the right way by joining forces for a super-charged rock show! Panheads get ready!

Theory of a Deadman recently released their new song Dinosaur, which at current serves as a stand-alone single, but could eventually be part of their next studio album. Skillet, meanwhile, are touring in support of their early 2022 album, Dominion. Saint Asonia have divvied up their 2022 output between two EPs, Introvert and Extrovert, with the second EP set to drop this Friday (Nov. 18).

The artist presale will being tomorrow (Nov. 15) while other presales will follow on Wednesday and Thursday at 10AM local time. The general public on sale will be this Friday (Nov. 18) at 10AM local time. You can get your tickets through either Theory of a Deadman or Skillets websites.

Theory of a Deadman + Skillet With Saint Asonia 2023 Tour

Feb. 17 — Gary, Ind. @ Hard Rock Live
Feb. 18 — Green Bay, Wis. @ EPIC Event Center
Feb. 19 — East Moline, Ill. @ The Rust Belt
Feb. 21 — Milwaukee, Wis. @ Eagles Ballroom Club Stage
Feb. 22 — Detroit, Mich. @ The Fillmore
Feb. 24 — Reading, Pa. @ Santander Arena - Theater
Feb. 25 — Boston, Mass. @ Roadrunner
Feb. 26 — Bangor, Maine @ Cross Insurance Center
Feb. 28 — Sayreville, N.J. @ Starland Ballroom **
March 1 — Rochester, N.Y. @ Main Street Armory
March 3 — Cleveland, Ohio @ Agora Theatre
March 4 — Mt. Pleasant, Mich. @ Soaring Eagle Casino - Theatre
March 5 — Cincinnati, Ohio @ AJB Music Center
March 7 — Nashville, Tenn. @ Brooklyn Bowl **
March 8 — Pikeville, Ky. @ Appalachian Wireless Arena
March 10 — St Louis, Mo. @ The Factory
March 11 — Springfield, Mo. @ Shrine Mosque
March 12 — Tulsa, Okla. @ Tulsa Theater
March 14 — Houston, Texas @ Bayou Music Center
March 15 — Dallas, Texas @ The Factory
March 17 — Kansas City, Mo. @ Midland Theatre
March 18 — Omaha, Neb. @ Baxter Arena
March 19 — Denver, Colo. @ Mission Ballroom
March 21 — Las Vegas, Nev. @ Brooklyn Bowl **
March 22 — Phoenix, Ariz. @ First Arizona Federal Theater
March 24 — Reno, Nev. @ Grand Sierra Resort – Grand Theatre
March 25 — Wheatland, Calif. @ Hard Rock Live
March 26 — Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern

Muse bring their Will of the People Tour to stateside fans when the English rock band visits venues in the U.S. and Canada for a North American tour in early 2023. Evanescence provide support on the bill.

Are you ready to rock? Get Muse tickets here.

Will of the People is Muses latest album. The futuristically anthemic rockers ninth studio effort, it emerged last month. It contains the singles Wont Stand Down, Compliance, Kill or Be Killed, You Make Me Feel Like Its Halloween and the title track.

Muse singer Matt Bellamy said that Slipknot influenced the album, thanks to his sons love of the metal band.

General on-sale for Muse tickets starts Oct. 7 at 10AM. Pre-sale begins Oct. 4. Go to willofthepeopletour.com and get info here. See the dates below.

Muse + Evanescence 2023 North American Tour Dates

Feb. 25 – Chicago, Ill. @ United Ctr
Feb. 26 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Target Ctr
Feb. 28 – Austin, Texas @ Moody Ctr
March 2 – Houston, Texas @ Toyota Ctr
March 3 – Fort Worth, Texas @ Dickies Arena
March 7 – Columbus, Ohio @ Nationwide Arena
March 9 – Toronto, Canada @ Scotiabank Arena
March 11 – Quebec City, Canada @ Videotron Ctr
March 14 – Montreal, Canada @ Bell Ctr
March 17 – New York, N.Y. @ MSG
March 19 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wells Fargo Ctre
April 2 – Glendale, Ariz @ Desert Diamond Arena
April 4 – Denver, Colo. @ Ball Arena
April 6 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Crypto.com Arena
April 8 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ T-Mobile Arena
April 10 – San Diego, Calif. @ Pechanga Arena
April 12 – Anaheim, Calif. @ Honda Ctr
April 16 – Portland, Ore. @ Moda Ctr
April 18 – Seattle, Wash. @ Climate Pledge Arena
April 20 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Vivint Arena