Wherever We May Roam
Tour by Metallica
Associated albumMetallica
Start dateAugust 1, 1991
End dateDecember 18, 1992
No. of shows224
Metallica concert chronology

Wherever We May Roam (mentioned by band members in interviews as Wherever I May Roam) was a concert tour by the American heavy metal band Metallica in support of their eponymous fifth studio album (commonly known as The Black Album). It began in autumn of 1991. The North American legs ran through summer 1992, followed by the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour, the Wherever We May Roam European leg, and finally the Nowhere Else to Roam tour of smaller markets in North America, Mexico, Asia, Australia, South America, Europe and Israel, ending in the summer of 1993.

These initial North American shows took place in arenas, with multiple dates in largely populated areas not uncommon. The band was at a commercial peak, following the release of their fifth and most commercially successful album Metallica (The Black Album) and its breakthrough hit "Enter Sandman". The leg of the tour overlapped with the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, at which Metallica performed a short set.

The 1991 European leg was part of the Monsters of Rock festival. The last concert of that leg, held on September 28, 1991, at Tushino Airfield in Moscow, was described as "the first free outdoor Western rock concert in Soviet history" and had a crowd estimated between 150,000 and 500,000 people,[1][2] with some unofficial estimates as high as 1,600,000.[3] On the North American leg, the January 13 and 14, 1992, shows in San Diego were later released in the box set Live Shit: Binge & Purge,[4] while the tour and the album were later documented in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.[5]

During the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour, Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns to his arms, face, hands, and legs during a live performance of the introduction of "Fade to Black".[4]

First typical setlist

(Taken from the Cincinnati, Ohio, Riverfront Coliseum show on March 2, 1992)

  1. "Enter Sandman"
  2. "Creeping Death"
  3. "Harvester of Sorrow"
  4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
  5. "Sad but True"
  6. "Wherever I May Roam"
  7. Bass Solo
  8. "Through the Never"
  9. "The Unforgiven"
  10. "Justice Medley"
    1. "Eye of the Beholder"
    2. "Blackened"
    3. "The Frayed Ends of Sanity"
    4. "...And Justice for All"
    5. "Blackened"
  11. Drum solo
  12. Guitar solo
  13. "Nothing Else Matters"
  14. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
  15. "Fade to Black"
  16. "Whiplash"
  17. "Master of Puppets"
  18. "Seek & Destroy"
  19. "One"
  20. "Last Caress" (originally performed by the Misfits)
  21. "Am I Evil?" (originally performed by Diamond Head)
  22. "Battery"
  23. "Stone Cold Crazy" (originally performed by Queen)

Second typical setlist

(Taken from the Rome, Italy, Palamarino show on November 16, 1992)

  1. "Enter Sandman"
  2. "Creeping Death"
  3. "Harvester of Sorrow"
  4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
  5. "Sad but True"
  6. "Wherever I May Roam"
  7. "The Unforgiven"
  8. "Justice Medley"
    1. "Eye of the Beholder"
    2. "Blackened"
    3. "The Frayed Ends of Sanity"
    4. "...And Justice for All"
    5. "Blackened"
  9. Bass Solo
  10. Guitar Solo
  11. "Through the Never"
  12. "For Whom the Bell Tolls
  13. "Fade to Black"
  14. "Master of Puppets"
  15. "Seek & Destroy"
  16. "Whiplash"
  17. "Nothing Else Matters"
  18. "Am I Evil?" (originally performed by Diamond Head)
  19. "Last Caress" (originally performed by the Misfits)
  20. "One"
  21. "Battery"
  22. "Stone Cold Crazy" (originally performed by Queen)

The show

The band dispensed with supporting acts on the tour, billing it on tickets as "An Evening with Metallica / No Opening Act". Instead, a video presentation was shown before the concerts actually started which lasted about 20 or 25 minutes. Included might be clips of local sights near the venue, Metallica shopping in local stores, roadies prepping the arena, Lars Ulrich walking around backstage giving introductions and reciting band history, or other band members engaging in various hijinks. The video would conclude with a montage of "Enter Sandman" with film clips of Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Setlists consisted of a mixture of Metallica (The Black Album) material with fan-favorite songs from their first four albums. Shows were typically three hours long.

The stage itself was a diamond form, with a number of singing and playing positions that would allow band members to rotate around. Two drum kits were typically setup on opposite sides of the stage, with the ability to lower the kits down below the stage or raise it to the stage itself, as well as move the kits around to different positions on the stage. Some selected fans were located in a pit inside the stage area dubbed the "Snakepit" by the band.

At different points in the show, individual solo slots were offered up, typically a bass solo, a guitar solo, then later a drum solo. The drum slot was often the most popular, with James Hetfield often taking a seat behind the second kit, dueling with Ulrich. Drum parts from other bands such as Slayer might be quoted, or Kirk Hammett might appear to play a bit of "Smoke on the Water" along with the drums. The bass solos often included segments with the guitars.

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
Early North American leg
August 1, 1991 Petaluma, California United States Phoenix Theater
August 2, 1991
Monsters of Rock leg
August 10, 1991 Copenhagen Denmark Gentofte Stadion
August 13, 1991 Chorzów Poland Silesian Stadium
August 17, 1991 Castle Donington England Donington Park
August 22, 1991 Budapest Hungary Nepstadion
August 24, 1991 Munich Germany Olympiastadion
August 25, 1991 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob Stadium
August 27, 1991 Berlin Germany Waldbühne
August 28, 1991
August 30, 1991 Hasselt Belgium Kiewit Airfield
August 31, 1991 Hanover Germany Niedersachsenstadion
September 1, 1991 Nijmegen Netherlands Stadion de Goffert
September 7, 1991 Mainz Germany Finthen Airfield
September 8, 1991 Oldenburg Weser-Ems-Halle
September 11, 1991 Graz Austria Liebenauer Stadium
September 14, 1991 Modena Italy Festa de l'Unità
September 17, 1991 Dortmund Germany Westfalenhallen
September 18, 1991
September 21, 1991 Paris France Hippodrome de Vincennes
September 24, 1991 Barcelona Spain Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
September 28, 1991 Moscow Soviet Union Tushino Airfield
North American leg
October 12, 1991 Oakland, California United States Oakland Stadium
October 29, 1991 Peoria, Illinois Peoria Civic Center
October 30, 1991 Madison, Wisconsin Dane County Coliseum
November 1, 1991 Muskegon, Michigan L. C. Walker Arena
November 2, 1991 Auburn Hills, Michigan The Palace of Auburn Hills
November 3, 1991
November 5, 1991 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Bradley Center
November 6, 1991 Des Moines, Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium
November 8, 1991 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center
November 9, 1991 Duluth, Minnesota Duluth Arena Auditorium
November 10, 1991 Cedar Rapids, Iowa Five Seasons Center
November 12, 1991 Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena
November 14, 1991 Toronto, Ontario Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
November 15, 1991
November 17, 1991 Montreal, Quebec Montreal Forum
November 18, 1991 Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa Civic Centre
November 19, 1991 Quebec City, Quebec Colisée de Québec
November 21, 1991 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States Pittsburgh Civic Arena
November 22, 1991 Indianapolis, Indiana Market Square Arena
November 24, 1991 St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena
November 25, 1991 Fort Wayne, Indiana Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
November 27, 1991 Omaha, Nebraska Omaha Civic Auditorium
November 28, 1991 Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena
November 30, 1991 Richfield, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
December 1, 1991
December 3, 1991 Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
December 5, 1991 Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont Horizon
December 6, 1991
December 7, 1991
December 18, 1991 Uniondale, New York Nassau Coliseum
December 19, 1991
December 20, 1991
December 22, 1991 Worcester, Massachusetts The Centrum
December 23, 1991
New Year's Eve
December 31, 1991 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome
North American leg (cont.)
January 4, 1992 Paradise, Nevada United States Thomas & Mack Center
January 6, 1992 Inglewood, California The Forum
January 7, 1992
January 8, 1992
January 10, 1992 Sacramento, California ARCO Arena
January 11, 1992
January 13, 1992 San Diego, California San Diego Sports Arena
January 14, 1992
January 17, 1992 Houston, Texas The Summit
January 18, 1992 New Orleans, Louisiana Lakefront Arena
January 20, 1992 Little Rock, Arkansas Barton Coliseum
January 21, 1992 Dallas, Texas Reunion Arena
January 22, 1992 San Antonio, Texas Convention Center Arena
January 24, 1992 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Myriad Arena
January 25, 1992 Tulsa, Oklahoma Expo Square Pavilion
January 27, 1992 Austin, Texas Frank Erwin Center
January 28, 1992 Shreveport, Louisiana Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
January 29, 1992 Memphis, Tennessee Pyramid Arena
January 31, 1992 El Paso, Texas UTEP Special Events Center
February 2, 1992 Albuquerque, New Mexico Tingley Coliseum
February 3, 1992 Lubbock, Texas Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
February 4, 1992 Odessa, Texas Ector County Coliseum
February 6, 1992 Denver, Colorado McNichols Sports Arena
February 7, 1992
February 8, 1992
February 10, 1992 Salt Lake City, Utah Delta Center
February 12, 1992 Inglewood, California The Forum
February 13, 1992
February 15, 1992 Fresno, California Selland Arena
February 16, 1992 Reno, Nevada Lawlor Events Center
February 27, 1992 Portland, Maine Cumberland County Civic Center
February 28, 1992 Albany, New York Knickerbocker Arena
February 29, 1992 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center
March 2, 1992 Cincinnati, Ohio Riverfront Coliseum
March 4, 1992 Carbondale, Illinois SIU Arena
March 5, 1992 Champaign, Illinois Assembly Hall
March 7, 1992 Knoxville, Tennessee Thompson–Boling Arena
March 8, 1992 Evansville, Indiana Roberts Municipal Stadium
March 9, 1992 Nashville, Tennessee Nashville Municipal Auditorium
March 11, 1992 Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke Civic Center
March 12, 1992 Chattanooga, Tennessee UTC Arena
March 14, 1992 Miami, Florida Miami Arena
March 15, 1992 Jacksonville, Florida Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 16, 1992 Orlando, Florida Orlando Arena
March 18, 1992 Huntsville, Alabama Von Braun Center
March 19, 1992 Louisville, Kentucky Freedom Hall
March 21, 1992 Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Coliseum
March 22, 1992 Charleston, West Virginia Charleston Civic Center
March 24, 1992 Pensacola, Florida Pensacola Civic Center
March 25, 1992 Birmingham, Alabama Jefferson Civic Coliseum
March 26, 1992 Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum
March 28, 1992 Atlanta, Georgia The Omni
March 29, 1992
March 31, 1992 Richmond, Virginia Richmond Coliseum
April 1, 1992 Landover, Maryland Capital Centre
April 2, 1992
April 4, 1992 East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Arena
April 6, 1992 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Spectrum
April 7, 1992
April 8, 1992 East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Arena
April 10, 1992 Hampton, Virginia Hampton Coliseum
April 12, 1992 Binghamton, New York Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
April 13, 1992 Rochester, New York Rochester Community War Memorial
April 14, 1992 Hamilton, Ontario Canada Copps Coliseum
April 16, 1992 Hartford, Connecticut United States Hartford Civic Center
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
April 20, 1992 London England Wembley Stadium
North American leg (cont.)
May 6, 1992 Pullman, Washington United States Beasley Coliseum
May 7, 1992 Boise, Idaho BSU Pavilion
May 9, 1992 Daly City, California Cow Palace
May 10, 1992
May 13, 1992 Rapid City, South Dakota Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
May 14, 1992 Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls Arena
May 15, 1992 Fargo, North Dakota Bison Sports Arena
May 17, 1992 Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Winnipeg Arena
May 18, 1992 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Place
May 19, 1992 Edmonton, Alberta Northlands Coliseum
May 21, 1992 Calgary, Alberta Olympic Saddledome
May 23, 1992 Vancouver, British Columbia PNE Coliseum
May 24, 1992
May 27, 1992 Seattle, Washington United States Seattle Center Coliseum
May 28, 1992
May 30, 1992 Anchorage, Alaska Sullivan Arena
June 1, 1992 Portland, Oregon Memorial Coliseum
June 2, 1992
June 4, 1992 Salt Lake City, Utah Delta Center
June 5, 1992 Casper, Wyoming Casper Events Center
June 6, 1992 Billings, Montana Metrapark Arena
June 9, 1992 Tucson, Arizona Tucson Convention Center
June 10, 1992 Phoenix, Arizona America West Arena
June 11, 1992
June 14, 1992 Mobile, Alabama Mobile Civic Center
June 15, 1992 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LSU Assembly Center
June 16, 1992 Jackson, Mississippi Mississippi Coliseum
June 19, 1992 Nashville, Tennessee Starwood Amphitheatre
June 20, 1992 Maryland Heights, Missouri Riverport Amphitheatre
June 21, 1992 Bonner Springs, Kansas Sandstone Amphitheater
June 23, 1992 Cincinnati, Ohio Riverbend Music Center
June 25, 1992 Raleigh, North Carolina Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
June 27, 1992 Charlevoix, Michigan Castle Farms Music Theater
June 28, 1992 Thornville, Ohio Buckeye Lake Music Center
June 30, 1992 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Marcus Amphitheater
July 1, 1992 Tinley Park, Illinois World Music Theater
July 3, 1992 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Blossom Music Center
July 4, 1992 Weedsport, New York Cayuga County Fair Speedway
July 5, 1992 Allentown, Pennsylvania Great Allentown Fair
North American stadium tour with Guns N' Roses
See also: Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour
European leg
October 22, 1992 Ghent Belgium Flanders Expo
October 24, 1992 London England Wembley Arena
October 25, 1992
October 27, 1992 Glasgow Scotland SECC Arena
October 28, 1992 Newcastle England Whitley Bay Ice Rink
October 30, 1992 Dublin Ireland Point Theatre
November 1, 1992 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena
November 3, 1992 Manchester Manchester Central Convention Complex
November 4, 1992 Birmingham NEC Arena
November 5, 1992
November 7, 1992 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
November 8, 1992
November 10, 1992 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
November 12, 1992 Barcelona Spain Palau Sant Jordi
November 13, 1992 San Sebastián Velódromo de Anoeta
November 16, 1992 Rome Italy Palamarino
November 17, 1992 Milan Palatrussardi
November 18, 1992 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
November 20, 1992 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
November 22, 1992 Munich Germany Olympiahalle
November 23, 1992 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
November 24, 1992 Dortmund Westfalenhalle
November 26, 1992 Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
November 27, 1992 Nuremberg Frankenhalle
November 29, 1992
November 30, 1992 Mannheim Maimarkthalle
December 1, 1992 Stuttgart Schleyerhalle
December 3, 1992 Kiel Ostseehalle
December 5, 1992 Berlin Deutschlandhalle
December 7, 1992 's-Hertogenbosch Netherlands Brabanthallen
December 9, 1992 Copenhagen Denmark Forum Copenhagen
December 10, 1992
December 12, 1992 Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium
December 14, 1992 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
December 16, 1992 Helsinki Finland Helsinki Ice Hall
December 18, 1992 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe Arena

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Schmidt, William E. (September 29, 1991). "Heavy-Metal Groups Shake Moscow". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  2. ^ "Monsters of Rock hit Moscow". The Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Associated Press. September 29, 1991. p. 5A. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  3. ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (January 26, 2009). "Sneak Peek: 'Guitar Hero: Metallica". Spin. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Metallica (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted) (1992). A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica : Part 2 (VHS). Elektra Entertainment.
  5. ^ "Metallica timeline February, 1990 – August 13, 1991". MTV.com. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
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