VEGAS MUSIC NEWS: Metallica Adds More Sphere Dates, 3rd Vegas Music Festival Hits Pause on 2026
Posted on: March 2, 2026, 04:32h.
Last updated on: March 2, 2026, 05:16h.
To the surprise of no one, Metallica, the biggest heavy metal band in history, has added six extra dates to its Sphere residency because of “unbelievable demand,” according to an Instagram post from the band.
“Wow, guys!” the post read.
No specific dates for the shows were announced. They will be revealed during the tickets’ presale, which begins at 10 a.m. PT Wednesday, March 4.
So how did the band experience “unbelievable demand” when the majority of tickets for its first set of dates (Oct. 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 22 and 24, and 29 and 31) don’t even go on sale until Friday, March 6?
Because some of the electronic queues for Ticketmaster’s fan club presales, which began today, were reported to be 300K people long.
While the Sphere officially attributes its staggered on-sales to technical bandwidth and preventing mass scalping and site crashes, many industry insiders also believe that putting only a handful of tickets on sale at a time for every act — including monster ones like Metallica — also protects the Sphere against tickets not selling as well as anticipated, as well as placating smaller acts who might wonder why Metallica got to put 50 shows on sale at once when they were only allowed five.
No headliner in their right might would sign up for only a few Sphere shows because they may end up losing money on that deal. That’s because producing video footage for the Sphere’s one-of-a-kind 160,000 square-foot, 16K-resolution display costs an estimated $6-10 million per headliner, which comes largely out of the headliner’s profits. (That’s why Zac Brown said last year that he might lose money on his eight-show residency.)
According to Metallica’s post, Wednesday’s pre-sales will not be staggered, as Monday’s were. If you already have a Legacy and Fifth Member code, you can use it to access the pre-sales for single night or two-night “no repeat” weekends. (The shows are all on Thursday and Saturday nights, with no song repeated both nights.)
For ticket information, visit metallica.lnk.to/MetallicaSphereTix.
Travel packages are also available at Vibee.com.
When They Were Paused
The organizers of the “When We Were Young” festival are taking 2026 off, but promises the break is only temporary and that the emo and pop-punk festival will return in October 2027.
No specific reason was given for the hiatus, other than a vague “to give this festival the care it deserves and to make sure what comes next feels just as special as what came before.”
The festival — which has been headlined by Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Panic! at the Disco — has performed at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds every year since 2022.
That news alone would not raise eyebrows. However, “When We Were Young” is the third punk and/or emo festival to announce it would quietly ghost 2026.
Last October, “Punk Rock Bowling” also offered only a cryptic explanation for its decision, stating: “Life has thrown some unexpected challenges our way over the past several months, and we’re all living through difficult times.”
Do these decisions indicate an unwillingness to forge ahead in light of Las Vegas’ 7.5% drop in visitors in 2025, which continues unabated into 2026? If this is true, no one is willing to say.
“Best Friends Forever,” another Vegas emo festival, is also skipping 2026, but it provided a clear reason. Its regular venue, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, is currently being converted into a parking lot by its owners, Derek and Greg Stevens. The festival’s organizers also promise to bring it back in time for 2027.
Ironically, the “Sick New World” heavy-metal festival is feeling fine. All set for April 25 at the Festival Grounds, it is set to feature System of Down, Korn and Bring Me the Horizon. It took 2025 off, however, reportedly due to poor ticket sales due to its $472 per-day starting price.
