Metallica had to cancel its appearances at the Sonic Temple and Louder Than Life festivals later this year so that frontman James Hetfield could attend mandatory “Sobriety Weekends” as part of his recovery after checking into rehab last fall.
Gary Spivack, executive vice president and talent buyer for Danny Wimmer Presents, gave Ultimate-Guitar new details about the change in plans, explaining, “We got the call from Metallica's management team, Q Prime, who are the best managers in the business, hands down, and said that James has 'Sobriety Weekends' that are a requirement weekend that are throughout the calendar year, and unfortunately, a couple of those weekends fell on our festivals.”
“Sobriety Weekends” typically consist of a two-night/three-day readmission to a 30-day residential program to continue to enhance rehab patients' ongoing recovery.
Hetfield recalled a while back what it was like to tour sober for the first time after going into rehab in 2001: “The beginning was the most scared. Doing anything for the first time again without the crutches was tough. Really had some good support, good friends that helped me get set up for out there. And I knew what I needed to do to take care of myself, and there were some people that helped me do that, and I'm very grateful to them.”
Although Metallica will still perform at three other DWP festivals in 2020 — Welcome To Rockville, Epicenter and Aftershock — they will be replaced at Sonic Temple by Tool and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The festival will be just one of four shows the Chili Peppers are playing in 2020 since reuniting with guitarist John Frusciante.
