Lars Ulrich Nervous About Letting Fans Pick Set List

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told BBC Radio One that he’s nervous about letting fans select the band’s set list for each night on its European tour next summer.

Ulrich, who usually writes the set list, explained, “It certainly gives me butterflies in the stomach in a good way and I think it should be a lot of fun for the fans. This at least puts a stop to the whining about the set list because it’s basically the fans that are picking it.”

Starting about 10 years ago, Metallica began changing its set list nightly, with Ulrich telling The Pulse Of Radio a while back that it keeps the show fresh. “When we started the ‘St. Anger’ touring cycle, we started just changing the set every night,” he said. “Up through the Nineties, we got a little stuck, and it got a little rigid, and we would go out and play the same set list for six months every night. So we’re really trying to just play different stuff every night. It’s pretty cool.”

Fans who purchase tickets online to the European dates will be invited to vote on the set list Metallica will play at their show, choosing from close to 140 recorded songs.

The band’s traditional 18-song set will include the 17 top voted songs along with a brand new track.

Ulrich added that he’s excited to play a new song during the tour, saying, “Since 2014 is basically about the next Metallica record and we’re so excited about writing and getting all that off the ground that it only is right to bring a new song out there. Obviously we haven’t quite figured out what that’s gonna be, but as we get a little closer, hopefully we’ll come up with something cool.”

The tour, dubbed the “Metallica By Request” tour, will kick off on May 28 at the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland and travel across Europe through July 11.