Metallica save dance music festival from cancellation after fire destroys main stage

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By ( Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Louder ) published

Blaze wiped out Tomorrowland stage just days before gates opened – but Metallica saved the huge EDM event

The fire at the festival site of the Tomorrowland electronic music festival, Wednesday 16 July 2025, in Boom, Belgium.
(Image credit: STRINGER/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images))

Thousands of dance music fans are enjoying the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium this weekend after heavy metal heroes Metallica stepped in to save the event from cancellation.

The main stage for the huge EDM event in the town of Boom in Belgium's Antwerp province was decimated by fire this week, just days before the gates were due to open.

Fans looking forward to seeing artists including Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5 and David Guetta feared they would miss out. But the kings of thrash metal stepped in to keep things on track.

Metallica's stage was in storage in Austria and was quickly flown to Belgium on short notice according to HLN News.

DJ Martin Garrix, who performed at Tomorrowland on Friday, posted a photo of him hanging out with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and wrote in a social media post: "I can not believe I’m actually typing this… but my set at Tomorrowland is still happening! Massive love and a big shoutout to the incredible Tomorrowland team for pulling off miracles – and to Metallica for coming through with the new stage parts."

Metallica's stage set, which features a giant wall of TV screens, was being stored ahead of the resumption of their massive M72 World Tour. Remaining dates can be viewed below.

A post shared by Martin Garrix (@martingarrix)

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Metallica M72 Tour 2025

Nov 01: Perth Optus Stadium, Australia
Nov 05: Adelaide Oval, Australia
Nov 08: Melbourne Marvel Stadium, Australia
Nov 12: Brisbane Suncorp Stadium, Australia
Nov 15: Sydney Accor Stadium, Australia
Nov 19: Auckland Eden Park, New Zealand
Dec 03: Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre Sakhir, Bahrain
Dec 06: Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Metallica 2026 European tour dates

May 09: Athens Olympic Stadium, Greece
May 13: Bucharest Arena Națională, Romania
May 19: Chorzów Stadion Śląski, Poland
May 22: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany
May 24: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany
May 27: Zurich Stadion Letzigrund, Switzerland
May 30: Berlin Olympiastadion, Germany
Jun 03: Bologna Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Italy
Jun 11: Budapest Puskas Arena, Hungary
Jun 13: Budapest Puskas Arena, Hungary
Jun 19: Dublin Aviva Stadium, Ireland
Jun 21: Dublin Aviva Stadium, Ireland
Jun 25: Glasgow Hampden Park, UK
Jun 28: Cardiff Principality Stadium, UK
Jul 03: London Stadium, UK
Jul 05: London Stadium, UK

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022. 

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