Greta Van Fleet take lessons on longevity from tour partners Metallica

A picture of Sam Kiszka of Greta Van Fleet performing live
(Image credit: Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)

Greta Van Fleet bassist Sam Kiszka says he's learned a lot about longevity from tour partners Metallica.

The two bands have been on the road together in recent monts, with Greta Van Fleet playing a supporting role for Metallica's M72 World Tour.

And Kiszka says he's taken inspiration from watching how the thrash metal icons go about their business.

He tells Q104.3: "A really big one that's developed over the past few years, post-pandemic, has been our relationship with Metallica. What those lads do, filling up stadiums, they've had a lot of consistency and they have a lot of passion for what they do and they take it very seriously.

"And it's very fascinating to watch this group of people who have dedicated their entire life to doing what they do and doing it really well."

The bassist adds that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is meticulous in his preparation for shows, including checking out Greta Van Fleet drummer Daniel Wagner's performance as part of his pre-gig ritual.

He says: "It's a lot of work, but they make it look easy. Lars was telling us that he really enjoys listening to Daniel's drum solo when he's getting his massage to loosen up before the show, and then he goes into his practice room and kind of jams out a little bit.

"They're very serious as far as their regimens go, and they eat the same things every day and they're right down to it.

"If that's something we wanna be doing when we're that age, I think that that's a pretty great standard to set."

The M72 tour continues through this year and into 2024. See the remaining dated below.

Metallica: M72 World Tour 2023

Aug 11: Montreal Stade Olympique, Canada
Aug 13: Montreal Stade Olympique, Canada
Aug 18: Arlington AT&T Stadium, TX, USA
Aug 20: Arlington AT&T Stadium, TX, USA
Aug 25: Inglewood SoFi Stadium, CA, USA
Aug 27: Inglewood SoFi Stadium, CA, USA
Sep 01: Glendale State Farm Stadium, AZ, USA
Sep 03: Glendale State Farm Stadium, AZ, USA
Nov 03: St. Louis The Dome at America’s Center, MO, USA
Nov 05: St. Louis, The Dome at America’s Center, MO, USA
Nov 10: Detroit Ford Field, MI, USA
Nov 12: Detroit Ford Field, MI, USA

Metallica: M72 World Tour 2024

May 24: Munich Olympiastadion, Germany
May 26: Munich Olympiastadion, Germany
Jun 07: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland
Jun 09: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland
Jun 14: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 16: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jul 05: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 07: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 12: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Jul 14: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Aug 02: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 04: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 09: Chicago Soldier Field, IL, USA
Aug 11: Chicago Soldier Field, IL, USA
Aug 16: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 18: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 23: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 25: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 30: Seattle Lumen Field, WA, USA
Sep 01: Seattle Lumen Field, WA, USA
Sep 20: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 22: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 27: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 29: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico

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.