Metallica Take Green Day’s Slot at Voodoo Festival
Metallica will step up and take over Green Day’s headlining spot at New Orleans’ Voodoo Music and Arts Experience this weekend.
Green Day had to pull out of the festival after frontman Billie Joe Armstrong announced he was entering rehab following a very public rant at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas last month. Metallica will perform on Saturday, October 27, and the appearance will mark the group’s first time at the festival.
“Our good friends and fellow Bay Area residents Green Day had to unfortunately cancel their plans to be there, so we are more than happy to fill in for them in our own unique way,” said Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich in a statement. “We’re hoping we can fill those very large shoes and do them proud.”
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammet also spoke of the gig during an interview with Fuse, saying the band got the call to headline the festival just a few days ago.
“We discussed it between the four of us and we all said, ‘Yeah,’” Hammet explained. “It would be a great thing for us to do and it would also be great to help out Billie Joe because he’s a friend of ours and we love Green Day. If we can help them out in any way possible, we’re always happy to do it because we love those guys.”
Green Day also released a statement about the cancellation.
“Canceling shows is something we rarely do,” said drummer Tre Cool. “We never want to let our fans down, and we are grateful for all of you being understanding during this time.”
The Voodoo music festival will be held October 26-28, and features other notable artists including Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Jack White, the Avett Brothers, Skrillex and more.
Green Day is scheduled to start a tour on November 26 – as of now all dates are still scheduled.