Many Metallica fans were left asking questions after the announcement of the incredibly diverse lineup for the ‘Orion Music + More‘ festival in Atlantic City, N.J. Ever ready to be spokesman for the band, drummer Lars Ulrich steps up to explain some of those decisions.

Metallica surprised fans by announcing their very own ‘Orion Music + More’ festival, which will take place in Atlantic City, N.J. on June 23 – 24. The introduction of the Metallica-led music festival wasn’t as surprising as some of the bands that are set to perform.

Many die-hards were left scratching their heads over the inclusion of alt-rock bands like Modest Mouse and Gaslight Anthem. As drummer Lars Ulrich tells the Atlantic City Weekly, the band wanted to offer more than “Metallica with nine hardcore Norwegian metal bands, which may be cool in a different scenario, but this type of thing we wanted to do was more about variety and giving people a sense of discovery — where people might walk away and think something’s really cool.”

Though the details are still scarce, the festival also boasts a “lifestyle element” in addition to the music. “You can go in and kind of experience other stuff and we’re still trying to figure all of that out because we [have] a very vivid imagination, but we also want to make sure it’s not too over the top. You know like ‘Go and surf with Kirk after Rob Trujillo in a giant wave pool!’” jokes Ulrich. “People who know us know it’s going to be fun and cool and unique and kind of out there and so it should be really fun.”

Metallica will headline both nights of the ‘Orion Music + More’ festival and plan to perform ‘Ride the Lightning’ and the Black Album in their entirety. Other bands set to perform at the festival include Avenged Sevenfold, The Sword, Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant and more.

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