BLACKSBURG, Va. – After a more than 20-year partnership with Virginia Tech, Metallica is set to perform at Lane Stadium Wednesday night, following a complete transformation of the Hokies’ home field.
“The energy around the campus here is electric. The town is everywhere. Even up in Roanoke, you can see the excitement,” said Dylan Bomgardner, a Metallica and Hokie fan involved in the event.
An army of 18-wheelers has descended on Blacksburg this week as Lane Stadium undergoes conversion from football field to concert venue.
“This process takes 4 days from before the show to load in,” said Jon-Michael Marino, tour coordinator.
The field was removed to accommodate elaborate staging elements, including towers, lighting rigs, the main stage, the snake pit, and additional infrastructure.
“When you put it all together, that is about 350 people whose jobs enable this production to come together solely from a production standpoint,” said Marino. “That’s not including the hundreds of security, ticket takers, concessionaires, and so forth,” production staff explained. “Each tower again we have 9 towers, 8 lights on each tower.”
The technical setup is extensive.
“On stage there is 14 vocal mics, 46 audio edges and to connect everything 800 XLR connection points,” Marino added.
Dylan Bomgardner, both a Metallica and Hokie fan who helped bring the band to Blacksburg, anticipates an unprecedented experience.
“It’s going to be really really exciting, electric the whole not and whether or not they play Enter Sandman first or last is still up for debate,” he said.
Gates open at 4 p.m. Wednesday, with the opening act performing at 6 p.m., Metallica is scheduled to take the stage at 8:30 p.m.