James asked the band
In an interview with the Nerdist podcast, Metallica guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett discussed the intensity of Metallica's tours, which is expected to decrease. According to the musicians, the next tour will be more spaced out.
James commented: “We have things scheduled for the whole year. My body told me to let the guys know that 50 shows a year is all I can do, so we’re going to do the best we can with that. And I think everyone kind of agreed with that. But 50 shows a year, that’s pretty good. My body can handle it. Body, mind and spirit, all three need to revitalize at home, on days off, for the voice, things like that. So 50 a year is pretty fast, I’m sure. I tell people, ‘We’re only doing 50 shows a year,’ and they say, ‘Oh my God, that’s a lot!’ But it’s like, no. It’s not, compared to what we used to do.”
Kirk added: “Yes, we used to tour for 10 to 12 months in the past. There were world tours where we did 12, 15, 16 weeks straight with five shows a week (…) It’s all an experience. We learned a lot from it.”
